NIGERIA AND THE CHALLENGES OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
As I was
travelling in a tricycle in the company of two passengers along the Wetheral
road in the city of Owerri, Nigeria on the 21st day of January,
2013, I met a vista. Prior to the Port Harcourt road junction, peering leftward,
I saw an inscription boldly written on a bill board: Politicians think of the next election, but Leaders think of the next
generation. Suddenly, the lady nearest to me pulled out deep smiles for me.
I was immediately shouldered about the circumstance, and as the man I should be
I returned the smile. I had to ask her the reason for which she gave to me such
a smile. She immediately retorted: but you smiled first? I then realized that while
trying to revolve my neck for more views, my face had radiated an involuntary
smile as a result of the inscription, for at first sight, I felt pleased with
the inscription. A discussion abruptly broke out among the three of us
concerning the Nigerian politics and the leadership challenges and mentality,
when I had explained to them the context of the involuntary smile. Wonderful
the statement might appear, and although pleased at first sight with the
inscription, I extracted some distorted ideas hovering around the practice of
Politics in this country.
I believe and
hence, insist that one of the major reasons for any patriotic person enrolling
in any political party is to make the society better, for posterity sake.
Politicians are meant to think of the common good and of the next generation,
not the next election. It is in the midst of these right thinking politicians
that leaders are selected. In this sense, for whatever motif the bill board was
put there, the inscription becomes a product of a corrupt political mentality,
and hence no applause is accruable to it. More so, this write-up acknowledges
the richness of this passionate field analysis of our Nigerian Politics and
leadership by the three of us. Nevertheless, we have employed more
answer-seeking questions to help us grasp the major coverage of our topic: What is Political Leadership? What are the
challenges in the Nigerian Political Leadership? What are the people’s
expectancies in their choice of leaders? In what ways can the challenges be
overcome? This is the background and scope around which I write.
‘Political
leadership’ is a combination of two words, one acting as the noun and another
as an adjective. Even though the noun makes full meaning on its own, the
addition of the adjective affects its meaning; it is this affection that we are
to explain. Leadership in our context is the capacity of someone to direct,
conduct, guide, counsel, and instruct another in a particular course. This
capacity must be merged with authority. The added adjective political offers it the fuller meaning.
This exercise is an art of governing persons in a defined polis (city state); for politics etymologically is traced to the
root word politike which is the
science of the city state or the polis and its members (cf. Onyeocha I. M.,
1994: 9). Hence, Political leadership embraces the totality of the governing
personnel who lead the people according to a particular system towards a shared
goal; indeed, it embraces the science or art of how society is organized or
run.
It is glaring
that political leadership in Nigeria is dismal. Going along history line, this
society has always been plagued by rogue leadership dominated by treasury
(financial and asset) looting and electoral mismanagements, political god-fatherism
and brigandage, partisanism and endemism, ageism and masculinism; indeed,
simply put political corruption. These are so stretched that Nigerian political
leadership has been made synonymous with corruption. In the words of Izu Marcel
Onyeocha, “Nigerian politics is one of acrimony, dissension, division,
sectionalism, and political sleight of hand”; what one sees is mostly cheap,
largely uncoordinated, free-for-all jungle politics of hassle and intrigue, and
which does not hold any promise neither in intent nor in its unfolding, and as
a result, there seems to be little attention paid to the implications of
politics for the progress and growth of the country (1994: 14) In such
situation, descent and public-spirited individuals are disparaged and
discouraged from participating in the resultant dirty politics. Even the few
with altruistic motifs who venture are seen being compromised; thereby joining
the bandwagon.
Our lives in
Nigeria have in recent times been berated by a worsening security situation,
manifested in sporadic bomb blasting, armed robbery, arson, politically
motivated assassinations, massive youth unemployment and acrimonious poverty.
