JORAS - Nigerian Journal of Religion and Society

If national development presupposes the ability of a nation to harness its human and natural resources for growth and advancement to its full potential, then Nigeria is a long way off. Because human capital development and socio-economic growth have been abysmally poor in contemporary Nigeria. In consequence, the nation has retrogressed in those fronts. The retrogression has been informed by the preoccupation of her leaders with cosmetic solutions to the nation's problems, rather than time honoured and enduring ones. All because the cosmetic solutions serve as conduit pipes for the leaders to siphon the nation's wealth to their foreign bank accounts. Thus, leading to the reason why the basic indices for enduring socio-economic growth are not in place; and those that are in place, have been through decades of neglect reduced to the shadows of their potentialities. One area that has contributed to creating this ugly situation is the depreciation in moral rectitude in Nigeria. Utilizing selected features of literary analysis, this article argues that the content of Isa 1:16-17 contains the moral compass that challenges Nigerians to renew themselves, to eschew every form of evil practice and to encourage the exercise and perpetuation of good through seeking and actualizing justice. The moral regeneration derivable from Isa 1:16-17 is imperative for the transition of Nigerians from their unproductive moral outlook.

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