Nigeria in Need of Leaders

Nigeria in Need of Leaders

Leonard Karshima Shilgba

As drum beats of war across Nigeria force uncharacteristic dance steps by some hitherto presumed leaders—religious leaders, political leaders, academic leaders, business leaders, traditional leaders, youth leaders, women leaders, etc., I took a look at my dear nation, pondered the wisdom of my continual residence in it, wondered if I had expected too much of our people, reassessed what I have come to assume is God’s purpose for me in Nigeria, and settled in my mind that Nigeria is truly in need of leaders of the uncommon class.

More than ten years ago, in an essay, I asked who spoke for Nigeria. Every so often, we speak for our “tribe”, “religion”, or “geo-political zones”, which we must, but quite rarely do we speak for Nigeria. And this also is our problem. It cannot be denied that the most prominent qualification for the Nigerian citizenship is our respective ethnic nationalities from which we have our divine origins. And truly, if we are too mindful of that “country”—the ethnic group—from which we have our ancestral roots, we shall surely have our opportunity one day to return to it, painfully so, and form our desired nation; and Nigeria would become an incomplete space, if that is what we deserve, for we can have only the nation we deserve, not the one we wish for. It seems most Nigerians are angry with everyone else but themselves. We are too angry to be creative; we are too angry to be patient with one another; we are too angry to listen to each other; and we are too angry to be useful to ourselves and nation. We have genuine reasons to be angry, but our cause is too great to be hindered by anger. Since 1999, our democratic engagements have silently and selectively imposed on our consciousness a crude reality of our un-oneness through deprivations such as “zoning” and “quota system”, which has been institutionalized through our Federal Character Commission, without consideration for the surpassing damage they create for nationhood. Arguments could be advanced in favour of such self-imposed limitations on quality; however, the opportunity cost is hardly contemplated.

Barely two years after a supposedly democratic government of Olusegun Obasanjo was inaugurated had evidence of disrespect for human life in Nigeria emerged when a systematic slaughter by the Nigerian army of hapless Nigerian citizens at Zaki-Biam (Benue State) and Odi (Bayelsa State) happened under the president’s watch. Later, the belligerence of Fulani herdsmen in Plateau State left scores of human beings murdered in cold blood. A state of emergency was imposed on the State, but since then Plateau State has experienced periodic loss of lives through the aggression of terrorist Fulani herdsmen.

During President Umaru YarÁdua’s democratic administration, in 2009, a group of Nigerians was murdered, and its property destroyed by Nigerian police, who arrested their leader and killed him in detention in an extra-judicial manner. That group is now the infamous Boko Haram. Some of us wrote, calling on the government to prosecute the police officers involved, but it seems to me that such calls hardly move our government officials. In the days of Goodluck Jonathan as Nigeria’s president, the combined waste of Nigerian lives by both Boko Haram terrorists and terrorist Fulani herdsmen had assumed a soaring dimension. Deaths, destructions, and occupation of territories had reached alarming levels. It appeared that the State had become helpless in the face of the threat to national security, or rather breakdown of national security.

President Muhammadu Buhari then arrived on the scene on May 29, 2015, and announced, “I belong to nobody, and I belong to everybody.” He succeeded in recording some discernible victories against Boko Haram terrorists while the incendiary terrorist Fulani herdsmen’s atrocities, destruction, and waste of precious lives still remain a dark stain on his credential regarding national security, which is one of the three highlights of his manifesto—“Security, Anti-corruption war, and Economy.” It would be unfair to associate the terror inflicted by those herdsmen with Buhari’s ethnicity. We can safely claim that since 1999, the Nigerian State has failed to keep Nigerians safe (in complete negligence of section 14 of our constitution), or rather has been complicit in the egregious waste of lives. And intersecting all central governments since 1999 is the waste of lives by both state security officers and illegally armed gangs across the country.

It is reported that the recent attacks by terrorist Fulani herdsmen, just like those of Boko Haram, have affected Muslims and non-Muslims, Fulanis and non-Fulanis, children and adults, men and women. At a time like this, we need leaders who will both speak truth to power and restraint to their citizens. We need leaders who will not seek to exploit our national crises for personal ignominious gains. President Buhari also needs to address the nation on the state of our union. He must take a firm position to remove from office security chiefs who have failed to enforce security in the nation and their respective commands of operation. The Minister of Defence should be sacked for his recent undisciplined statement, which cast President Buhari in bad light. Accountable leaders hold their appointees to account, while unaccountable leaders remain inured to inefficiency and mediocrity, which they surround themselves with.

Those Nigerian “leaders” (the same old gang) that are congregating across the nation in the name of “Coalitions” or “Movements” must be reminded that Nigerians need uncommon leaders at a time like this. Their recent moves are too obvious as worn-out. A nation is not strong because it has strong leaders, but because it has strong citizens. And citizens are strong who increase in relevant knowledge of their history, knowledge of a common destiny, knowledge of their endowment, and knowledge of the dangers to their union state that must be countered across divides. Strength of citizens shines forth in dark moments of their history, not in their bright moments. The citizens decide if their nation will move forward or get stuck in the mire of disagreements and tension. No leader can love their nation more than its citizens do; after all, the most essential credential of a leader is citizenship. And citizens are always candidates for leadership. Accordingly, the quality of citizens determines the quality of the leadership in their midst.

Nigerians, we will eat the fruits of our lips. After all, all creation is the product of words.