Very few people will argue the fact that the kind of leaders Nigeria has had over the years are indeed a rare breed. A breed that seems only adept at self aggrandizement and self perpetuation at the expense of the majority for whom living has become a constant struggle. Our leaders have regularly proved that their own concept of leadership is quite different from the text book definition that sees it as a platform to serve the people.
This selfish disposition partly explains why there is a dearth of heroes and role models especially among the political class in the country. Since the passing of what could be described as the first generation of leaders after the first republic ,very few public servants can qualify as role models after whom the young generation of Nigerians would aim to shape their lives. To look for such kind of people who have distinguished themselves in leadership positions we mostly have to look outside our shores.
In this month alone, three public office holders in Germany, Romania and Greece again proved that public service is all about meeting the expectations of the people – earning their trust in the process - and once it gets to a point where that cardinal principle cannot be upheld, the public office holder has no business remaining in office. Here in Nigeria however, it seems, for many, public office is all about an opportunity for self enrichment and perpetuation at all costs.
Last Friday, the German President, Christian Wulff, resigned from office after coming under pressure from political opponents and prosecutors who claimed he accepted bribes during his tenure as the governor of Lower Saxony. He was also alleged to have received financial favours including gifts and sponsored vacations which were in clear violation of German laws and code of conduct for public officers. His resignation paved the way for prosecutors to launch criminal investigations against him having lost his immunity. In announcing his resignation, Wulff said: “He had lost the trust of the German people, making it impossible to continue in a role that is meant to serve as a moral compass for the nation. For this reason, it is no longer possible for me to exercise the office of president at home and abroad as required”.
If Wulff were a Nigerian, he probably would have clung to office and continue to heap blame on imaginary political opponents for his travails rather than do the honourable thing. The whole idea of resigning from office seems to be an unheard of concept in this part of the world. How else can one explain the continued stay in office of the Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Allison Madueke, who even before her reappointment was dogged by all manner of allegations about her involvement in shoddy deals in the ministry. If this was not enough to make her bow out gracefully, her inglorious role in the fuel subsidy removal earlier in the year and the glaring incompetence she displayed during the public hearings by the House ad hoc committee of fuel subsidy where she proved to all that she was not abreast of the goings on in the nation’s petroleum sector were enough to make her leave the stage. She neither knows the nation’s daily fuel consumption figure nor does she know how much was spent on fuel subsidy last year. Now she has gone on a frenzy setting up task forces and committees that are duplicitous and unlikely to achieve much.
Much earlier this month, the Romanian Prime Minister, Emil Boc, also resigned after facing mass protests against International Monetary Fund {IMF} backed austerity measures. The IMF had granted Romania a 20 billion euro loan in 2009 with the condition that the government implements severe cuts in spending. In addition to the cuts, the government also raised taxes which made life difficult for many Romanians who also complained of widespread corruption in government. In his farewell speech, Boc said: “I took the decision to release the tension in the country’s political and social situation, but also in order not to lose what Romanians have won”.
Faced with a similar situation during the fuel subsidy protests, our own President Goodluck Jonathan not only sent troops to Lagos to break the protests, his security forces threatened to charge those calling for his resignation with treason. Rather than see the protests as a clear policy error which needed to be reversed quickly, the president chose to blame defeated political opponents for orchestrating the protests.
Amid the sad news of the harsh economic situation that Greece has found itself in, a cheering bit of news came last Friday which showed that despite the people’s anger with their reckless leaders whose actions have plunged that country into near economic abyss, there are leaders who do take their jobs seriously. The Culture Minister, Pavlos Geroulanos, tendered his resignation after armed men broke into a museum and made away with dozens of antiques that were up to 3,200 years old. The antiques which dated from the 9th to the 4th Century, were stolen from the museum of the ancient games of Olympia and because of the proud history and heritage of the Greeks, Geroulanos felt he has let down a nation by his inability to provide adequate security for its treasures hence his resignation.
There is glaring failure of leadership at all levels in this country but our leaders seem unperturbed by it to even contemplate resigning from office. To them, leaving public office before one’s time is perhaps the ultimate admittance of failure and encouraged by an increasingly materialistic and docile society, they get away with the more important failure of delivering on the objectives of their office. Our situation is also made worse by the kind of politics we play which ranks ethnic or regional loyalties above all else. On many instance, corrupt public officials have been left off the hook because their kinsmen have risen to their defence and lobbied vigouriously to get them off the hook. Until this changes and we have a leaders who inspire confidence by maintaining the highest ethical and morals standards in office, we may wait a long while for that equitable nation we truly deserve.
No comments:
Post a Comment