Kano: In search of leaders with compassion

Our democracy is dominated by people who seek power as a passport to personal material aggrandizement rather than genuine commitment to serve. Many selfish politicians perceive public office as a gravy train and therefore, they would do anything to get it, including killing their opponents in the ambition for the control of power. Consequently, because […]

Our democracy is dominated by people who seek power as a passport to personal material aggrandizement rather than genuine commitment to serve. Many selfish politicians perceive public office as a gravy train and therefore, they would do anything to get it, including killing their opponents in the ambition for the control of power.

Consequently, because of this narrow-minded mentality, some politicians perceive power as a means of accumulating wealth and not the promotion of public welfare. Politicians in this category hardly identify with the daily struggle of the people; they only come around to seek their votes and once they are sworn into office, they keep the people at bay. They forget that it is the people’s votes that put them into office. As soon as they get into office, their calculation is not how much improvement they will bring to the living conditions of the people but how much can they make from public office.

This is a sad reality. Once the motivation of leaders is no longer service but selfish ambition to have access to public resources, our democracy cannot bring the much needed prosperity to the people. Should leaders without compassion or those motivated by selfish considerations be entrusted with power? One of the reasons the late Chief Moshood Abiola became phenomenally popular across the nation was his extraordinary commitment to humanity.

In this context, Nigerian voters should be wiser by rejecting politicians that have no compassion. The outcome of the recent PDP election in Kano State is a significant opportunity for the people of the state to focus critically on politicians who come to serve and not those famishing desperados seeking power to make money. Nobody should be given a ticket just like that without proving how he has touched the lives of the ordinary people.

The speculated ambition of Mohammed Abacha, the son of the late military ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha, to seek the governorship ticket of the PDP in Kano State is generating interest among many voters. It is interesting to note that Mohammed Abacha is under pressure to join the race and those doing so have strong conviction why he must join the governorship race. Genuine leaders are produced by the people. Indeed, the voters can identify politicians that stand by them at their hour of need. Why is Mohammed Abacha enjoying such spontaneous goodwill which is spreading silently but unstoppably?

His unostentatious philanthropy and silent commitment to the welfare of ordinary people may have been part of the reasons the people cannot help liking him and encouraging him to seek public office to serve them better. The incidence of kidney failures among the young and old has taken a heavy toll on the finances of ordinary people. Many kidney patients on dialysis machines cannot afford the weekly cost of the procedure to keep tem alive before a donor can miraculously be found. In realization of these challenges, Mohammed Abacha has donated a dialysis machine to the government as part of his private initiative to improve the standard of the public health care system.

Apart from the dialysis machine he donated to the government, Mohammed Abacha also donated an ultra-modern operating machine called laproscope which doesn’t require doctors to cut a patient open before they can carry out surgery. The introduction of such advanced technology into our medical practice is a  welcome relief. Nigerians run to foreign hospitals because the local ones lack the equipment needed for proper diagnosis and effective treatment.

If Mohammed were a selfish politician, he would not have bothered about the sorry state of our health care system. He makes other people’s welfare his business, which brings out the compassionate leader in him. In fact, there are people with bigger resources than Mohammed Abacha but he has a kinder and larger heart, which makes him stand out as the friend of the masses.

Such is the significance of Mohammed Abacha’s intervention to help poor patients in several hospitals. His philanthropic activities in bringing social improvements in other areas are also appreciated by the people. It is not surprising therefore, why the initiative urging Mohammed to contest the gubernatorial election in Kano State in 2011 is coming from the people. Several development associations have benefited from Mohammed’s generosity and good will.

Ambition is not a crime, more so when the people are driving that ambition. Mohammed Abacha is not one of those hungry politicians who are desperate for power to accumulate money. His passion and compassion for the people so far are clear signs that he is a politician determined to make a difference.  Politics is described as the oldest profession after prostitution. However, that perception should not discourage gentlemen with genuine commitment to the people not to participate.

Musa Bichi lives at No. 149, Bichi, Kano State