Revamping The Nigerian Leadership:
Applying What We Know.
Being an open paper delivered
By Oliver O.
Mbamara
at the 2010 Nigerian Leadership Summit in New York
As we celebrate Nigeria's 50th Independence
Anniversary.
Though
selected to address the topic of "Fighting Corruption in Nigeria," I
intend to make this discourse more about recognizing how we could move
the leadership of the country forward rather than dwelling entirely on
corruption. In recent years, many Nigerian writers and social
commentators have been addressing several Nigerian issues touching on
leadership, society, religion, economy, arts, and many others. Yet,
interestingly these issues continue to strive or repeatedly surface in
various forms as various challenges and shortcomings under different
leadership.
It is nothing new to say that the culture of corruption has been so
rooted in the Nigerian polity with the Nigerian leadership in the
forefront, but it might help our discourse to give the analogy that the
extent and character of corruption within the Nigerian leadership has
been like a relay race where the baton changes hand to continue the
race. The only difference is that unlike a relay race which aims to win
the race and uplift the team, the leadership change of baton in Nigeria
is built around the objective to selfishly amass what belongs to many
and then horde and abuse the same within the confines and pleasure of a
few. In other words, leadership changes but the character of deliberate
mismanagement and embezzlement of public fund continues.
Yet, it is not about public fund alone. The reputation and goodwill of
the people of Nigeria which could in some cases be more valuable than
financial wealth are also mismanaged in a manner that continues to
impact the progress and future of the country and its people. So the
question remains; are the challenges and shortcomings of leadership in
Nigeria embedded in the leadership per se or could there be another
underlying source or cause?
Obviously there would be various answers to this question as there are
various perspectives by over 140million people, but let us kick off this
discourse by submitting that besides the problem in leadership, the
challenges and shortcomings of leadership is significantly embedded in
the society though the shortcomings are mostly executed by a very small
minority that seizes hold of power only to selfishly mismanage the affairs
of leadership.
Every leader has a background and orientation that is to a good extent
imparted by the society and the manner the individual expresses this in
his or her daily live is sometimes condoned by the society or at other
times condemned if such expression becomes anti-society. The
condemnation in question is a societal responsibility that acts as a
check of society on itself and there could be various ways of applying
such checks. When such checks are abandoned society tends to fall apart.
There is an Ibo saying that: “when an evil act is allowed to continue
for a length of time, it becomes the norm.” This is akin to the
discussion in jurisprudence about society, law, and morality. These
tenets exist side by side and to some extent influence each other, which
ultimately influences what becomes of a society and its people.
During the early days of the early man, what obtained was the concept of
survival of the fittest. You conquer and vanquish your neighbor or enemy
if you are stronger, sometimes in self defense and sometimes out of the
drive to dominate, and at other times to simply exist. Then the more man
saw the need to cohabit with each other, the more he became selfless and
more accommodating of the rights and space of others. This led to
respect for the lives and properties of others, which led to man-made
conventions (laws) for a more peaceful and equitable co-existence. That
goal of seeking to attain or maintain some sort of peaceful and
equitable co-existence continues to partly drive society and leadership
till today. A perfect state of peaceful and equitable co-existence in
man's society on earth may never be achieved but to abandon the goal of
maintaining some sort of peaceful and equitable co-existence, could lead
to total chaos.
Responsibility for the deliberation, creation, application, execution,
and maintenance of these guiding rules of society is what leadership is
about. It is based on this that human and societal laws continue getting
enacted, amended, or repealed accordingly as the need arises just as man
continues to seek for the most appropriate rules (of law) to guide
society. If left in the hands of a few lacking in responsibility and
humane conscience, leadership could be mismanaged and if unchecked it
could lead to tyranny (dictatorship), which could further spiral into
anarchy, chaos, and/or a lawless society.
A society that finds itself losing grip or veering off the course of
basic leadership responsibility has a superior responsibility to
redirect its course which in many cases would mean a change of the
status quo. Such change could be in the form of basic but significant
re-orientation and re-awakening to better tenets. In some instances such
changes are consciously engineered to gradually occur. In other
instances, such changes naturally occur on their own volition when all
the factors are in place but consciously or unconsciously ignored by the
leadership and members of the society. Whether the Nigerian leadership
has the required conscience and sense of duty to voluntarily redirect
its course and therefore lead well is a question that is bound to be
answered in a matter of time (which could be a topic for extra
discourse). One thing is clear, change is inevitable. The status
quo has to change at some point. Such cannot be denied for too long for
it is a natural course of life (and event) that will come when it will
come.
Yet, one of the purposes of a leadership summit of this nature is to proffer
and exchange ideas and solutions that could improve the leadership
situation in question. In line with this I will briefly quote from two
papers I had previously written and published as far back as 2002.
Though written years ago, the points raised are still very relevant and
applicable today as they are yet to be heeded.
1.
In March 2002, I wrote in an article titled, “Investing in Nigeria
(and Africa): The security question.”
- “It is only upon a solid foundation of peace and security of life and
property that economic and political stability can be built to last. I
look forward to the day our leaders would make safety and security their
utmost priority for their country (not just around the leaders
themselves). Employ more policemen, arm and train them better, but above
all pay them well to attract more recruits and discourage bribery -
there are many young men and women wasting away, yet willing and able to
grab a police job anytime. It is said, 'the idle mind is the devils
workshop.' When the youths have no jobs after their education, they
easily accept an offer of a token fee to carry out violence and mayhem.
Our leaders have continued to ignore this obvious equation.”
2.
In August 2009, I wrote in an article titled, "Accountability and
Responsibility, the Kind of Rebranding We Need" (Part 2)
- "The rule should be to lead by good example. While many Nigerians
would tend to agree that re-branding maybe a good idea, it would be an
exercise in futility, bound to fail if Nigerians would not find the
confidence and encouragement to look up to their leaders for good
examples...In the end, re-branding maybe good for Nigeria, but it has to
start from the top."
A few days ago, the current President of Nigeria stated as follows on
his facebook page:
“The law must not be a respecter of persons and justice must at all
times be seen to have been done. If Nigeria is going to be a place
governed by the rule of law we would have to start at the top and work
our way to the bottom. I personally do not see the justice in sentencing
to prison a man who steals because he is hungry while the man who causes
the hunger by misappropriating funds meant to ease society's burden is
treated with kids gloves. There must be social justice in Nigeria
without which we will not have a level playing ground. GEJ on
Facebook - August 10, 2010
Obviously, our leaders know these things. The true test is in
applying these theories and methods which we know would improve our
leadership and country. Our progress lies in how honestly and selflessly
we execute them. So help us God.
Thank you.
Oliver O. Mbamara Esq.
August 14, 2010
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR: Oliver O. Mbamara is an Admin. Judge of New York State.
He is also a filmmaker and a
published writer, poet, and playwright. For
more on Oliver Mbamara, please visit www.OliverMbamara.com
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