Written by:
Paul thomas
Ireland


Leadership: The Woe of a Nation (Part 2)

The Northern obstinacy to maintain permanence at the helm, ninety percent of the time, is perhaps the reason mediocrity has persisted this long in leadership. The unfounded ideology that automatically bestows leadership to Northern Nigeria at the detriment of everyone else is dangerous for the egalitarian advancement of the entity called Nigeria. Nigeria’s greatness cannot be achieved by a particular tribe or zone but by the collective cooperation and contribution of every Nigerian. Within the Nigerian state abounds all the necessary man-power needed to bring Nigeria to a place of envy and admiration before the International Community. These resources however can only be harnessed through dynamic and progressive leadership. No one ethnic group should have permanent retention of power, everyone from the plains of Lagos to the hills of Jos are Nigerians and have rights conferred on them by citizenship through birth. Every Nigerian therefore can aspire to any height, length, b
readth or width of Nigeria. A Nigerian’s geo-political position should not determine the height of his aspiration.

The advocates of rotational presidency must realise that it is the perfect recipe for stagnation and retrogression. Since the emergence of the rotational theorem the North is still unwaveringly in charge of the state. As laudable as it may seem the dangers are also glaring. The rotational presidency theory compels an abandonment of every other region to the benefit of the one particular region that retains leadership. Rotational presidency robs Nigerians the skills and expertise of men and women from other parts of the country, necessary for development and progressive.

To rotate the presidency I believe was an idea mooted to wrest power from the North in order to spread the resources of the nation equitable. Nigeria is beyond any particular region or zone or people. It is a country of blessed resources and blessed people, her enormous human capital and uncountable material resources places her in a very unique position. Neither Rotational presidency nor Northern hegemony will lead Nigeria to the Promised Land. Progress in any nation comes only when people are willing to put the right person in the right position. Competent and dexterous individuals capable of transforming the Nigerian mess into a political wonder and economic haven are strewn across the length and breadth of our nation; but Political and sentimental proclivity with the desire for ethnic preponderance has kept Nigeria in a hold pattern since independence.

An aberration amongst nations, guided by blurred eyed mercenaries whose god is their belly. Merciless merchants whose only goal is gain have traded Nigeria for nought at the detriment of us all. The scavengers steal from us and yet they oppress us. Mindless debauchers forced on us by political rapscallions called god fathers in connivance with their external parasites have plunged Nigeria into an economic cyclone and a breeding ground for criminal kingpins. Nigeria is under a siege by her leaders; we are governed by kleptomaniacs that are ready to run the country aground simply to satisfy their lust for materialism. Leadership ineptitude is ubiquitous in every ramification: education, employment, security, social infrastructure, high mortality rate, the list is endless. Nigerians would in my opinion be better off without a government. Leadership in Nigeria is non-existent. The reason a country appoints people at the helm is to allow people with vision and gumption channel t
hem and make their lives better. But in Nigeria the reverse is the case; people are appointed to impoverish the people. They acquire at the misery of the people they ought to protect and provide for.

Nigeria with all her potentials ranks amongst one of the poorest nations in the world. Worst still Nigeria ranks as one of the least competitive markets in the African continent. Nigeria’s greatness is now a dirge piped everywhere as a once lucrative and prosperous nation but now in the slums. Leadership plunged Nigeria into the abyss. Decrepit and rapacious leadership over the years have plummeted this nation too far behind. The most nauseating of all is the helplessness of Nigerians to the madness of these leaders, how else can one explain the docility of the populace to the many atrocities of the mafias in government. A nation without any functioning facility and the unwillingness of the citizens to engage the system speaks volume about how lackadaisical we have become to the incompetence of those thrust upon us as leaders.

Nigerians must realise that the hoodlums in power will never make good governance their priority nor will they ever quit the stage willingly without the collective and stiff opposition of the populace. These men and women are in government for the long haul and are not ready to vacant the spotlight until governance becomes unattractive. Less than one percent of Nigerians constitute the leadership of Nigeria and yet the majority of the people cannot stand to oppose the recklessness of these people. We live everyday in anticipation of a saviour, hoping that someday these guys will become repentant and change their old ways; well sorry these leaders could not care less if you exist or not. Their main occupation in government is to steal, kill and destroy; they are in partnership with the devil. These guys are ready to plummet until they drop dead.

What rational explanation could ever be given for the darkness that pervades the length and breadth of Nigeria? What explanation can these nitwits give us for the perpetual disintegration of the vital infrastructure of the Nigerian state? Electricity in Nigeria is the most expensive infrastructure to purchase. You are forced to pay for the light you never used and if you bought a generator set it meant you must of necessity buy fuel and because fuel is ever in short supply, it meant you have to buy in the black market. The cycle is almost endless. The rate of pollution in Nigeria is staggering, every shade, kiosk or tent runs a generator. Nigeria is a nation in darkness. Uninterrupted power supply is the very cradle of advancement and modernisation. Well over 100 years after the discovery of electricity Nigeria is still in pitch blackness. Nigeria is almost like a state in a gradual process of extinction. All the amenities that a nation needs to function are non-existent and
yet Nigeria claims to be a nation. What constitutes a nation? What are the vital structures that must be in place before a nation can claim to be a nation? It is not enough to exist within a territory, what matter is the protection that that territory provides, that guarantees the relevance of the people within that territory.

For there to be meaningful advancement leadership must start from the scratch. All important infrastructures must be rebuilt or huge sums must be committed to keep them usable. Dereliction and negligence of all amenities has brought the nation down on her knees. The functionality of a state is determined by the structures available, no state functions effectively without the necessary equipment or tools. The first tool required for immediate use is the enormous human capital; thousands are churned out from universities and other educational institutions every year without any real plan or projection for them. There are no structures put in place to convert these human raw materials into finished products. Years spent learning a particular profession becomes a waste because adequate infrastructures are not in place to transform the knowledge gained from school into practical manifestation that will benefit the nation. Society is about a continuum, the Nigerian leader has no fo
rmat in place to ensure the progressiveness of a state. Every succeeding government annuls whatever program the previous accomplished, no matter how laudable or expensive the projects might be. Leadership instability and project abandonment is one of the causes of under-development in Nigeria. White-elephant-projects are ubiquitous in Nigeria.

Leadership must be proactive not reactive, the Nigerian leader is always reacting to issues rather than pre-empt them. Leadership in other rational societies anticipate the needs of the people and they put structures in place to meet these needs. A Society must remain dynamic in order to meet the challenges of a constantly changing world. Societies must evolve if they are to remain relevant in global arena. The Nigerian political class is so unimaginative that the country has remained largely dependent on the productivity and creativity of other climes. We have no allocation for research and development, technology is vitally non-existent, the Nigerian leader would rather spend money marrying more wives or acquiring more property than spend a kobo on scientific research or human development projects. A good leader is one who sees the immediate needs of the people and anticipates their requirement in the future. Good leadership creates the peoples tomorrow today. Our leaders
in Nigeria maintain status-quo and revel in mediocrity.

The Nigerian state is a static state; the megalomaniacs that parade our political landscape are absolutely at a loss as to the fundamentals of leadership. The majority of those in government are clueless about their responsibilities to their constituencies. The complexity of leadership perplexes the sensibilities of the Nigerian leader and leaves him completely out of place when he finds himself amongst his contemporaries from other organised societies, where leadership is pragmatic and effective. At such forums they become reclusive and taciturn. The only time our leaders get excited is when discussions border on loot sharing and treasury ransacking.

To be continued

Shalom

Paul Thomas
Ireland

Please Tell a Friend about this article.