There is only one way to know you are
really at the top as a Nigerian; many things get thrown up at you. The
reason is not far-fetched: “You are easier to see when you are in
flight,” is the apt way a young philosopher called Jude Abaga put it.
Those at the top must choose between what deserves to be paid attention
to and those they should pay some naira and kobo just to stop them from
throwing their mud. One fundamental mistake of the Jonathan
administration, however, is that it has been overly busy replying
everything thrown at it. This may be because the administration itself
enjoys the mud game.
The job of a leader is to get the job
done or be reminded about the undone job. When you reply by abusing
those who remind you of your responsibilities, you put up the act of an
irresponsible leader. Leadership is about taking responsibilities. This
is what the Jonathan administration has shirked from for too long. 2011
is already two years old but we have yet to get a major conviction of
the subsidy thieves. The economy is growing faster than ever only not as
fast as the growth of poverty. There are as many poor Nigerians today
as there were people living in Nigeria in 1998, i.e. 112 million. That
is how far we have come or should I say gone. In the midst of this
anomaly, the President and his privileged friends gathered in Abuja the
other day to celebrate his mid-term successes; a shame considering the
dominant Nigerian reality.
Continue reading after the cut...
We keep losing sight of the
fundamentals. One of the things this administration prides itself in is
the YOUWIN initiative. This project has had more things written about it
than its collective worth. How can we talk about grants to 1,200
citizens in an economy where four out of every five graduates remain
jobless? Where do we even begin with non-graduates and here we are
talking about some 70 million youths? Even if mediocrity were our
national symbol, wouldn’t there be a limit to how much we can display
it? It is okay to provide jobs for 1200 young people; it becomes a thing
of shame to look at the camera, lights, sound and all in pomp and
pageantry calling for such to be celebrated. Have we really sunk that
deep?
As a President, you’d be the epicentre
of many hypocrites and sycophants. When you fart, they’d tell you they
just perceived one of the best smelling scents ever and they’d go ahead
to ask you what perfume you are wearing. If you shit for body dem go
tell you say why you no dey shit for body every day because “shit looks
great on you.” You are soon living in a box of lies, hidden in a hamper
full of deception, envy and even hatred; half of them don’t care about
you, they just want you where you enjoy listening to them. Half of the
rest care but only as much as their stomach stays connected to your
constant supply of money. War-time British Prime Minister, Winston
Churchill, for fear his men would keep some of the gory details of World
War 2 from him, set up a system that ensured that he saw the war just
the way it was; bloody and edgy. He was in touch with Britain’s reality
at the time.
Nigeria is where it is today because
those at the helm of affairs have lost touch with the nation’s reality.
Have you ever wondered the logic behind calling ours a transformation
when we haven’t even started with the basic of change; food, clothing
and shelter? We are some 15 million houses short per year, we have even
today one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. We are
one of only three countries with incidences of polio. The others are
Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are in a transformation yet our governors
fall on their legs and the next day they have their heads checked up in
London. The poor stay dying in hospitals without drugs, their children
cannot afford expensive private schools so they must make do with
government schools with no books and teachers with low morale. We have
roads but they are mostly talked about for the many they kill every day.
If this is what they call transformation, then those fooling President
Goodluck Jonathan are worse than those who say, “shit looks good on
you”!
“Abati fires Ribadu.” “Okupe fires ACN.”
“Presidency plots Amaechi’s fall”, and the headlines never stop. The
Nigerian Presidency has been reduced to a kindergarten class where
fingernail fights and noise are the art of war. No intellectual
stimulation, no inspiring responses and like Dr. Reuben Abati said about
Patience Jonathan just three calendars ago, no poise and no decorum.
The words thrown out of the Presidency often come dressed in shame and
shallowness. We can do better. The Presidency can do better. The
Presidency must busy itself with moving forward. You cannot be moving
forward and in the same breath find the time to address every dirt
thrown at you.
The Presidency can do better. The job of
the opposition is to distract you. The opposition has no business
making you look good. When you then reply every shot thrown at you,
you’ve missed the point. The Presidency has become predictable. That is
not a good thing. Men will praise you and some will abuse you. Those
moving forward must look forward. The Presidency must busy itself with
moving forward. At the moment, the only movement it is experiencing is
the Sycophancy movement. You cannot surround yourself with sycophants
and expect to lead well. Your leadership will always be limited by the
prism of illusion ever present in the words of your sycophants.
It is important to always set the record
straight. It is even more important if such records have to do with
policy and development. It is fine to offer the right perspectives when
so-called successes of the administration are cheapened. These are
fundamentally different from calling citizens names. “Collective
children of anger”, “yesterday’s men” and “sophisticated ignorance” are
certainly not the best way to address one’s citizens. Eventually, every
office holder becomes a man or woman of yesterday. These things do not
last forever.
Nigeria needs us to raise the ante of
political debate and engagement. The Presidency has been a dismal
example on that front. In fact, if our schoolchildren were to use the
Presidency as a model for their own behaviour, they’d abuse anyone who
tells them anything other than praise them. No one in government should
expect a crown of glory from the people for serving Nigeria but you can
crown yourself in glory by the depth and quality of your service. You
need not make noise; you don’t have to shout to be heard. When things
get better, we’d not need over-paid staff writers to tell us, we’d see
for ourselves. No one reports to a man who has just been well-fed that
food is in his stomach. A pregnant woman in her trimester knows she is
pregnant; she needs no doctor to confirm anymore. The Nigerian
Presidency must know that it, not the opposition or critics, is its own
primary enemy.
-Japheth Omojuwa (mr.omojuwa@gmail.com)
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Whether you like it or not...this piece is a classic.
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