Many are under-nourished; economic, education, health and social
infrastructures are collapsing and fizzling. Our leaders rather than feed and
tend the flock in their charge, choose instead to feed themselves on the sheep
and the milk, to dress themselves in their wool, and abandon the sheep, putting
their lives in danger (cf. Ezek 34:1ff). As far back as 1988, the African
Leadership Forum had outlined challenges that confront African nations; viz.,
capacity building, food security, external debt burden, international trade and
payment relations, efficiency of trade investments, regional and sub-regional
economic integration, consideration of expenditures on arms and armaments, and
concern for the very poor and the vulnerable groups in the process of
structural adjustments (The African Leadership Forum, Report of the Discussion
Group on Economic and Social Issues confronting African Development Ota:
Nigeria, 24th Oct – 1st Nov., 1988). It is then
disheartening that these problems (and even more) still today stare us in the
face. All these are serious challenges and happenings that confront political
leadership in this nation. Who is that leader that will lead us away from all
these? Who will lead us to conquer these fortresses? Leadership intent is now
located in the ambience of self aggrandisement. Politicians must base their
enrolment in their political parties on the proper intention and end of
leadership.
Nigerians are in
dare need of leaders who are sincere with their promises; who can listen to the
masses; who can suffer with the masses and so give in their best. Yes, “we long
for the most elusive quality in our leaders –the quality of authenticity, of
being who you say you are, of possessing a truthfulness that goes beyond words”
(thanks to Obama B., 2006: 66). How can citizens live in their country without
the benefits of just wage, justice, security of life and property? How can
citizens live in their country without the benefits of standard education, stable power supply, good roads, and of good housing scheme? Where efforts were
made to provide these amenities, they were mostly poorly executed with no
reasonable outcome or not done at all or left half-way for next administrations
to inherit and overlook. We need leaders
who can encourage and motivate the citizens to
actively participate in manufacturing or agricultural processing by the building
of industries and appropriate incentives. We need
initiatives that could ignite this country’s industrial structures,
infrastructures and superstructures as
happened in China and other countries. We need leaders who can transcend ethnicity and religion, and employ more those ideals that will make for national
unity. We need
serious policies that can assist in converting our abundant human and natural
resources to beneficial purposes.
To
overcome these challenges, there must be a general mental reorientation. In the
Trouble with Nigeria, C. Achebe had
stated that Nigerians are corrupt because the system they live under today
makes corruption easy and profitable; and after 28years, still repeating these
same words in the There was a Country,
he reiterated that corruption in Nigeria has grown because it is highly
encouraged. “The problem of corruption and indiscipline is probably worse today
it’s ever been, because of the massive way the Nigerian leadership is using the
nation’s wealth to corrupt, really to destroy the country” (Achebe C., 2012:
249). He therefore presented a solution: if you commit a crime, you should be
brought to book. Hold people responsible for misconduct and punish them if they
are guilty; examine the issue of accountability which is a strong argument in
the fight against corruption (Achebe C., 2012: 251). Those who pilot the affairs of the country must sit up and sincerely tackle the corruption monster attacking our collective national destiny and aspirations, so as to block this
stagnation and deterioration of our
economic progress and political revolution. Our election must be free and fair.
The youths ought to be incorporated adequately into governance, and there
should be no gender/age/ethnic discrimination. Let him/her who has the best
workable motif lead.
Every citizen of this nation must show patriotism in his/her relation
with the nation, especially during election, by participating actively and
voting the candidate of his/her choice according to his/her moral judgment. We
must not leave this nation to be successful; thus a check ought to be made in
our manner of emigration, so as to discover those disincentives that repel
citizens away and the incentives that draw them towards other nations. In this
discovery, a head way can be made. We need to sit tight in this country and
make it better. We must help the government and leaders to serve us well, by
not involving ourselves in those crimes and practices (such as armed-robbery,
sanitation and environmental rules, disobedience to the laws, etc.) that will
raise tension in their governance. There should be an all-embracing
co-operative nation-building that can develop higher education on a large
scale, raise the standard of living, increase social interaction, maintain
postal services and communications, coordinate economic activities, recognize
the right of the people and the authority (apologies to Izu Marcel Onyeocha,
1994:12). Indeed, we must go back and live out the words of the second sentence
in the third stanza of our National Anthem where we pray that God assists us to
build a nation where no person will be oppressed. Surely, this is the country
that we can truly call ours.
Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi
