Teaching Moral Character and Virtues at Pre-tertiary Levels: An Ibibio Virtue Ethics Approach

No nation can experience authentic or sustainable development without a quality education of its citizens. A quality education involves both the intellectual and moral character development of the human person. The need for moral character curriculum in our schools lies in the moral crises found in our society today. The Nigerian society is permeated with corruption, examination malpractices, dishonesty, fraud, selfishness and other immoral acts. We have lost our moral compass and we see this among politicians, doctors, teachers, pastors, Imams, and security personnel among others. The aim of this paper is to recommend and examine the place of moral character and virtues in the education of young people today, and in society at large. The Ibibio virtue ethics was employed to achieve the aim of this paper. Ibibio morality is summed up by the word Edu (character). Edu is the overriding trait of a person’s life. It is that which distinguishes a virtuous individual from a vicious one in the Ibibio society. Hence, a person with good moral character is one that acts, behaves, and conducts him/herself in accordance with the positive and negative virtues or one that demonstrates virtuous acts. This paper recommends the introduction and teaching of moral character and virtues embedded in the Ibibio virtue ethics to children at the pre-tertiary level of our educational institutions.