Some leaders of faith-based organisations have called for a check on flamboyant lifestyles that could not be backed by legitimate earnings.
This, they argued, would discourage get-rich-quick syndrome in the society.
They made this call at the on-going 2021 inter-faith parley organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs.
Prof. Ishaq Akintola of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) said censoring flamboyant lifestyles was necessary to forestall social baits that made such style trendy.
He said that if peoples’ sources of wealth and excessive spending were censored, probity would be entrenched.
Akintola said that the bedrock for a sane society should begin with moral censorship.
“Our youths are emulating what they see the older generations do and internalise such societal deformity with ease.
“By the time the society de-emphasises excessive lifestyles or at most begin to reject donations from such characters then will youth be humane and toe the line of due diligence in their quest for wealth,’’ he said.
Also speaking at the session, Pastor Basile Ibeh said regulatory authorities should ensure public officials lived within their earnings to discourage corruption.
She noted that public officials who had looted the treasury went about displaying their ill-gotten wealth with impunity.
“Such trend, if allowed to continue, would only encourage self-aggrandisement to the detriment of the larger society,’’ she said.
In her contribution, Mrs Mutiat Orolu-Balogun, a lawyer, said people who indulged in flamboyant lifestyles that could not be backed with legitimate incomes should be prosecuted.
Orolu-Balogun urged states and the Federal Government to enact laws to cage such people in places where they could be rehabilitated.
The theme of the parley was: “Achieving greater Lagos: Role of religious bodies.’’
