A welter of definitions exists on leadership but I have not come across one in which the definition includes opportunity. Leadership by opportunity simply means the ability of the leader to open door of opportunities for others to become leaders while ensuring that the organization or nation that is being led does not deteriorate. This type of leaders is very scarce in Nigeria. Leadership is about people, and their growth. It is not about the leader. The show at the National Assembly which most Nigerians watched on television on 9 June, 2015 demonstrates how leaders emerge most times in Nigeria since the nation became democratic.
During inauguration of the 8thNational Assembly Nigerians witnessed the deception deployed by politicians which brought a new Senate president into office. The election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives into office was seemingly not controversial but was not in alignment with APC’s preference. It was reported that some APC members were waiting to be addressed by President Buhari when others were in the Senate chamber. Why were some APC senators not in the same location with their colleagues to be addressed by Mr President? If those APC senators who were absent from the Senate chamber were present would the result of the election be different? Is the new Senate president the choice of the PDP after the party had declared that they had no candidate for Senate presidency? It is difficult to trust politicians because of their personal interests and ambitions. It was an alignment and misalignment of political forces that resulted in what transpired at the National Assembly. Thus, personal interests are at conflict with political interests.
There are various shades of opinion on the legality and legitimacy of the process that brought these politicians to the leadership platform of the National Assembly. Notwithstanding views expressed, it is worthy to note that in Nigeria’s political landscape leaders often emerge through intrigues and subterfuge. Since 1999, this has been the pattern through which leaders emerge in the National Assembly including the selection of cabinet members. With the exception of politicians either at state or federal levels, most Nigerians were surprised at the tussle for power displayed by honourable members in the upper chamber. Some Nigerians thought in an era of ‘change’ we have an army of ‘born again’ politicians. Regrettably, they are yet to repent. Whether it is PDP, APC, APGA, SDP or whatever, survival of politicians is motivated by personal ambition and greed. The supremacy of personal interests over national interests in our political affairs is responsible for the nation’s cycle of poverty in the 21st century. Is this what democracy is all about in Nigeria when unemployment rate has increased to 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2015? With about 10 percent of Nigerians between ages 15-65 unemployed and underemployed, it is expected that the 8th National Assembly would have started the process of looking at issues that will strengthen national security immediately. But we now see disenfranchised senators walking away from the floor of the upper chamber during session. For senators to walk out of the chamber when legislative proceedings are in session shows disrespect for the electorate who voted them into office. When are the senators going to be united to discuss issues of collective interests that affect national security?
Since 1999, democracy appears not to have yielded expected dividends contrary to Nigerians’ belief that a democratically-elected government would engender development. The expectations of Nigerians would have been actualized if democracy is anchored on a social platform with focus on equity, fairness, participation and justice. The increasing insincerity exhibited by politicians in the country is due to mismatch between democracy and development. Democracy can only stimulate development and social equality when it is built on principles of transparency, probity and inclusion. It is against this backdrop that Nigeria’s current democratic experience though relatively nascent leaves much to be desired with the characters parading themselves as politicians.
It is appropriate to seize this opportunity to remind all politicians irrespective of their manifestos, values and beliefs that challenges ahead of them are very daunting. Maybe the parliamentarians have suddenly forgotten that in 2014 the World Bank report shows about 33 percent of the country’s population, that is 56 million people, are living below the acceptable poverty level. More than half of the poor in our country are located in the North East and North West. With an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2015, did parliamentarians think that the poverty level has dropped? A country with a third of its citizens regarded as poor has a compromised national security. If parliamentarians think there are no indigent Nigerians, have they forgotten that Nigeria is indebted to the tune of $63.7 billion? Do the parliamentarians of the 8th National Assembly really care about the economic wellbeing of Nigerians? Unemployment breeds poverty and vice versa. This is what some scholars of economics refer to as the paradox of poverty. Senators who have not done any work but would be paid salary at the end of the month are preparing to go to court to spend valuable time pursing a case that does not add value to the life of a common man.
In present-day Nigeria, national security must not be taken for granted not only because of the citizens but because it is an obligation in a globalized world. In Nigeria with its mono-economy and inadequate capacity, globalization has exposed the nation’s marginalized groups and vulnerable citizens to privation. Despite perceived benefits of globalization, Nigeria can hardly reap benefits of the phenomenon due to weak economic capacity of the nation in particular and individuals in general. Since 1990s, Nigeria’s loyalty to market economy under globalization has not improved the incidence of poverty.
Development of any nation, according to Fitzgerald Schumacher, “does not start with goods and services, it starts with people and their education, organization, and discipline”. Without these three attributes, all resources remain latent and untapped. These characteristics are not well-rooted in most Nigerians and this has impaired our level of development. Although everything has changed in Nigeria but nothing has really changed. When there is no development there cannot be national security. Robert McNamara, an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defence, states that “in modernizing a society, security is development, and without development there can be no security”. Our politicians should always remember that when the poor is left unattended to, the rich will not sleep.
If politicians and indeed parliamentarians stand on the platform of change, they must be prepared to improve the quality of life and find means of reducing poverty in the country. They must sheathe their swords, subordinate their interests to national interests, and work assiduously to protect and promote democracy in Nigeria. Improvements in human, physical and social capital of the poor are key fundamentals to increasing their ability to be part of development. The challenge for policymakers in this dispensation is to combine growth-promoting policies with other policies that will ensure that people participate in economic development. The nation is not interested in whatever constitutes their differences but we would be fascinated by their ability to create an environment devoid of injustice, corruption and exclusion. The challenge for the nation’s parliamentarians is to work harmoniously with the executive arm of government and the judiciary to determine what policies, technologies and investments that are necessary for sustained and inclusive growth in the nation. Nigerians are waiting to see how they manage the alignment and misalignment of personal interests in the face of poverty.
MA Johnson
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