Due to their construction, pre-11 properties are difficult to insulate as they have

Religion provides the moral building blocks for the rebirth and development of a healthy conscience. According to Nmah (1998), Emmanuel Kant stated that morality in religion has to do with recognizing our moral obligations as divine commands.While defining morality Udabah, Ezeugwu and Inyiama (1998) posit that it has to do with the

branch of philosophy, which attempts to evaluate rigid conduct, good character and acceptable norms or values. Commenting on the place of religion in providing a healthy conscience Nmah (1998) in Mbiti (1975) stated that “it is religion, which tells us what is right and what is wrong. Religion enriches people morally for the welfare of the individual and society at large”.

5.1. 5.6 Strategi es in Ethi cal Re -Ori en tation and Devel op ment 5.1.5.6.1 S elf-E xami nation

One of the ways of effecting ethical re-orientation is through self-examination.

Thing is because as an Igbo adage puts it, “he who does not know where he is coming from can hardly know where he is going”.Ogugua (2004) in Nzomiwu (2004) agrees on the relevance of self-examination when he quoted Socrates as saying “NosceteJpnum”

man know thyself and that the unexamined life is not worth living.

Moral education: according to Okeke (2002) “the way God makes himself known to us involves the exercise of our own alerted faculties". Continuing he stated that the startling stories of the Old Testament prophets help to bring about enlightenment on the divine.Madu (1997) corroborates the above view when he quoted the Church fathers as holding the view that the purpose of God in disclosing Himself to man is to give man access to share in His divine nature. According to him the Sacred Scripture, which includes both the Old and New Testaments consist the divine self-manifestation. Noting further that it is as the Church propagates the gospel that she affords man the opportunity of experiencing the ultimate reality of values in his existence.

Udaba, et al (1998) were in agreement with the above view when they stated that divine disclosure or revelation theology not only reveals the ultimate source of nature but especially the way of salvation. This is why the researcher posits that divine truths as

contained in the Word of God or the Sliced Scriptures should be harnessed by the religious community in creating an educated citizenry morally.

Moral San ctions: Religious communities can foster moral rebirth by providing sanctions to check the excesses of her faithful. Such sanctions for instances were applied in Bible times to curb the influence of an unrepentant and stubborn son as shown below:

Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elder of his city (into the gate of his place; and they shall say unto the elders of his city. This our son is stubborn and rebellious... and all the men of the city shall stone him with stones that he die, so shall thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear (Deut.21:19-21) (K.JV).

From the foregoing it is evident that sanction can be exploited by the people of God to stem the tide of moral decadence. While the sanction cited above may be an extreme case in that it involves the destination of life, yet the church can adopt measures less of life.

5.1.5.6.2 E thi cal Re-Ori entati on and Economi c E mpow erme nt

Reli gi on accordi ng t o Modi (2002 ) “hel ps to develop probl em solvi ng abilities”. A special area where religion can address serious problem in Ni geri a i s in the area of econ omi c empowerm ent . In an -era wher e Ni geri a has been adjudged as occup yi ng hierarch y among the poorest nations of the world, reli gion no doubt can -pl a y a positive rol e in bri ngi ng about an economic revival t hrough the foll owi ng wa ys .

5.1.5.6.3 Creating Economic Culture

Ethical or moral education can be applied to foster economic culture or principles.

It could be applied to fight against economic deprivation, war, social marginalization as

well as promote commitment that foster respect for human dignity and the need for personal empowerment. These values which include justice, hard work, discipline, transparency, and integrity are the building blocks that have contributed in making many developed nations of the world great economically. These, non-material indices constitute what Solomon in the Bible refers to as godliness. 'This disposition of life according to him advances a nation forward in all sector of human endeavors (P rov. I4:34).

The need for the creation of proper economic culture in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. For according to Chula (2004) in Schloss (2001) the nation has continued to stagnate economically because of high level of bribery and corruption. In his remark Hiurt (1993) noted that the abject poverty being suffered by many African nations is perpetrated by very few affluent Africans. Continuing he stated that such situations are not only very intolerable but very dehumanizing as they, have often led to high wave of corruption, smuggling high rate of armed robbery and increase in crime.

