Written by:
Paul thomas
Ireland


Leadership: The Woe of a Nation (Part 5)

As I bring to conclusion this serial on Leadership: Woe of a Nation. I cannot but feel disgruntled about the continued leadership failure that pervades the entire continent of Africa, most especially the country with the largest black population in the world; Nigeria. While nations seek better and progressive ways to ameliorate the lives of their citizenry through improved health care, access to good quality education, pollution free environment, provision of good quality housing and very highly successful process of wealth distribution through welfare packages; that guarantees the equitable re-direction of resources from the top to the bottom. Our own leaders plunge the people further into the abyss of hopelessness and squalor. Wealth meant for the wellbeing and the common good of the nation is pilfered by a few who portray themselves as leaders. Leadership ineptitude has crippled the once hopeful and prosperous nation, a nation that was once the hope of a continent has become the pariah amongst the Comity of Nations.

A country of 150 million people, from different cultures, background, upbringing, education, qualification, intuition, dreams, ideas, ideals, aspirations, hope, expectations and yet stagnated. A colossus only in number not in impact, the relevance of any nation is determined by her impact in the scheme of things. Nigeria has been relegated to the status of a failed state among serious minded nations. No serious leader who takes good governance and democracy seriously will berth-an-eye- lid toward Nigeria. How long will it take to bring about change to the people? 50 years into nationhood, the nation is still grappling with trivialities. The nation has not mastered one single act or process to make her relevant as a nation of serious minded people. Every nation is known for a particular product that they have developed, which that nation has mastered as its own. Japan, China, India, Britain and America have all mastered one act or another that is synonymous with them. These nations all have one thing that gives them comparative advantage above others. What is that one thing that Nigeria has? O! Sorry I know 419 or advanced Fee Fraud as popularly known in the west; a disturbing and derogative term that our beloved Nigeria has put into the lexicon of INTERPOL, CIA, and other security outfits. Oil, that great blessing endowed us by God, has been reversed by our so called leaders to create schism and slothfulness. Every single Nigerian longs for a pinch of the national cake. Our psyche has been awry to see leadership as a means to cheap money, influence and covetousness. Easy access to money via Black Gold has turned our leaders to pot-bellied, over-indulgent, mentally lazy, unproductive skivers, parading the corridors of power without the slightest clue about governance.

Many thinking countries of the world are now seeking alternative means of fuel to replace or reduce their dependency on oil. New technologies are being developed to create renewable, reusable means to power their economies. Frightening break through are already being recorded in most countries and in the next few years there will be a massive shift from oil to wind, electric, solar, bio, etc, when this happens I wonder what Nigeria has planned to confront the future. Our massive dependence on oil revenues, means if there is a substantial shift from oil dependency by our major clients to other means of fuel generation, this will lead to a colossal decrease in revenue which will lead to a near if not comatose economy for Nigeria. The recent fall in oil prices brought a glimmer of warning that; you cannot depend solely on oil, especially when you have the capacity to diversify your economy. In the next five years most economies would have comfortably moved into alternative sources of energy and where will that leave the giant of Africa? I pray it will not be in the abyss of hopelessness and desperation.

The refusal of governments both previous and succeeding to diversify the economy, especially with the enormity of wealth generated by oil these many years shows a clear case of misadventure in relation to the quality of our leaders. Other countries with sole dependence on oil but with good leadership have transformed their various economies from dependency on oil to other equally viable and productive sectors. United Arab Emirate about fifty years ago was a small fishing nation, but with the advent of oil they have been able to transform Dubai into one of the wonders of the world. A recent research on the longevity of oil in Arab Emirates speculates a depletion of oil by 2016. Armed with this reality the leaders took it upon themselves to begin a process of diversification. Now Dubai is a global force to reckon with. With massive investments abroad and a very vibrant and unequalled tourism industry, one of the best in the world; Arab Emirate is geared to face the future with assurance of being a major key player in the global arena.

Skilled leadership and effective resource management brought a once obscure nation into global prominence. The Dubai phenomenon is replicated all around the world where effective leadership exist. In Nigeria our pilfering leaders rather than diversify have intensified and improved their doggedness in thievery and mismanagement.

