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In Praise of Strong Leaders
By Chido Onumah
Newsdiaryonline Mon Oct 10,2011
Mr Chido Onuma
The preceding week was one of long speeches. From the
pre-independence lectures, to the goodwill messages, and down to
president’s Independence Day speech, our rulers had reason to
comment on the country’s socio-political crises.
The president set the tone with his speech at the ecumenical
centre a week before the independence anniversary when he said
he would not behave like an
Army General or the Biblical Pharaoh to solve the nation’s
problems, many of which need urgent attention. I am with the
president on this. The last thing Nigerians need now is to be
reminded of the era of army generals who oversaw the
despoliation of the country.
A few days later, at the anniversary lecture at the auditorium
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the president again spoke
about his unwillingness to play a general, even when it is
evident Nigeria is at war. He went a step further by asserting
that “strong institutions and not strong leaders can make
Nigeria great”. “I believe that for us to get to where we want
to be, as a nation we have to build strong institutions and when
we build them, they will drive the process,” the president said.
It is difficult to fault the president on this claim, except
that strong institutions do not build themselves.
The president has said a lot about what he is not. I am sure
Nigerians are interested in knowing who he is and the kind of
president he wants to be and how he is going to build enduring
institutions without being strong and firm.
I shall return to this.
“Nigeria remains unbreakable”, was how the Guardian reported
President of the Senate, Senator David Mark’s anniversary
message.
Through
his chief press secretary, Mr. Mark “urged Nigerians not to
despair because there will be light at the end of the tunnel”.
Haven’t we heard this “light at the end of the tunnel”
tale before? Regrettably, while our leaders see light and even
sunshine at the end of their tunnel, the ordinary Nigerian has
to contend with darkness and disaster.
The
Nigerian state has offered people like Mr. David Mark the best
of opportunities in his
almost three decades in government, so he can afford to ask
millions of unemployed and impoverished Nigerians not to despair
– their time will come. An army general, governor of Niger
State, (at 36), Minister of Communications, senator since 1999,
Senate President since 2007, and the prospect of running for
president in 2015 looming large, very few people have had it so
good like Mr. Mark in Nigeria.
Not to be outdone, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Aminu Tambuwal, “urged Nigerians to reverse the trend of
continuous lamentations over the nation’s state of affairs and
begin the process of rebuilding it”. In a statement by the
Chairman of the House Media and Public Affairs Committee, the
Speaker noted that “The spectre of lamentations which have been
our lot should stop and the process of rebuilding must begin in
earnest, starting with a passionate appeal to all those who feel
aggrieved to shun violence and other acts capable of promoting
disunity”.
For Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, there is no need for Nigerians to lament
the poverty, anarchy, or conspicuous consumption of the
political elite, particularly their “elected representatives”.
They must continue to work hard because the survival of
the country rests on them. Nigeria is an oil producing country
with three refineries. It doesn’t matter that the basic
means of cooking for the ordinary Nigerian – kerosene – has
become one of the most expensive commodities in the country, we
must continue to smile and hope for the best. Nigeria can’t
afford an aggrieved populace, not when the members of the
National Assembly are enjoying jumbo salaries and other perks of
office that are the envy of “advanced democracies”
It is worrisome that twelve years after the return to democracy
and billions of
dollars accruing to the Nigerian state, there is nothing to show
for it. Perhaps, it is time for
our so-called leaders to stop focussing on things they have no
power over and start delivering the dividends of democracy.
What do we make of a president who says he doesn’t need to be a
strong leader to build strong institutions other than to say
that history does not support his assertion? It is needless to
embark on a historical excursion on why the president is wrong
on this point. Of course, we
can’t overemphasize the
need for strong institutions. Public institutions and
infrastructure in Nigeria -- schools, electricity, hospitals,
roads, airports, have all but collapsed. Majority of
Nigerians run their own little state. To survive, you literally
have to provide your own security, electricity, water,
education, and healthcare.
Kayode Komolafe writing in Thisday of September 28, 2011, noted
that “10.1
million children are not even in the race for basic education in
this country.” Interestingly, he was quoting statistics from
2008. How can any nation survive when its greatest resource is
subjected to this kind of abuse? Nigeria has one of the highest
maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. Our
universities do not measure up to international standards; our
industries hardly produce anything!
When we consider the forgoing, we can appreciate the need for
strong institutions. But at the risk of sounding repetitious,
let me reiterate that strong
institutions do not build themselves. Indeed, there is nothing
wrong with our institutions (whether it is the police, civil
service, or universities) just as it can be said that there is
nothing wrong with Nigerians. Our problem is simply lack of
patriotic and selfless leadership. You can’t build a credible
and formidable police force, for example, when the Inspector
General of Police behaves like a bank manager. You will be
aghast to see the condition of the police colleges where our
policemen are trained. You can’t train someone under that
condition and expect a different result. You can’t build a
strong civil service when ministers are mired in corruption.
The president topped the week of speeches with his Independence
Day address. It was
one of the hollowest addresses by a Nigerian president.
“Together, we shall work for a Nigeria in which democracy and
the rule of law are sacrosanct. A country where corruption and
its attendant vices, are banished. A country where human life is
sacred and respected, and where the rights of the individual are
protected,” the president said.
We all know that human life is not sacred and respected in
Nigeria and the situation has gotten worse in the last one year.
The less said about fighting corruption the better. According to
the president, “A nation is sustained by its institutions and
systems. I have taken strong measures to improve on governance.
It is in this regard, that I signed into law, the Freedom of
Information Act.” To back up his
statement,
a few days after his speech, the president
ordered ministries, departments, and agencies to implement the
Freedom of Information Act, (FoIA) to accelerate the campaign
against corruption.
These are wonderful intentions and I am sure President Jonathan
expects to be taken seriously. On this note, it is important
that the president leads by example. There is a three month-old
request pending at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for
information about the asset declaration of the president. He
must feel scandalised
about this matter.
The president can be forgiven since he is not a student of
history, but when
we
talk about a strong leader, it can simply be one with strong
character and moral authority.
conumah@hotmail.com
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