By Femi Oyelola
There is no gainsaying that Nigeria, as it is today, needs reimagining and remaking to place it on the path of national development However, only visionary and competent leadership can revamp the comatose economy, ignite the country’s industrialization, and jumpstart the technological innovation and development brought about by years of mismanagement, resulting in insecurity and poverty.
It shocks to the marrow of many that the country with its immense human and material resources, still occupies the rear of the ladder of global development.
This brings to mind, why Nigeria, a well-endowed country, still trapped in the cocoon of economic and technological backwardness.
Nigerians have placed the blame for the country’s low level of economic and technological advancement at the door step of the leadership.
Coroborating this, the Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Arc. Gabriel Yakubu Aduku at a Forum recently said the country is a land flowing with immense human and material resources
The ACF Chairman observed that proverbial milk and honey make Nigeria the envy of many nations because of her enormous human and material resources. Sadly, however, despite these humongous endowments, the country is unarguably one of the least developed in the world.
Aduku opined that the major problem associated with Nigeria is the nature of the leaders that have ruled the country, be they civilian or military.
As legendary Chinua Achebe once remarked, that, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely, a failure of leadership. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian character.
“There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”
Given credence to this Arc. Aduku said while other nations have been blessed with charismatic and visionary leaders, Nigeria is bedeviled with what Victor Dike (2013) calls ‘instrumental leaders’ against ‘societal leaders’.
According to Dike, the instrumental leader uses power and influence, primarily in the pursuit of private (personal, close family, cohort) goals. Community objectives are secondary to an instrumental leader.
The main concern of the instrumental leader is how he can use his office to achieve personal objectives. He may not be lacking in social/community commitments, but in practice, more consideration is given to the self over the interests of the society that he governs.
Unlike the instrumental leader, Dike noted that a societal leader is visionary, charismatic, and altruistic.
He resigns voluntarily if he thinks of himself as having failed, but an instrumental leader continues to hold on to power so long as his objectives are achieved.
“It is surprising that no President or Head of State has ever resigned voluntarily because he has failed to serve the people right in Nigeria. Nelson Mandela, former President of post-Apartheid South Africa was a shining example of a societal leader, who refused to run for a second term, even when he was prodded by the people and even as the constitution allowed it. Except for a few sets of First Republic leaders, almost all other Nigerian past and present leaders are instrumental leaders.
Aduku stressed that the instrumental leaders in the country have failed to inculcate morality in the people.
“They have failed to lay good examples, both in words and in deeds. Unfortunately, there is no leader in the country’s body polity that the youths are looking up to for mentorship.
“The implication of this is that there is a trust deficit in the leadership of the country. Even some of those who rose to power on the back of their acclaimed past integrity have disappointed the people.
“Related to the foregoing is the way and manner the political class in Nigeria has deployed politics as a tool for personal, class, family and close family aggrandizement rather than using it to altruistically serve humanity.” He said
While democracy holds the promise of ensuring collective involvement in governance, the brand of politics practiced in Nigeria is seemingly exclusivist and characterized by a winner-takes-all mentality such that only a few persons have access to the spoils of office and political patronage while the majority are often left in the lurch. The road to political office is often fouled by intrigues, subterfuge, violence, and exclusion, which in the end, makes peaceful and credible elections mere wishful thinking.
A citizen activist in Kaduna Yusuf Ishaku Goje was blunt while speaking on leadership failure. He said most of the people holding political offices today in Nigeria are not leaders but rather rulers and exploiters.
Goje explained that to hold on to the privileges that power gives, the so-called leaders create and sustain extractive political and economic institutions that prioritize rent-seeking and nepotism as against inclusive and sustainable development.
“These office holders, who are not fit to be called leaders, only see the people as pawns in the game of capturing and holding onto political power. They have turned democracy on its head, as it is now the government of the elites, by the elites and for the elites.
“The solution is to focus on investing in youth leadership development. Expose them not to academic education, but transformational leadership. “ He stressed
Attesting to Goje’s views Alhaji Ibrahim Hussain thinks that the leaders have failed to inculcate morality in the people.
“They have failed to lay good examples, both in words and in deeds. Unfortunately, there is no leader in the country’s body polity that the youths are looking up to for mentorship.
“The implication of this is that there is a trust deficit in the leadership of the country. Even some of those who rose to power on the back of their acclaimed past integrity have disappointed the people.”
In a Country where insecurity remains one of the key drivers of social unrest in Nigeria, no region in Nigeria has not come under the grip of one form of insecurity or the other.
The cumulative impact of insecurity on lives and property in Nigeria is enormous. For example, between January and June 2021, there were 5,800 deaths and 2,943 kidnappings, according to the Nigeria Security Tracker’s security incident report.
This equates to about 32 killings and 17 kidnappings every day. These killings have contributed to rising tension, anger, and frustration among the Nigerian public.
Similarly, Poverty continues to be a major source of social upheaval and a threat to peace, particularly in developing countries. In Nigeria, poverty remains one of the most serious social and economic issues the citizens have been contending with.
According to the World Bank, before the COVID-19 crisis, almost 4 out of 10 Nigerians were poor, with millions more at risk of sliding into poverty as a result of the lack of inclusion due to leadership failure.
Investigations have revealed that there is a strong correlation between poverty and social unrest. When people are poor and cannot meet their basic needs, it could lead to frustration and agitation. When these frustrations and agitations are poorly addressed they could boil over into collective action, especially under a system where there is a leadership failure.
However the ACF National Chairman Gabriel Aduku proffered some solutions to leadership failure in the country when he harped that to address the leadership deficit in Nigeria, concerted efforts must be made to create a level playing field for all eligible and qualified Nigerians to aspire to political office without let or hindrance.
He pointed out that Democracy dividends must be made to percolate to all and sundry, irrespective of political affiliation and differences, and shouldn’t be made the exclusive preserve of a select few.
According to him, Politics is a game of numbers, the electorate must be allowed to choose leaders of their choice without intimidation, coercion, or threat of any kind or type.
Collaborating this Yusuf Ishaku Goje opined that Civic engagement is an important component of all democracies.
He therefore urged that the different groups in Nigeria involved in agitations over various forms of marginalization creating tension and restiveness in the country, must not be hounded down by the government as is the current practice.
“The government should look into the complaints of these restive groups and dialogue with them. Dialogue does not imply weakness but a more civic way of engaging people in liberal democracies” Goje said.
