Every society has men and women whose actions and performance may be described as exceptional. Exceptional in the sense that their actions help protect and/or advance the safety and welfare of the societies that they belong to.
Some have touched lives through outstanding acts of philanthropy and kindness, excelled in forms of art that brought honor and glory to societies while others have sacrificed their lives in acts of gallantry to free their countries from authoritarian and despotic governments.
There are others who have used their abilities, talents and knowledge in the service of mankind or society so selflessly that the monetary rewards they have been given cannot match what they bequeath the society or mankind.
Without doubt, society is obliged to honor such individuals.
From primary school, children are bombarded with a history of those that the society considers to be heroes. In fact, many children unfortunately accept and carry this knowledge to other levels of education without questioning the standing of such heroes in the society.
The fact that no recent university graduate has anything bad to say about the many heroes they learned in schools indicts our education system that does not entertain questions from learners. As a result, our students are not exposed to ideal role models who have made genuine impact in various fields.
We owe it to our children to identify the deserving people to be celebrated because it is upon high standards of those viewed by a society to be successful that young ones base their goals in life.
In a society where celebrities are being discovered daily in music, art, academics, etc, it takes a people with a keen eye for detail to discern a consistent character that deserves to be celebrated. Unfortunately, the broader society is too lazy to inquire the track record of our celebrities. They celebrate an individual because he or she has produced a hit song or have a lot of money.
It is time to ask ourselves who our heroes are and whether they are painted from a real life experience, hence indispensable as role models, this could have a significant bearing on our conduct as a society.