He, therefore, called on the religious communities to address this ugly trend by educating their masses with a view to eradicating poverty and its attendant evils. Against this backdrop, he states that religious community must:

Place the social responsibility for ameliorating these conditions squarely upon, the shoulders of its devotes... it must arouse and disturb them with the desperate challenge “yon are your brother‟skeeper” and drive them on to an ever new experim ent ati on of perfecting; this stewardship, mus t voice idealism of life, calli ng for a condition in soci et y in whi ch reward wil l comm ens urat e wi th servi ce and in whi ch none shall part ake of social goods who do not contri but e t o soci al wealth. (68).

5.1.5.6.4 Provision of Economic Resources

The Church shoul d go be yond preachi ng and di scipline men to creating economi c values and resources that empower the peopl e economicall y. The res earcher beli eves t hat the call b yC hrist ; the founder of Christ ian reli gion, to feed t he hungr y,cl oth t he naked, shelt er t he dest itut e and reli eve the affl ict edhas both spi ritual and econom ic dimension. It s economicdimension has to do with the church helping to reduce poverty by participating in giving material succor to the poor.

Commenting on the theme “Christianity as a factor of human devel opm ent in Afri ca” Iwe (n.d ) posit ed that; St aggering and al armingl y increasing unemplo yment fi gures are one of t he st riki ng feature s of our econom y. In thes e economic spheres, t here is no doubt t hat C hri sti an leaders can at l eas t offer som e sol a ce, and reli ef. The y can summon peopl e to, co -operative endeavours aim ed at pooling their resources to provide the necessary capital to improve their lot.

Continuing he stated that various Christian communities can in addition embark on providing cottage industries, farm settlements and similar projects that can help to reduce unemployment among the citizenry.

The church according to Christ has been called to be the salt of theearth. It should seek to penetrate the economic fabric of the Nigerian society in order to exerts it‟s sweetening influence. It can do this by both character transformation as well as generating economic wealth for the nation. The Catholic Church for instance is taking great lead in the; area of economic transformation of the society through provision of banks, hospitals, universities, farm settlements and should be emulated by other religious communities.

5.1.5.6.5 Religi on sand Nation al In tegration

According to Emeka (1998) in Oka for and Emeka (1998) the word integration in child psychology relates to co-ordination of specialized movements into a complex behavior.

Applying the above definition of sociology, Okafor and Emeka (1998) as well as Ezeodili (2003) defines it as the bringing together or the unification of divergent groups be they ethnic, religious or cultural. On the other hand the Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as the state of being united.

5.1.5.6.6E thi cal Re-Ori entati on and Nationa l In tegration

Accordi ng t o Nm ah (1998 ) both Chris t ian , Is lam and Traditional Reli gi ons , preach the soverei gnt y of God and the brotherhood of man, this harmon y can be us ed as a basi s to bind the adherent s of t he di fferent faith together. Comm enti ng on the p lace of reli gi on in fost ering na tional integrati on M adu (2002 ) posits that t he prim ar y objecti ve of rel i gious education is t o help peopl e appreci at e t he l ove of God for them and the whol e creation. An appreciat ion h e cont inues should be translated in their loving God and their fellow men. In other words, reli gion when ri ghtl y appli ed shoul d hel p to fost er unit y and soci al harmon y.

5.1.5.6.7 E thi cal Re -Orien tation and Nation al Dial ogu e

Dialogue according to Alhi(1988) has to do with the willingness of parties to a dispute to actually pay attention to the views held or expressed by the other negotiating party. Continuing further he noted that dialogue is the missing link in the Nigeria nation that has created constant conflict in the struggle for power and authority in the Nigeria polity. He then advised the church and indeed the religious community in Nigeria to rise

up to the challenge of giving religious dialogue and interaction a chance. Such dialogue he opined can only be effective when the religious community individually begins to come to terms with learning to disagree without being disagreeable.

Commenting on the multi-ethnic culture of Nigeria, Enem (1999) in Okafor and Emeka (1998) stated that Nigeria has about 254 major ethnic groups. It is in the light of the above highly divergent nature of our nation that the researcher is of the view that our religious community should adopt religious dialogue to emphasis what bind us together rather than what divides us. This calls for dialogue and call for sacrifice.

When Christ called the Samaritan woman to dialogue, it cost him time and food to break through racial barriers but at the end he won her to himself. (John 4). This view that dialogue can elicit unity is costly corroborated by Dresselhaus (1998) when he stated that

"those in spiritual leadership will often be called to lay aside what could be clearly understood as their personal rights in order to meet a higher demand of service e.g fostering unity”.