I cannot agree more with President Yar’Adua who recently identified leadership as the greatest problem plaguing Nigeria. He, said leadership was not conferred on people because they had the opportunity to lead, but was rather earned. The president made these statements when the Niger State Governor presented him with the report of a one-day symposium on “A New Leadership Culture”, organized by the National Orientation Agency in collaboration with the Niger State Government in the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Hear him “People must recognize the finite nature of such wealth, as well as the day of reckoning when the eternal consequences of oppression, abuse of office and trust of those they govern shall be visited on those who misuse such opportunities,” He observed that people used leadership positions to show arrogance, oppress others and misappropriate resources meant for the generality of Nigerians instead of serving them as directed by God.

And this is the fundamental problem bedeviling the nation; namely the dearth of selfless leadership. When the current President introduced the concept of servant-leadership, it sounded alien, almost weird to most politicians who are used to the status quo. For example, when Chief, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, the former PDP Chairman was nominated for Ambassadorial posting, not a few voices rose in opposition. I was one of them. The grouse against the man was (and is still) the fact that his idiosyncrasies did not portray him as a patriotic citizen that could elevate the interest of the country above personal ambition. It was also generally perceived in many quarters (and rightly so) that he lacked the diplomatic finesse expected of an Ambassador. Ali is simply too raw and unrefined in his approach to politics to handle ambassadorial duties where tact, not force, is a basic prerequisite for success.

In saner societies, Ali should have voluntarily declined the nomination, knowing fully that he is not qualified for it. But here, in our Nigeria morality walks on its head. So Yar’Adua, in an apparent attempt to compensate the man for his garrison tactics that helped plant him in Aso Rock, went ahead to send his name to the Senate where he was subsequently screened and confirmed. During the screening, the man made some fabulous claims about his patriotism, qualifications and willingness to serve the nation in the capacity of an Ambassador. What he failed to tell the Senate then was that, he was willing to do all these on the one condition that he is posted to the so called juicy nations where the grass is said to be green. What Ali did not want the Senate to know was that he saw his nomination first as an opportunity to go on a government-sponsored holiday in Gods-own-country where he could enjoy the spoils of the do-or-die battle he fought in April 2007.

But Ali’s true intentions were not to remain secret for too long. When the South African government rejected Ali, Yar’Adua, having misread Ali’s body language, was reported to have proposed another African country, believing that Ali would gladly take the next flight to just anywhere in response to the call to serve his fatherland. He was wrong! The man threw the offer back at the President in the most undiplomatic manner thus confirming two things; one, that his personal interests are superior to national interests and two, he lacked basic diplomacy. In his characteristic manner he thought he could intimidate Yar’Adua to repost him to his choice country. How audacious could some people be? Thank God Yar’Adua did exactly what I could have advised him to do, that is, Ignore Ali.

It has never been any secret what was driving Ali during the dark years that he held sway as Chairman of the largest and perhaps the weirdest political contraption (read party) in Africa. He turned the party into a private enterprise, drove away all the founding fathers of the party, desecrated the party Constitution and even sought to do same to the country’s Constitution in order to perpetuate the tenure of his benefactor, attempted to impose his wife on a Senatorial constituency, and helped turn elections into a do-or-die affair all for one reason-Ali must be in power.

It must be very hard for Ali to come to terms with the reality that he is on his way to political oblivion, as is the case with most Nigerian politicians who cannot survive without government patronage. This class of politicians seeks to be recycled in whatever capacity as long as their paths cross the corridors of power. This explains why an unpopular leader like Obasanjo is still clinging desperately to the post of BOT Chairman of the PDP against all sense of reason and open non-acceptance among the party ranks. One hopes the PDP NEC could be bold enough to send Baba back to Ota farm in today’s meeting.

I have dwelt at length on Ali as a case study but it is important to recognise that the quest for power as a means for personal gain is almost universal in the context of Nigerian politics. In the National Assembly, for instance, the struggle by members to head the various standing committees is not unconnected with the pecks associated with the office. When Etteh was removed over the house renovation scam, most of her acolytes blamed her woes on some House members who were not favoured in the committee appointments. While such arguments were insufficient to exonerate her, they at least alluded to the fact that, had those appointments favoured the ‘right people’ (wrong people actually) then her sins would have been covered at the detriment of public good. This is more plausible reasoning when we recall that similar allegations in the Senate were played down, apparently by those the Senate President placed in vantage positions in the Senate leadership.

Back to Yar’Adua’s (though not new) discovery on the problems of leadership in Nigeria, while agreeing with his assertion that the dearth of selfless leadership is our biggest headache, I am a bit worried by the repeated reference to divine intervention in these remarks. Coming a week after the former President (forget him!) told us to refer the power problem to our Father-in-Heaven makes these remarks all the more worrisome. It appears the President wishes to (and is contended) to admonish the errant leaders on the inevitable eternal wrath of God. No Sir. While agreeing that there is eternal punishment, we must leave that for eternity; we must also recognize that there is a place for punishment for abuse of leadership opportunities in this present life, which must not be left to God or postponed to eternity. And it is the duty of Mr. President to fish out those culpable and punish them according to the law.

While reacting to Obasanjo’s (legendary) meaningless outbursts on the power problem in which he told us to leave the power problem to God, Okey Ndibe in his ‘Offside Musings’ Column in the Daily Sun on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 asked Obasanjo to tell us how God may address the nation's power needs? And why would God solve a problem that Obasanjo, Imoke and Agagu could have easily handled with a little dose of patriotism, vision and commitment? Good questions! And I am tempted to ask Yar’Adua to tell us why God would met eternal punishment on those considered untouchable in this world by those He (God) has given the powers to enforce justice and law?

The Bible makes it clear in Romans 13:1 that human power, authority and the powers that be, are ordained by God. In other words, God has delegated some responsibilities to man, which when he fails to accomplish, becomes sin and could attract Gods wrath. So while warning corrupt leaders to beware of Gods wrath, the President must also beware of the same wrath if he fails to execute Gods counsel on erring leaders under his dispensation.

Robot  # 1 | 08.08.2008 00:33

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