A Nigerian leader is not a visionary, he has no ideals, ethics or principles, for him there is no purpose for leadership other than to be worshipped. He’s so pre-occupied with the desire to control that he sees no reason why he should bother about the ideals of leadership. Once in government he becomes lord and master, he has no drive to accomplish any real vision, other than to acquire ill-gotten wealth and stash them away for his unknown generation. True leaders lead by serving, they lead because they have something to contribute to the development of their people and country. What similarities can be drawn between Nigerian leaders and their western counterparts, honestly they are centuries apart. The Nigerian leader is docile and unimaginative. No vision, no direction, no agenda. What real value have our leaders contributed to the development of Nigeria? Every succeeding Nigerian leader has plunged this nation deeper and deeper into the abyss.

This is the time for leadership to become visionary and not laissez-faire. We demand leaders who will purchase for us the future. We want to join the world as she advances and not play catch up all the time. We want to be relevant and regarded as world players in the international arena. We the people yearn for innovation and ingenuity in the way we are governed. We are tired of retired and retarded leaders who are constantly taking us into the dark ages rather than bring us into the future. We are tired of endless and pointless agenda and ceaseless re-branding that rather than catapult the nation; further makes the nation suspect to some insidiously sinister orchestration.

We require leaders that will convert the potential energies of our young school leavers into kinetic energy that will yield productivity and prosperity. Many of these school leavers, who roam the streets in search of non-existent jobs, carry latent capacity that can turn coal into gold. The capacity of their mind lies un-utilised. Their abilities lie dormant due to inactivity. Most of these young men and women carry innovations and ideas that can change the entire landscape of Nigeria and we can only know if we give them the opportunity to express their capacity. Prolonged emasculation of this category of Nigerians has seen unprecedented reprisals from them. Most of them now channel their creativity into hostage-taking and high class hooliganism.

Whilst in other climes where leaders maximise their tenure to serve the people our so called leaders seek to use their tenure to go to school in Harvard, the irrationality of these guys cannot but befuddle any rational thinker. The recent scandal in one of the states in America was due to the governor’s negligence of duty, he left office for 5 days without any logical reason other than for amoral detour. Now the people of that state want explanation for vacating his seat for five days when he should be governing them. Our own leaders want to take the bulk of their tenure to go and learn how to govern the people that elected them, sorry, selected them into office. What is the purpose of governance if the governor has to go to school to learn how to govern, when in actual sense he should be governing? Travesty of leadership nothing else. Deeper knowledge, understanding, know-how, etc. are all concepts that are learnt as you judiciously govern. You cannot wait to get to the war front before learning how to handle or shoot your rifle, by then it will be too late. The insincerity of our leaders is atrocious. How can you govern your state in absentia? Wonders of Nigerian politicians will never end.

The challenges we confront are real. Today countries are pulling all available resources together to ensure that their citizens and economies stay afloat. We in Africa and Nigeria especially cannot afford to do business as usual. We must begin to pave our future towards a formidable and meaningful direction. Extending the frontiers of her nation transcends rhetoric and clichés; it involves discipline, hard work, purpose, focus, accountability and transparency and only real leadership can make this happen. We want leaders that will galvanise us and not separate us. We want leaders that will empower us not dispossess us. Human capital development and resources management remains the most veritable drive of most advanced countries. For us it cannot be different, we must develop our minds and manage our resources, we must build infrastructure and allow technocrats run these infrastructure. While small neighbouring nations are strenuously getting their acts together to better the lives of their people we are busy bombarding ourselves and getting excited that we are fighting war with a group of people who are demanding equity and fair play.

Nigeria remains a big concern to international observers. Our performance in the region is awful. While the jobless leaders can roll out the drums with their sycophants and dance the dance of shame. While they mouth the successes recorded and deceive us with the number of roads they have resurfaced and the number of street lights they have installed and how they intend to go to the moon in 2020. The fundamental problems are still palpable, Nigeria remains the only country in the whole world that I know of, that powers her economy using generators. How can a nation survive running an economy on generators? Most of the industries are comatose; unemployment is rising faster than jobs are created if we are creating any at all. Health is abysmal, transportation is horrendous and security is a nightmare. The rule of law an anathema, policing a parody, education infantile, leaders a sham and the people frustrated, battered, emasculated, despondent, ostracised and deprived. While ourleaders go about in endless convoys and insane blaring of sirens, we the people await them and posterity waits to administer the same medicine that our leaders so gleefully and unabatedly prescribed and administered to Nigerians. Please know when history is chronicled be sure that your name will either arouse the applause of the people or the curses of the oppressed.

Concluded.

Shalom

Paul Thomas
Ireland

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