In the past three editions of our outing on this space, we have had to devote attention to very critical matters negatively impacting development of our dear country. Scholars agree that everything about society revolves around leadership. We thought so too and took up the very important matter of “bad leadership and national development”. Poor leadership has indeed released so much pollution into our system. But is the main challenge leadership or something else?
Iconic literary guru and acknowledged leading figure in the restoration of the dignity of the black race, Professor Chinua Achebe wrote in his book, “The Trouble with Nigeria,” that the trouble with Nigeria is squarely leadership. So many have also looked at it critically and agreed there are many obstacles to proper development of our country but the chief among them is poor, very ineffective governance. We went a little further to place the obstacle to great leadership in the circle of distorted leadership recruitment process. Notable sayings from sages serve as good and veritable gauges for measuring our activities and actions serve good purposes. They enrich knowledge just as they assist humanity to measure progress. We all lament poor governance but are reluctant to say we are all culpable in bringing the ugly trend to be.
Former Indian statesman, Mahatma Ghandi, drawing from wide experiences told the world, “If there is an idiot in power it means those who elected the person are well represented.” We, in the collective sense are architects of our fortunes. After one spoke on a radio programme someone sent a text message saying, “stop talking, you are one of those who brought the country down.” One saw this as ranting of the ignorant. Not all in public space compromised vision or principles, their positive throw-ins could have appeared like a small stone thrown into the ocean, which can only raise but a tiny ripple.
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We return to the encounter: the reply to the rude interloper was straightforward and a lesson for all who care that this country must be moved from the brink of disaster. The return fire went this: where have you been? Aren’t you old enough to participate on how your destiny is being shaped? Why throw tantrums from a safe corner?” Not many of us know the lesson Martin Luther King taught years ago, that good things don’t just happen, they flow from the deliberate acts of noble men and women. In our case none wants to take up responsibility.
One thing that has foisted poor leadership in the country is the abandonment of civic responsibility by the majority of the citizens. Each person sits in a safe corner of his room or drinking joint, engaging in blame game, pointing fingers and pontificating about who is wrong and what has gone wrong but they never have the courage to step into the stage to fight for those great ideals they never get tired of claiming they possess. The worse level of this conspiratorial passivity is not the demands they place on anyone seeking public office but rather the very erroneous thinking that there is a special kind of people ordained perhaps by an invisible force to fight for the good of society, to make sacrifices, take the backlashes and possibly die for the cause of changing society for good.
This is a pure misnomer. The task of nation building is everyone’s obligation. When as a collective we push, progress comes faster. Unfortunately, many deliberately stay off their responsibility in this regard. It is no surprise therefore that ineffective governance culture now plagues the land. It is a very elementary lesson to teach all it takes for evil to thrive in any human setting is for the good people to stand and turn themselves to spectators.
Politics is a dirty game so the very qualified say often and this has become a reason for their staying off the arena. The twist in all of this is that they forget that when the intellectuals take a retreat the way is paved for fools to take over and that is the era we have virtually stepped into; the least regarded in our society are the far majority found in hallowed places of national leadership. The throwbacks are causing so many to walk the path of “I don’t care.”
The topic is despondency. Many citizens are beginning to say “I don’t care, the country may well collapse, what is my own?” Many of those who have served creditably say to themselves “I have done my best, the rest is for them.” Many would say this is not the right approach. Well there may be some sense in that, yet there are grounds to support their position. Lack of progress or profit would destroy enthusiasm. It is difficult to remain visionary for instance, full of passion and committed to common good when one thinks he or she belongs somewhere or to an entity only to discover later that developments, actions and speeches he or she encounters not once but daily make them think that they don’t belong. When you give so much and the return on investment is low the motivation to continue in like manner would never be there. In these situations loss of mission is inevitable.
In our country the sulphur level is quite very high and it is hindering productivity and positivism. Low spirits pervade the land. Hope is waning if it hasn’t vanished totally. People are dying in numbers than would have been the case if the country was involved in a civil war and everyone including the government seems helpless. Rather than hope gloom is stoking the entire landscape. False sense of unity. We overheard well educated Nigerians say some sections of the country would not vote candidates from another because they were defeated in the civil war, this is coming 65 years after the war ended. If gold could rust what will iron do? Business spaces have shrunk to an all time low. In the country currently, finding meals and healthcare have become like a journey to the inner galaxy – very difficult and complicated. Happiness has become a very costly commodity, affordable to the few who fight and muscle their way to public offices and positions. All these provide factors for giving up on the country. The attitude of the leadership under this climate is most worrisome. They play and have fun while the empire is on fire. Nigeria is on fire. A lady visitor to the country last week was asked her impression of the country. Her answer: “It is the most chaotic I have experienced in Africa.” Indeed!
Aren’t there solutions? We know what to do but refuse to do it. It has become a national culture to sidetrack challenges. We do believe that time will heal it. We don’t like to confront some challenges with the right solutions because some sections of the country would be offended. The so-called powerful ones do everything including unholy gang ups to thwart progress.
Added to the above points would be the bastardization of core concepts of leadership. It would surprise many to know that two thirds of those who pursue and eventually force themselves to leadership positions don’t have the correct idea of what leadership is all about or they have just a faint knowledge. A leader should be a visionary, he must possess the ability to create new paradigms, have competence to guide, influence and inspire, foster collaboration with the people to accomplish given tasks in nation building. Do we have men and women in leadership who see it this way?
If we did why do we form our political parties the way we do, one man creating the “vision” and inviting others to join. We go that path and still expect “internal democracy” to thrive and blossom. We desire quality leadership personnel but it is far easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a clean, very tutored but not so rich citizen to pass through our electoral process.
The electoral cost is prohibitive, only those who have pilfered from the common patrimony can afford the cost and the dirty fights often involved in getting through to public offices in the country. We want credible polls but the president who is into the partisan contest, who himself wants to survive is the one the grand law of the country has vested with power to nominate members of the so- styled “Independent National Electoral Commission”. Lawyers describe this as “probating and reprobating, trusting one got that right. Standing for taking a step forward and nine steps backwards.
Those who got an underserved advantage are pressing their luck too far, they want the rest of the country to live with their sense of entitlement. As far as they are concerned “there is nothing anybody can do.” When a people are demoralized, society goes through a kind of upheaval. It is happening. If federalism is in place, we apply rigour to what we do, the urge to press supremacist ideas would die and the level of insecurity won’t be the same as component units take responsibility to build peace.
None should give up on the quest for the New Nigeria. It is desirable. A big thriving Nigeria will help the entire black race. The world is waiting anxiously for this to come through.
But it won’t come unless certain forces are unleashed. We must acknowledge our false steps and fault lines. they must not be veiled like we have tried to do in the years past. Truth buried will rise and when it does, greater problems follow. We have seen that much.
We must avoid toxicity. It is dangerous for another one to get up and say, “we hold the joker so we act anyhow or everyone can go to hell.” It is provocative. Arkansas in America is a very small state it still produced one of the best leaders ever to lead that country, talking about merit, training, competence and high quality performance. While we need a collaborative system it is far more important to get everyone to buy into the Nigerian Project. None should lose hope over the negative antics of a few. After all in every house there must be vessels to honour and dishonour.
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