At the National Parenting Conference, 2017, organized by Breach Repairers Assembly in Lagos, the special guest of honour and wife of the Vice President of Nigeria, Mrs  Dolapo Osinbajo, warned that in the next 10 years, we may not recognize the world we are living in today.

Mrs Osinbajo harped on the fast changing societal values, which if unchecked would portend grave danger for posterity.

One of such burning issues is indecent dressing and nudity, a twin evil rapidly rotating like a tropical cyclone across the land.

Yes, nudity as we know it is fast becoming a fad, an eloquent testimony of the drastic slide in moral values, becoming more prevalent in the last two decades. A fallacy that attempts to dilute the criteria for decent behaviour.

According to Literary Devices, “A fallacy is a display of faulty reasoning that makes an argument invalid, or a faulty belief based on an unsound argument. Many fallacies are deceptive in that they may appear to be based on sound reasoning and seem to follow good logic. Some examples of fallacious reasoning are done intentionally in order to manipulate others or persuade via deception, while others are accidental and come about by ignorance or not paying close attention.”

The above assertion succinctly captures the deliberate reversal of moral values and campaign of calumny mounted against all forms of decency. Several of such fallacies abound, chiefly that our forebears operated in social nudism in the primitive era.

Some insist that we must align with fast changing times which promote naturism, nudism and social nudity which is now widely on display in the West.

Others postulate that because art is an imitation of life, our media and entertainment industry, Nollywood, in consonance with Hollywood must succumb to this depravity to reflect the changing norms. A situation that makes exhibitionism the order of the day.

Indecent exposure on the other hand, “is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior.”

It is indecent because it occurs in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behaviour.

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This is where etiquette which deals with expected behaviour in a given setting kicks in. The fallacy juxtaposed with the warped understanding of a fad is what exposes the misguided victims to peril and promotes the culture of self-display that engulfs proponents of immodesty.

Nudism, for those who predicate public indecency on the primitive era, was the norm, generally accepted by all as the standard and didn’t negate the moral code. Same way, killing of twins, human sacrifice and female genital mutilation was an acceptable part of the savage culture. It is therefore mischievous for perverts to justify the propagation of nude films and nudity in contemporary arts on account of primordial behavior.

Our post primeval culture forbids exposure of private body parts such as the genital area, buttocks or breasts. It violates decency and current moral architecture.

It is bad manners, for instance as a bride, to subject your guests to nauseating scene with provocative and revealing apparel as a preacher once lamented. Little wonder some churches drape such recalcitrant ladies with the altar cloth. A young man attends a job interview with his boxers boldly on display because it is fashionable to sag. The dress down culture has been so bastardized that employees engage clients wearing denim jeans with outrageously gaping holes all in the name of fashion. Some could be mistaken for wandering lunatics.

Unfortunately a lot of these attention-seekers cannot proffer logical reasoning for their flashing save that it is the vogue.

Hallowed places of worship are not spared as worshippers are adorned in revealing, clingy, skimpy apparels which create an irreverent attitude.

It is most unfortunate that the social sphere is inundated with nude scenes, various reality shows where caution is thrown to the winds as participants engage in the most revolting acts in full view of innumerable viewers across the globe. Its requiem for the culture of restraint as people post-nude pictures soliciting admirers on social media. A more loathsome dimension is where expectant mothers splash on social media semi-nude photographs baring protruding tummies to the admiration of even their husbands. Such is the potency of the nude culture just for the purpose of attention-seeking. The more sickening, the merrier their social status assumes. Married couples posting pictures to each other adorned in their birthday suits not minding such could get into wrong hands is beyond comprehension. Prospective suitors demand nude pictures of the opposite sex and prerequisite qualification for marriage. A lady who was confronted for being skimpily clad once, proclaimed in the office, “My husband likes me looking hot.”

People must recognize that indecent dressing cheapens their personality and reduces their potential for success. By implication, advertising your anatomy implies you have nothing else to offer.

The odious activities exclusive to the red light districts by scarlet ladies constitute the new normal.

This despicable culture is condemnable and distorts the virtues of etiquette and does not represent who we are. Thumbs down to such a culture.