The Leaders Nigerians Deserve Across All Tiers Of Government Under Tinubu’s Regime
Given the shortcomings of the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and its severe consequences on Nigeria as a nation and Nigerians as a people, the current administration under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tiinubu has to deliver as promised over the next four years in the interest of both advancing Nigeria’s development and completely discarding the leadership template inherited from his predecessor.
The rationale for the foregoing view cannot be farfetched as anything less or any hints of a repeat of past mistakes would be factors that will most likely influence a political fallout from which the All Progressives Party (APC), being the ruling party since 2015, will provide a pedestal on which the idiom that says, “The straw that broke the camel's back" would find expression.
Against the backdrop of the foregoing context, it is expedient to say that not a few Nigerians love to see the leadership qualities and styles which the newly sworn-in political leaders would bring to bear in the current political dispensation. Without a doubt, it is expedient to say that as the ongoing political dispensation just started on May 29 that Nigerians are looking forward to seeing a crop of leaders that would be discerning enough as well as have the tolerable emotional intelligence to understand that not everybody criticizing them belongs to a rival political party. They should be discerning enough to understand that most of their critics just disagree with the policies or direction of the government basically for the love of the country, and the future generation. Nothing more, and no beefing, as people stylishly say.
On a second note, in this ongoing administration that has just begun, Nigerians are looking forward to leaders who take the time to understand the criticism aimed at them. They are looking forward to leaders that have the kind of emotional intelligence that would make them always see reasons with their critics, and understand that when Nigerians complain about their collective under-performance, it is coming from years of disillusionment on the harms they, as politicians, have done to our beloved country. They may not have been personally involved, but they always forget that for the sake of power, they have, like a fabric, torn Nigeria apart with political inanities and killed our children, our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and friends with political violence.
Proverbially put, the man that excreted on the bush path might have forgotten, but the one that stepped on feces will never forget. They should always realize that with what they have done collectively as politicians or have done individually as politicians that the memories of the disservice done, which remains detrimental to the collective well-being of the Nigerians and Nigeria are still fresh, and will continue to provoke them to resort to becoming critics.
If I may ask, how many Nigerians will afford to maintain silence peradventure another regime of misrule or misgovernance comes into manifestation again? The reason for intolerance cannot be farfetched as the immediate past regime under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari was for a period of 8 years, that is 96 months, was characterized by a situation where political leaders across all tiers of government became insensitive to the collective plight of the people, and were insensitive in the face of a plethora of evils and helplessness, even as they carried on with life side by side with the incidence of kidnaps, killings, and all unthinkable forms of human sufferings. Amid the foregoing unpalatable situation, they are wont to be flashing their trump cards with impunity that they met the expectations of the people.
In addition to the foregoing sorry pass, it is germane to let the current crop of politicians know that Nigerians will continue to criticize them, particularly those that are affiliated with the ruling party, APC, as long as they have for more than the last 8 years failed to deliver even moderate sustained prosperity to our nation. Not only that, they have spectacularly failed to deliver good governance that guarantees adequate social-economic amenities. When people complain about a proposed scholarship that seems to be a scam, it is coming from Nigerians that would not be able to meet the loan requirements as many of them are struggling to find money to feed or transport fare, and have no option but to use the under-resourced and over-crowded hospitals Buhari left as legacy while he for the umpteenth times flew off to various continents for treatments during his two-term tenure. In fact, the present crop of politicians should be told that some of their critics have been struggling in sponsoring their children in ill-equipped schools, and even catering for them generally. So, instead of them to be responding with arrogance and disdain, without bothering to listen carefully to what people are really saying, answer them in a tone of respect and understanding with a real and empathetic attempt to explain why they failed for a whole period of 8 years, and demonstrably assuring their critics that they will improve?
In a similar vein, it is expedient to announce in this context that not a few Nigerians are in this present political dispensation looking forward to leaders with a people-oriented vision for Nigeria. Vision 2030 or not, very few of us have a sense that there is a targeted vision for Nigeria, that a clear direction has been charted, and that we are moving with steady determination toward a real goal. We have no real hope that in our lifetimes, Nigeria will see an economic turnaround that will bring real benefits to all society, not just your friends the rich businessmen.
As for the lawmakers that were elected to represent their respective constituencies in the National House of Assembly and State Houses of Assembly, it is pragmatic they discard the leadership templates they inherited from their predecessors as public opinion has branded them to be rubber stamps. In an article titled, “The Making of a rubber stamp 10th Senate”, and published in the Cable newspaper edition of July 2, 2023, Mon-Charles Egbo, wrote, “The 9th national assembly is the worst in the history of Nigeria’s democracy. It achieved nothing relative to its fundamental responsibilities. It was an appendage to the presidency, having surrendered its independence and authority. Nigeria’s socio-economic woes were compounded by the failure of the Ahmad Lawan-led 9th national assembly to checkmate the executive excesses. In particular, the huge debt which has sadly placed the country in a sorry state is a result of its ineffectiveness. Corruption, insecurity, and poverty grew to a suffocating magnitude under its nose because it aided executive rascality. May Nigeria never again witness such a rubber stamp National Assembly”
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient for this writer to enlighten the lawmakers elected into the 10th Assembly on the concept of separation of powers. For the sake of clarity, separation of powers is the rudimentary element for the governance of a democratic country. This principle corroborates fairness, impartiality, and uprightness in the workings of a government.
In fact, the concept of separation of powers refers to a system of government in which the powers are divided among multiple branches of the government, each branch controlling different aspects of governance. In most democratic countries, it is accepted that the three branches are the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. According to this theory, the powers and the functions of these branches must be distinct and separated in a free democracy. These organs work and perform their functions independently without interference from one another in order to avoid any kind of conflict. It means that the executive cannot exercise legislative and judicial powers, the legislature cannot exercise executive and judicial powers and the judiciary cannot exercise legislative and executive powers. Regrettably, since Nigeria transited from military to civilian government in 1999, powers have never been separated.
For crying out loud, the present crop of political leaders should resort to putting Nigeria first before the party they are affiliated with. No, we don’t think all politicians do, but experience shows that political leaders often use partisan considerations to make ill-advised appointments that usually lead to the emergence of clueless Cabinet ministers. Another thing is that political leaders in this part of the world are reputed to constantly reinventing the wheel so that they can beat their chests, and say such and such a programme was all theirs, at the expense of dithering on matters of national importance, and thus find it difficult to make hard decisions that will cost them victories at the polls. So while they spend decades and generations thumping desks across corridors of power, our beloved Nigeria becomes choked with garbage, squatter communities mired in poverty, with jobless youths jay-walking on the streets and our beautiful, playing away their time, resulting in bright youths missing their way permanently.
Though, there are some politicians who I think have the qualities needed to revive our national economy, and reposition it again as a giant of Africa in the comity of nations. However, they are usually not the ones in the most strategic political leadership positions of leadership that would be allowed to make good decisions for the betterment of the nation and everyone. There is always a cabal that comes to characterize each passing political dispensation. But there is some hope. What do you think? What kind of political leaders do you want to see? Who gives you hope?