Leadership Debacle

This country is in mess not because of want of good ideas and good men, but because of want of good men and women to take the bull by the horn by doing the needful. Every time I reminiscence about my fatherland, 'water of salt freely flows through my eyes', most times not feasible to onlookers but overwhelming enough to encumber my innocent eyes.

I wish I’m crying about the past, at least I would take solace in the present. Maybe if it were even about the present alone, I would hold my head high for faith and hope in a better tomorrow. The truth is what I see is shams and shambles as I speak to men and women of my generation, the young and old, the enlighten and the illiterates, the leaders and the followers. 

My people would normally say if one cannot find enough courage and means to continue a journey, at least one shall learn to retrieve back. In our case, none is desirable.  Every four years, the men of Palace and provinces come cap in hand to beg for votes, only for the majority of them to become the mini-gods after the election so that every year we continue to elect the worst among us.

It is particularly painful that the highest job in the land is deliberately skewed against the best and the brightest.  Mostly, the prerequisite for it is where did you come from and what faith do you profess and not about competence, capacity, courage and needed the character to do the job. 

Our national anthem every four years is that we know is not the best but he is the best among the two evil. What a national malaise! Perhaps, we need a sort of retrospection.  In the days of my fathers, and mothers. I speak of the period of Independence till date. Three national heroes were at the forefront to become the king of Katagowa. The Awo of the West, the Zik of the East,  and the Balewa of the North.  The least among them in terms of education and capacity according to the history books was the one that got the mantle of leadership to be seconded by one of the brightest the Africa race had ever produced as a mere book’S horse. This apparent gap was not noticeable because the provincial governments were in competition with themselves.

Unfortunately, the parliamentary democracy was short-lived all thanks to military coup deta’t of July 15 1966. The gallant officer who took over from the coup plotters assumed the reign of power not because he was prepared for it but because the most senior officer, a Yorubawa man has run away.  He was a child of necessity whose destiny and fate combined to favour. 

He hardly sustained his hold on power when he was bruised aside. A young officer took over from him because he was successful in leading the rebel against the perceived injustice again his tribe. Although he tried his best to unify the country, managed and sustain the country on a path of greatness despite the 30 months Civil War, yet his success was limited before he was overwhelmed by the demands office, perhaps, it was because he stayed too much in power.

The Duo who succeeded him in succession just had power thrust on them by the planners of the Coup deta’t. Same was the civilian President who took over from him in 1979. According to him, he was 'Beckoned to Serve' despite competing with some of the best brains and selfless leaders the country has ever produced. Then came the military interregnum which swept him aside apparent mismanagement, corruption,  and indiscipline in the land. 

Those who took over, ruled with an iron fist. They were lords to themselves and these were not satisfactory to the men and women of their trade, such that their continuous tolerance can no longer be accommodated before they were removed in a bloodless coup.  Where they the best in their time, I sincerely doubt.

The Maradona who took over, played and dribbled the nation till he dribbled himself outside the field of play in 1993 for another no-nonsense but greedy man who was merciless and fearless, maiming and murdering men and women opposed to his whims and caprices. Permit to remind you that he was there because the best was denied his rightful place despite overwhelming support by the populace in the popular June 12 Election and replaced with his kinsman who was apparently unprepared for the job. If you get to power by crook, you will leave power by hook alive or in death. The ignominious death of the king brought about the emergence of another unprepared king who paved way for another people’s rule.

A man was brought from prison because destiny appears to have a place for him, though unwilling and out of touch with reality. He reigned for eight years before he foisted an unprepared and sick person on the kingdom. The rest they say is history before we have another unwilling kingship. Out of sentiment, the people said he should continue to rein and he has hardly completed his term when his apparent shortcomings overwhelmed not only himself but the entire nation.  He was peacefully removed through the ballot by Mr no-nonsense through a change mantra, yet his own apparent failure may push the country to the brink of no return if cares are not taken.

Unfortunately, we have been told he is the best compared to his second Mafia reputed for alleged corrupt tendencies even though there are the array of competent men and women competing with them.  The usual political idiocy is that these men of virtues and values lack the needed political structure to defeat these apparent least qualified men by those who supposed to know and do the needful. 

To me,  I see it as a psychological warfare exploited by political elites to bewitch the electorates, but no matter how you say it, the victim mentality in them will not make them understand let alone embraced the path of truth and life.  The annoying thing is the same set of people who will complain about lack of jobs, poor infrastructures, ineffective health facilities, insecurities, and poor educational system.

My countrymen and women, who have bewitched you not to think right let alone think outside the box? Why must we reinforce failure every Election Year when we can elect the best among us to have an ease of life? Hope we aren’t jinxed as a people and as a nation? How can we do the same thing over and over and expect a different result?

This country is in a mess because of you and I.  It is a mess because the salient issues meant to be discussed are relegated to the background. Today, if it is not of elementary certification of one candidate, it is about the inability of another candidate to travel to a particular country.

The majority are asking the wrong questions, while the few who ask the right questions are being drawn by the voice of the barbarians. What a tragedy! Yet this Katagowa project must not fail. At least it will not fail in my time as I will do the best I can. How about you?