Nigeria: A Change in Her Line of Thought

I have taken out time, in my element, to consider and reconsider why Nigeria is yet to get better as she ought to. Days come and go but Nigerian situation seems to worsen: economically, environmentally, morally, politically, and otherwise. Who is to blame?

Majority of Nigerians believe that the only way for Nigeria to get better is for her leaders to get better. But, I believe that while they may be right, there is more to it than meets the eye. The Nigerian problem is not solely on the leaders but also on the led. The citizens are always in the habit of sitting still in their respective homes, looking beyond themselves: at Aso Rock, government houses, their leaders and apportioning blame on them. Why can’t the leaders do this; why can’t the leaders do that? “What is our governor doing to eradicate poverty in the state? Is that not why we elected him there?” the citizens will ask disappointedly.

I am neither here to exonerate government leaders nor to put the full blame on them. I will share some part of the blame on the masses. The masses are hell-bent to objurgate the leaders even when they have their numerous shortcomings. This equally agrees with what is written in the scriptures, Mathew 7:3-5, which says, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not look at the log that is in your own eyes?”

Sincerely speaking, everyone is a leader in his own way. A father is a leader, likewise a mother. Children too are leaders. You are a leader to your younger ones. How do you lead them? Do you take a greater part of what is meant for the two of you to share equally simply because you are older, stronger, and wiser? As a class representative, lecturer, head of department, dean of a faculty, how do you handle your position? Do you sometimes embezzle public funds? Coming to the church executives, do you take a part of what should be meant for the church project for your personal use? It does not matter if you intend to pay it back.

Most government leaders, no doubt, are not representing the people well. Some of them have failed to understand that if at all there is fame in leadership, it must come after the person must have left office as is with the case of Nigerian past leader, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa. But, since the situation is becoming more precarious, let the followers start making that change that they so much desire, among themselves, as separate individuals. They must start seeing themselves as leaders in their own little way. Let them do for their subordinates what they will like their “higher leaders” to do for them.

The executive governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Bar. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime, is an epitome of a true leader. Although he may still have his little shortcomings like every human, but to a very high percentage, he is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to good leadership. Enugu state like every other state had had past governors that instead of working for the state were busy working for themselves and for their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren yet unborn.

Governor Sullivan Chime and the likes of him are this successful because they have come to see themselves not just as governors but as separate individuals. They place themselves in the shoes of the masses, feeling their pain at the same time. I was in church one Sunday at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Nkpor, Onitsha. The chief celebrant, a priest, counted and recounted how people in Onitsha and other places in the country travel to Enugu city as a family to spend their holiday just as other Nigerians travel abroad for their summer holiday. Those of us that are from Enugu state shrugged our shoulders, smiled inwardly, and cleared our throats aloud, feeling fulfilled. That’s the mark of a good leader!

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Nigeria will get better if her leaders can start placing themselves in the shoes of the masses. Nigeria will get much better if the followers will start accepting the fact that they are equally leaders in their own way. Like John F. Kennedy wrote, “…ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

Permit me to share the story of the Starfish thrower with you before I finally drop my biro: A boy is walking along the beach when he stumbles across thousands of Starfish that have been washed up. He starts to pick them up and throw them back to the river. A man approaches him and says, “Son, don’t bother yourself, there are too many in the river. You won’t make a difference.” The boy picks up another one, throws it back in, and says, “I made a difference to that one.”

 Nigeria needs a change. For Nigeria to change positively, the man in the mirror must change. You are the man in the mirror. Be that change you need in Nigeria because a change in your line of thought will make a difference just like the Starfish thrower.

   This article was first published in Peoples Flash newspaper, February-March edition, 2014.