|
The Leadership We Want - 2007 By Nwafor-Orizu Onwa
No doubt, Nigeria is a big country well blessed by God – but the developmental status of our country reflects in no main way these richly endowed human and material resources. Going by the basic parameter for judging good governance visa vie the rich endowment, Nigeria scores below average. The level of poverty, insecurity, infrastructural development, unemployment, poor standard of education, poor level of agricultural development, and lose of confidence in our leadership agitate my mind on the way forward. The story seems unending, with history of embezzlement, different levels of corrupt practices that trailed the long Military leadership in the country has also pervaded the current Civilian government. Economic experts and policy analysts have severally blamed our predicaments and woos on the long leadership of the military in Nigerian governance, forgetting the fact that most politicians parading themselves today as democrats served in one way or the other with the military regimes. Yes Militarism is an obsolete means of governance in a globalize world of liberal democracy. But we can’t continue living in the past in as much as the knowledge of the past helps in making the future better. Thank God! Nigeria successfully conducted a transition from civilian rule to another in 2003, despite the criticisms and glaring irregularities, I think it is a way forward towards institutionalizing democracy and consolidating democratic culture. If there is a price to be won for this, I gave it to the rigging capabilities of PDP.
In line with the mentality of self seeking politicians, the introduction of ‘Tenure Elongation’ of the Executive Offices in the aborted constitutional amendment exercise made ridicule and nonsense of the agitations of Nigerians to address the imbalances prevalent in the ‘Military Constitution’ of 1999. Worrisome is the obvious support the tenure elongation clause enjoyed from the presidency and ruling party which invariably negates the principle of democracy by succession judging from the antecedents and peculiarities inherent in African leadership. The procedural flaws and inconsistencies coupled with the allegations of bribery, intimidations, harassments of the opposition to tenure elongation, raises a great suspicion on the credibility of the coming 2007 general elections. If a frantic and aggressive attempt were made against the wishes of majority of Nigerians to elongate the tenure of the President and the State Governors, then the forth coming general election will be ‘business as usual’, rigging and manipulation of electoral processes. This is the crust of this write up – the leadership Nigerians want in 2007.
The widely acclaimed dictum of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana ‘seek ye first the political kingdom and every other thing shall be added unto you’, is still very relevant not only of its Biblical origin but considering the ontological evolution of Nigeria’s political history. If our leaders fails to institutionalize the principles of democracy rooted in Rule of Law, respect for the separation of powers among the arms of government, and above all the adherence to the dictates of the Constitution, no economic policy no matter how robust and well articulated will strive for a long time in the absence of a holistic approach to developmental strategies that will be mass oriented. The cloud of uncertainties in the transition process, the unimaginable electoral malpractices that marred the 2003 general elections (as was evident in Anambra State) and the Godfatherism in Nigerian politics all combine in the ascension of mediocre in the helm of affairs in this country. This ugly development paved way to looters of government treasury in order to recoup investment made through Godfathers and political gladiators. How can a developing country like ours make a head way when corruption is rooted in high places? It is absurd to comprehend that politics in Nigeria is now the biggest industry and avenue to making quick money. It is time for Nigerians to have a rethink.
The new leadership we want in Nigeria must represent the collective yearning of the entire nation: It must be an embodiment of the people’s desires. The leadership must represent all grievances, suppressed ambitions, vague longings, unexpressed rights, imposed handicaps and more so the new leadership must symbolize the spirit of the age by identifying with the joys and sorrows of every citizen when taken collectively. The new leadership must be selfless and patriotic: for leadership to inspire confidence, it must not seek its own. A country where 70% of its population live in abject poverty, a country destitute of education and insecurity, the leadership must come from ranks of men and women who really understand the needs of the people and identify themselves with those needs not leaders that see power as an opportunity for self aggrandizement and enrichment. We need leaders that will father and mother Nigerians without bitterness and acrimony. The new leadership we want must come from men and women that are extremely loyal to the corporate existence of Nigeria and loyalty to the constitution of the country. The leadership must give highest example of loyalty to the collective interest of Nigerians, in order to infuse the same spirit in others they lead. This situation will bring back the confidence and pride of being a Nigerian. Liberty implies being free from something. Loyalty is to be mastered by something. In other words, “what belongs to us is matched with what we belong to.” Nigeria can only succeed when those that lead us have grown as loyal as to forget selfish interest and forfeit a good deal of pseudo liberties in the service of the country.
The leadership we want must fear God: The fear of God as it is said is the beginning of wisdom. Far and beyond all these requirements is that the leadership we want must demonstrate their belief in God. We don’t want leaders that are hypocrites, who only preach God but their lives never reflect their preaching. The lives of our new leaders must reflect their belief that good has ultimate triumph over evil; that good has superior appeal over evil; that a nation without morals is bound to go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah. Leadership must behave in such a way as to show religious tolerance; and show the growing youths that it pays to be truthful, honest, industrious and faithful. To build Nigeria without God is like building a house on sand. To call upon God without personal restraint, love and truth is to make mockery of the creator. To join the band of patriots without moral principles is to enthrone barbarism. To accept a great responsibility of becoming the president of this country without purity of heart is inviting anarchy. That is why we insist that the leadership we want must be men and women who fear God. I don’t want to sound too religious but we cannot avoid the naked truth that our life without God is worthless and meaningless.
I call upon Nigerians to come out in 2007 with full dedication to select our new leaders, leaders with track record of achievements, leaders who must show their faith in our youths; no nation can grow beyond its enlightened populace. The youth of Nigeria are inevitably bound to become the leaders of tomorrow. Therefore their right to exist, their right to proper education, their right to proper feeding, their right to proper clothing, their right to decent employment and their right to proper association must be jealously guarded. This guarantees the future of this country because “to educate the mind is to liberate it”. Our new leaders must be selected from honourable men and women who have exhibited great leave of integrity not people that believe in blackmail, intimidation, bribery and falsehood in actualising their selfish objectives. We must look for leaders that will not mortgage our conscience but liberate us from this wicked trend of deceit prevalent among our current politicians. Nigerians our destiny is in our hands, lets revolutionalize our electoral systems and methodology; let’s select leaders that will reflect all the qualities above. Nigeria will join the band of likes of Asian Tigers and other developed countries faster than necessary.
|