29 May 2008 |
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Democracy has never been so ill-defined anywhere in the world than in Nigeria. By this, I mean, democracy is defined by Nigerians themselves (citizens) as government of the “BIGMEN/WOMEN” for BIGMEN/WOMEN and unto to BIGMEN/WOMEN with only minimum interest for ordinary citizens. Granted, democracy, any democracy for that matter, even that of the United States of America is work in progress but democracy cannot be and must not be set on stop and start system as it seems to be in Nigeria. If the Nigerian type of government is to test who can best make mistakes, then our current sojourn into democracy can be considered successful. Only those that are taking advantage of our common misery will consider our democracy a success. What exactly was the purpose of the current president when he ran for the position? Was he to change the mind set of Nigeria from “what can I take from Nigeria” or how best can I serve Nigeria? This is a fundamental question to ask leaders in a participatory democracy. A leadership that augments poverty, destroys educational system, disenfranchises common sensibilities, morality, destroys the infrastructures (roads, energy, aviation, education, morality), destroys the common bond amongst us, which is trust; protects thieves without listening to the cries of the heavily laden citizens is a far cry from decent leadership. This cannot be a form of government but a cultic system where a few enjoy at the expense of the majority and don’t give a damn about feelings of the majority. But, I still believe in a democracy that: generates life abundantly for average Nigerian; creates faith and responsible citizens not fraudulent ones; produces monumental changes on which future citizens can build upon; frightens the fraudulent and the 419 amongst us to seek platforms on which to vent their aggression in a positive manner without co-opting fellow citizens to rottenness. Furthermore, the democracy we practice in Nigeria, more than any other in the world, must be compassionate; produce political and effective miracles; heal hurting citizens, build character of our nation, transform our common circumstances, and impart joy beyond the false claim that “Nigerians are the happiest citizens in the world.” Moreover, our democracy must cause citizens to overcome almost all known adversities; defeat spiritual, moral and physical temptations, and more importantly, infuse hope, release power to the people, change the minds of the doubting Thomases while guaranteeing hope of our promised tomorrow. Our democracy is a warped democracy. It is a democracy in which an individual is held up high even while he/she is destroying humanity and the system that gave him opportunity to serve. A case in point is on the learned senators who are not serving us but sharing our common resources amongst themselves. How on earth could Senator Ibrahim Saminu Turaki make a case for term elongation for a president who is still finding his feet and who in-spite of knowing that Nigerian problems are so colossal and demand almost instant and thoughtful solutions think of invoking the dead ghost of term elongation? This senator must have half a brain. It is not surprising that these same Senator was once a Governor of a State in Nigeria. How do we choose our leaders to begin with? In case for term elongation, Senator Turaki expressed that Yar ‘Adua’s tenure should be extended because he, Yar ‘Adua, is the first graduate and has a plan that he cannot fully execute within two terms. What a deranged Senator who refuses to learn from past mistakes of OBJ 3rd term agenda. If the likes of Senator Turaki are the best Nigerian states can produce as leaders, Nigeria is in deep pile of dung. Nigeria is still in her embryonic state because 47 years after Independence, Nigeria’s leadership is still immature and selfish to the core. Someone once said most of our leaders are 419ners, fraudulent and unpatriotic citizens who are ready to sell Nigeria to anyone willing to buyer her. Of all the shortcomings, I hope the servant leader is not part of this group. Who dare us talk negatively about what President Yar ‘Adua achieved or not achieved in the past year? For one thing, how can Afenifere say that “For the last one year, Yar ‘Adua’s administration has been that of "inertia, lack of focus, policy reversals, ruse of law, underdevelopment and breakdown in governance," where was Afenifere when one of theirs, OBJ was stuffing Yar ‘Adua in our throats? What any reasonable Nigeria can say is that Yar ‘Adua has performed to the level of his ability, competence and managerial skills. What exactly do we expect to get from him? No one can plant okra and expect to get yam. For MYU to succeed, he must get all hands on deck because of the complexity of the self inflicting problems we created. Leave the president to map out his plans for Nigeria slowly, may be we’ll get results some day before the next generation passes to the great beyond. One be fooled, Alhaji Musa Yar ‘Adua knew before his forcibly entrance to competing for the presidency of Nigeria that Nigeria’s problems predated all Administrations. That the problems of Nigeria predate every administration including the present administration is a fact but how a leader finds solutions to such problems is the actual test of leadership. If being a graduate is a panacea for good leadership, our first graduate should have shown better handle at resolving the nagging Nigerian problems. All we are getting from the leaders is that someone or a group of people are working against them from achieving their goals – kindergarten reasoning if I may say. OBJ after spending billions of Naira on Power finally told us that the bogie man did not allow him succeed. What will MYU tell us after taking us through a rudderless four years? If MYA has a plans for Nigeria, he must be keeping them to his chest or they are stealth plans that no Nigerian is allowed to know about. Yet everything around the president such as education, health, energy, so-called “rule of law” are not helping the nation. So far, no one is seriously prosecuted for bad acts for consciously defrauding the nation and or encouraging lawlessness. A year latter, where has our captain taken Nigeria, where is he driving the ship of state to? I have no doubt that MYA is a nice and decent man but personal nicety, though worth it, but takes a nation nowhere if not combined with the vision and common purpose that are capable of moving a nation forward. But, what are Mr. President’s achievements after a year in office, reasonable, and patriotic Nigerians would like to know? I hope someone excluding Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, the president’s point man can tell the nation in a succinct way. Mr. Adeniyi tells us that “In spite of the overwhelming pressure for instant “democracy dividends”, President Yar ’Adua continues to follow his sincere conviction that meaningful development does not just happen, but is a product of careful planning and proper implementation.” Nigerians, by no means, are not looking for big bang development rather, they are seeking for incremental and measurable developments. Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, even the simple development is lacking within the 365 days of this administration’s existence. All these issues that you brought up here are theoretical in nature. They do not bring food to table; they provide no electricity; they do not build our common psyche; and do not help Nigeria move forward along all measurable human matrices. We need to know what Mr. President’s plans are so that we can have a check list of his real not imagined achievements. Sir, you don’t have to tell the nation about the President’s achievements, if they exist, even non graduate Nigerians would have felt them and pronounced them to high heaven. The idea of giving away the presidency of Nigeria by someone who does not own Nigeria has to stop because Nigerians have been pronounced by the world to be full of smart thinking citizens. It is my believe that it is time for Nigerians to elect a president based on past performance, ability to reason properly, ability to show patriotism and build leadership on citizens that believe in Nigeria more than they believe in patronizing China, Japan, Jamaica, France, US, Germany and/or UK. We are not asking the president to predicate Nigerian’s salvation on short cuts or populist quick-fixes. All we are asking for is a president who can show the nation where his “diligent planning and execution” will lead Nigeria in the short and long terms. I don’t think that Nigerians are so daft not to know if there is a plan or if there is none and if a plan is working or not. Mr. President doesn’t seem to have a plan and if he does no one knows it. Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, where is Mr. President Yar ‘Adua on health issues, a service he needs more than anyone else (the plan cannot be for everyone to dash to Germany for headache or fever)? Where is Mr. President’s plan on education – none? Where is Mr. President’s plan for energy – the backbone of any nation’s industrial development? Is it that he is comfortable for everyone using noisy generators and polluting the air? Where is Mr. President’s plan on the nation’s aviation infrastructural improvement? Where are we heading, Mr. President? I thought you said you had seven point plans for Nigeria which OBJ sold to the disgustingly accepting Nigerians because he was protecting himself through the person who was least likely to have the courage to probe him? Mr. Adeniyi, please tell your boss that the state of the nation, I wanted to say Union (no union but disjointed tribes) is not sound. Even OBJ who is not a graduate gave us a plan, even though his plans were mostly plans to sell Nigeria parastatals to himself through surrogates. Nonetheless, he was courageous enough to have a plan and to execute some of his plans so effectively. We need to know right now and then what your plans are and if you don’t have one, we may as well give the presidency to a kindergarten student because a kindergarten student will do no worse. Even if a leader does not have a clue, surrounding himself with professionals from all walks of life can make leading very effective. Your ministers are ineffective because one cannot point to any policy matters they have been able to come up with to make you look good. You must recognize that it is not the zone that a minister comes from that is important but his ability to render effective professional advice to you in a timely manner. Mr. President, this has to be your next priority such that majority of our citizens benefit from your citizen-oriented policies. Good leaders are made not born. If anyone has the desire and willpower, he/she can become an effective leader. In fact, good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. Furthermore, a good leader must not define the aggregate of their success in office, only history and the lead will have 20/20 hindsight to define the success and failure of your administration. So far, the general consensus is that you are getting close to a “D” grade for lack of openness to defining and providing your plans for the nation. All able potential leaders must have an honest understanding of who they are, what they know, and what they are capable of doing. It is actually the followers, not the leader who determines if a leader is successful. So, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, stop your efforts in confusing Nigerians about your boss’s performance. If the followers (Nigerians) do not trust or lack confidence in your boss, definitely, they will be uninspired. To be successful, you must advise President Yar ‘Adua to convince Nigerians, not himself or his sycophants, that he is worthy of being followed. It is more than 365 days now and we cannot point to what you have achieved as a leader. It is not that we are questioning your credibility as a leader but that you have not done effective communicating of your plans with your constituents, the Nigerians. We cannot find a way of measuring your Ministers’ performance. Mr. Adeniyi can defend the servant leader as much as he wants, all Nigerians need are measurable results whether it is obtained with a snail or with jet speed, at the end of the day where is the result. Mr. President, you are probably enjoying the benevolence of Nigerians who reluctantly accepted the rigged election and has not thrown you out on your head because they thought that in-spite of it all, your education will make you behave differently from some of our power-hungry, low self-esteemed, mansion building and treasury looting leaders of the past. Mr. President, be a good student of history. Should you decide to follow the footsteps of these past leaders, the risk Nigerians took on you will not be worth it and none-violent revolution may come Nigeria's way. I wish the “servant leader” well in terms of health, improved leadership, and in all aspects of quality life.
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