These post-independent leaders were the leaders who established the standards in their regions, built their regional infrastructure, and ended up making a difference on the national stage.   The very infrastructure built by these leaders are the ones that today’s leaders are tearing down with wreckless abandonment.   For instance, Ahmadu Bello helped to facilitate the establishment of Ahmadu Bello University and other institutions with proceeds from cotton, groundnut, hide and skin, etc.  He was also instrumental in establishing Northern political dominance.  Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a well respected leader in his region provided universal free primary education and enabled the establishment of University of Ife and Ibadan with the proceeds from cocoa and other agricultural products.  Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and Michael Okpara helped to establish solid educational objectives; industrial can do attitude and the University of Nsukka in the East. 

The efforts of these regional leaders moved Nigeria to universal acceptance and notoriety.  These leaders were comfortable with themselves, were great tribalists and more importantly, they loved their regions first before coming on the national stage.  Unfortunately, today’s leaders are hardly effective or even known on the local level but got on the national stage by buying their way to the national level through looted funds or 419 proceeds.  These new set of leaders do not love themselves, their family, their tribes or their nation.   For instance, OBJ in trying very hard to show the nation he was detribalized, showed disdain for his tribe such that during his eight years tenure, he was not relevant in his own region by not effectively seeking the full support of his people.  Such arrogance is now manifested in the way Nigerians are treating OBJ with disdain while his tribe’s men are sitting on the fence amused.  A leader must, after providing his/her service to the nation, be able and proud to go home again.

Every leader that Nigeria had since her independence was not placed at leadership position to lead by accident.  The almighty does not make mistakes.  Even, Abacha as wicked and as much as he stole from the nation had a divine purpose, to show the nation how bad things can get.  IBB and his group opened our eyes on how a charismatic human being can turn to do devilish deeds and still carry some citizens along.  Obasanjo on the other hand gave us a sneak preview on how well meaning leader can allow arrogance and “I know it all” to derail a divine mission.  More seriously, I believe that OBJ was placed to lead Nigeria simply to stabilize the polity.  Of course, our “servant leader” may have been divinely placed to lead us at this time to get the younger generation to start thinking that they too can do better if they are only selfless.  

What we individually and corporately contributed to the decadence of our leaders is incalculable.  So, how do we rebuild leadership in Nigeria (Africa)?  To achieve effective and selfless leadership, the nation must:

   1.   Re-educate, re-inform, and re-orient citizens. A nation must establish the importance of the physical, spiritual, and economic contributions to national development.  Citizens must not be allowed to again view government as a mirage that can be cheated on without consequences.  Cheating on government is equivalent to cheating on oneself;

   2.   Our pastors who are establishing the churches all over the world must also take major share in leadership development.  When the white people came to Africa, they destroyed the existing culture, re-educated, destroyed the believes and then were able to steal all that were not tied down;

   3.   Our cultures must be used as part of our leadership development because if we continue to use “Oyibo” way of defining leadership, we’ll be separated from the reality of our environment;

   4.   A nation must be able to belief in herself and always tell herself the truth even if only on internal level;

   5.   Our new leaders must somehow subscribe to some divine power which they are responsible to at the end of the day.  If we embark on this, we may just have a group of citizens not necessarily politicians that will take on the cause of the nation, and who will come in and set the nation apart in order to raise our system beyond the current level of destruction; and finally

   6.   As if stealing/looting from the nation is not a capital offence enough, transferring such loots outside of the shores of Nigeria must be punished by capital punishment.  Why, capital punishment?  It is because home grown armed - pen rubbers end up killing Nigerians with their selfish actions through bad roads, lack of healthcare, lack of drinkable water, shambolic education, and capital flight needed to establish necessary infrastructures.  How can a man take the resources of his state, transfer it to other nations and still call himself a leader?

In this century and beyond, Nigerians must look beyond a leader with marginal performance.  This can only be accomplished by contributions from all citizens and not by recycling old hands who are selfish and have established their propensity to destroy the nation for their own gains. 

No one is born with leadership attached to his or her umbilical cord.  Only our collective efforts can bring about capable, selfless and outstanding leaders.  To move from where we are currently in Nigeria, the hysteresis of our misdirection must be dissected and understood and the blame game must stop because all hands must now be on deck. 

Our next set of leaders must involve citizens that are willing to give up their lives to get the nation to where we all want her to be.  These new set of leaders must be citizens that know their limitations and yet willing to improve odds of success in-spite of such limitations by engaging Nigerians from all regions instead of playing politics with our lives.  These must be citizens who are capable of empowering fellow citizens without giving up their power which only the almighty can give.  May be afterall, the best leader for our nation may not be the brightest but he would have our collective experience to tap into, be directed by our own cultural experience  in order to receive our full contribution and support.  He must be one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done for Nigeria and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they are defending our nation’s national interest even with their blood.  Each of our daily positive contribution may boost our leadership pool, our nation’s growth and may even erase the do-or-die politics from our vocabulary.