A wake up call
In less than two weeks, we will be faced with another opportunity to decide whom the governance of our beloved country will be entrusted to. It is very limpid even to a one year old baby that Nigeria as a nation is faced with myriad of problems. These problems of unemployment, poverty, corruption, nepotism, crime, […]
In less than two weeks, we will be faced with another opportunity to decide whom the governance of our beloved country will be entrusted to. It is very limpid even to a one year old baby that Nigeria as a nation is faced with myriad of problems. These problems of unemployment, poverty, corruption, nepotism, crime, terrorism, corrupt poor education system and its concomitant poor standard, tribalism and more, have left the nation paralyzed and in need of help. It is equally very clear that in order to salvage our nation from these hitches that have held her hostage from growth and development, the ball lies in our court as leaders and citizens.
In my humble opinion, one of the problems we have as a nation is the level of self-interest in governance rather than the interest of the nation. And certainly, this is one of the factors that have differentiated our leaders from other leaders of the world. In developed countries, the desire of their leaders to rule, to an extent, boils down to the need for selfless service in relation to what they are able to achieve for their nation. But in the case of Nigeria, it is a different ball game. That is why the gift of false and empty promises, are well packaged and delivered to us during every general elections. “I will do this, I will do that” their usual way of deceiving the people. And by the time they get into office and complete their tenure, we would wish we were left in the previous state rather than the later.
After reading an interesting article by Richard Xman in Sahara Reporters, I realized that the perception of people about leadership in Nigeria is a self-interest type of leadership. In fact, the writer stated that “if an American president gets into the white house with black hair, he would leave there with grey hair because he has many crucial decisions to make, and he uses his head and brain to govern. But on the other hand, if a Nigerian president gets into Aso Rock with grey hair, he would come out with black hair because they used their pockets to think”. So, can this perception about the leadership of Nigeria ever change?
In the forthcoming election, for our country to move forward, the focus should not be all about the different political parties rather, it should be about the best candidates who have the interest of Nigeria as a nation at heart. Such candidates should also be ready to work with sincerity of purpose. As citizens, therefore, we have a role to play in ensuring that we vote wisely and avoid indulging in electoral malpractices that would leave our country in a bad state. On the part of our leaders, it is clearly time to embrace the spirit of governance and take Nigeria more seriously.
Miss Pamela Obasi, Abuja