The irresponsible Nigerian elite

The get-rich-quick syndrome along with corruption was instituted; sycophancy and praise singing became professionalized. The elites only take care of themselves and forget the masses that elected them into power. Consequently, the negative activities of the elites have plagued the country’s economy, which the battle is still on to revive it. The federal system has […]

The get-rich-quick syndrome along with corruption was instituted; sycophancy and praise singing became professionalized. The elites only take care of themselves and forget the masses that elected them into power. Consequently, the negative activities of the elites have plagued the country’s economy, which the battle is still on to revive it.

The federal system has been challenged and assaulted continuously, democratic governance has been denied  the opportunity of taking roots, the economy has been mismanaged; peace and security have been damaged.  Hence, the country seems to have lost direction and hope and in their place is a sense of hopelessness, despair, despondency and fear of the future, which is unfortunately preponderant among the generality of the citizenry.

This state of affairs is certainly a product of the accumulation of series of tragedies that befell the country for several decades leading to the questioning of the relevance of the federal system and even the basis of the existence of the country as a united nation state.  Ethnic, political, religious and criminal violence that the country witnessed in the last two decades are a manifestation of the bottled-up frustrations and anger of the citizenry towards the incompetence and inability of the state to genuinely address the pressing problems of unemployment and poverty and general welfare and wellbeing of the people in the country.  

  Without peace and harmony, there would be no meaningful development in the country because what peace cannot solve, quarrel cannot solve either. Nigeria’s development and her future are shrouded in corruption.  It goes without saying that the hydra-headed monsters of corruption, mutual recrimination, pull-him-down syndrome, politically induced violence and rigging have been prominent in our nascent democracy. We need meaningful development where security to life and property is assured so that the dividend of democracy can thrive.  The President and the security intelligence must wake up to the challenge of insecurity in Nigeria.

However, if corruption must be tackled everybody should see corruption as a tool of national destruction that everyone must be ready to fight.  Therefore, I commend the efforts of President Jonathan in appointing credible leaders into ICPC and the EFCC. We need attitudinal change to foster the development of our country’s democracy.  Democracy will usher in unity, peace, stability and national prosperity and integration.    Democracy provides a code of conduct, rules, guidelines and laws which must be followed to arrive at the ‘Promised Land’.  Partisan politics, elections and winning of elections only constitute a fraction of what Democracy entail.  Leaders elected on the platform of their parties should reach out to all so that we can attain greater heights as a nation.

The reason for the failure of democracy in any developing countries of the world including Nigeria is that the elites are mostly tribal or sectional and at best they end up as party men and they hardly have a clear defining line between tribal or ethnic loyalties and what are generally accepted as national interest.  When our elites fight for and are given leadership responsibilities they degenerate to lower levels. This has made our government a subject of criticism. It is no wonder, therefore, that it is common in Nigeria today to hear people talking about the past leaders with nostalgia. It is conspicuously seen where people are criticizing the government of President Jonathan simply because it is no longer business as usual. He is trying his possible best to see that Nigeria improves on the fortunes of its dwindling economy. If the past leaders have the vision and mission of President Jonathan, this country’s problem would have been solved by now.  

People saw positions of leadership not as responsibilities involving obligations to the followers, but as a means of getting a share from the so-called national cake on behalf of one’s region, state, ethnic or religious group and even local government, hence the contest for public jobs and offices became a do-or-die affair for which all available ‘weapons’ are deployed. Leaders should have their vision and mission, which must be based on the realities of what is on ground and the dynamics of the global changes in the new millennium.

Isah writes from University of Abuja