By Salaudeen Hashim
 |
| President Goodluck Jonathan |
“All of
the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness
to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time.
This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”
It’s
another independence day, Nigeria’s fifty-fourth since it gained freedom from
the British colonial masters on October 1st, 1960. As
usual, all the ‘as it was in the beginning’ events that follow an Independence
Day celebration have started in earnest: press release by Senate Leaders,
Talk shows, Independence Day Jams and all other razzmatazz.
Even if
there’s not much to celebrate, we can be thankful that we are still here.
Despite all the First Republic bickering and the ensuing fratricidal
civil war, the several military
invasions, protests, lockdowns and all, we are still here as one nation. That’s
a lot to be thankful for.
If anyone doubts the need for thanks, they only need
to imagine where we may be if we went down the path taken by some other
countries. There’s not much to celebrate either. Our health systems are, at
best, epileptic on the whole (of course, some states are doing very much better
than others) and anachronistic; educational institutions are much farther down
the depths than they were thirty years ago, civil service has lost its dignity,
security of lives is at the rock bottom level (I hope we don’t find out the
bottom is still deeper than where we are currently), power supply is medieval
and the roads have become death traps for many travellers all over the country.
While
it is said that every society deserves the leaders they get, it is important to
realise that the leaders in turn are responsible for the direction their
societies also go. A quick review of radio talk-shows and social media sites
this morning paint a picture of citizens who can ONLY WISH things were better
but seem to lack the power to make the change they want happen.
In a society
where memories of brutality in the military junta has instilled a background
fear into the minds of the citizenry that expressing your views might end you
in jail or by the hangman’s noose or the assassin’s bullet, many will just face
what is front of them: food, shelter, love, career, etc., rather that bother about
the needs of the society at large.
In this
background fear does the current crop of leaders believe, that no matter how
pushed the Nigerian is, he/she will take a lot indignities before he buckles
and revolts. They ride roughshod on the rights of those who elected them into
office and claim ‘immunity’. Even the traditional rulers do side with the
against the populace they are to protect. Truly, the death of Nigeria is the end-product
of its leaders.
From
the look of things, Nigeria is at the rock bottom. It can only go up if it is
to remain one indivisible Nigeria otherwise it ceases to exist as we know it.
When one looks from the prism of hope and follow the current social media and
real-life interaction among the youths of the country, what one would see is
that in not a very distant future, Nigeria is going to rise from the doldrums
and take its place among the nations of the world. It will wake up from the
long slumber of decades and actively participate to the level it should in
world affairs.
One day, the labours of our heroes past shall not be in vain and
the efforts of the heroes of today will bring joy to the generations yet unborn
as we navigate our way to real nationhood.
One
day, a boy born in a primary health centre in Kaura Namoda in Zamfara State to
poor Fulani parents may decide to go Federal Government College in Port
Harcourt, go to University of Lagos and then aspire to the highest political
position in the land without fear of godfatherism, assassination, ‘stomach
infrastructure’, Department of State Security and all other obstacles that
mutilate Nigeria’s current democracy experiments.
One
day, Nigeria will be the chief supplier of petrol, natural gas and electricity
to West African nations while our University professors will chair institutions
for policy, development and leadership not only in Africa but on a global
scale.
In those days, the Niger Delta will not boast of crude oil but of
massive industries that export cutting-edge technology, first class
Universities, fledging tourist cities etc. The Nigerian food produce will rank
in the ninety-ninth percentile of world production and boast of world class
teaching hospitals that push the boundaries of medical knowledge.
Mark
these words: In those days, we will remember the leaders of today and we will
place them on the weighing scales of justice. We will open inquiries and set up
commissions to review the actions of the leaders of this present day and justice
will be brought to their door if they are still alive. Even if they are frail
in health, we will post doctors to them and still bring them to trial for the
atrocities they committed in ruining this nation. Anyone found wanting will be
recompensed appropriately.
It is
therefore pertinent to warn the current leaders that when those days come, only
the goodwill they have invested into Nigeria will be remembered, there will not
be sacred cows for any reason; they have the latitude of time and opportunity
right now to be on the right side of posterity by attempting to correct the
status quo and clear the way for the new Nigeria.
Sound
an alarm from the corridors of Aso Rock to the corner offices of the local
government chairmen, from the high seat of the Senate President to the common
seat of the state legislators, from the Benches of the Supreme Court to that of
the lowest Magistrate all over the federation, sound the alarm that the day of
recompense will come. Oh, how sweet it will be in those days.
For
those who are wise, change your ways; for those who have itchy ears, I have a
word for you: Get all you can, Can all you get and Sit on the can. Just know
that same can will be full of gunpowder for you in those days. There will be no
witch-hunting because it will not be personal vendetta at work, it will be
justice. Justice is a nation’s way of getting revenge and revenge, as an old
Sicilian Mafiosi saying goes, is a dish best served cold.
Salaudeen Hashim is with the West Africa Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) Nigeria Platform.
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