THE EXIGENCY OF LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA

By Grace Okagbare,

The ship of the Nigerian State has been nose-diving, sliding into avoidable oxbow lake and it is almost at the irreversible point. To salvage the situation, the Nigerian elites thought it was safe to come up with an emergency. Prominent Nigerians made a concerted effort to bring the current administration, the All Progressive Congress (APC) on board to sail the boat and prevent it from wreck. It is flabbergasting and dispiriting that the whole effort was futile. Instead of a rescue mission, the APC led administration has insensitively pauperized Nigerians and the Nigerian economy due to their ossified political DNA. The APC administration was voted on the mantra of changing the course of the ship from hitting the icebergs; but today their inexperience in governance have moved the ship closer to disaster.  APC created a mess and started to merry-go-round in solving the same problem created for the last three years. It is unfortunate that most Nigerians were not sensitive to APC failure at the inception. It is audible to the deaf and visible to the blind that the APC government started their marauding administration when they started displaying political lobotomy. It took decades for Mr President to set up his cabinet; as if they were going to come from the moon. This was the beginning of their administrative hara-kiri. What a shameful display of kakistocracy in Nigeria!

As if it was not enough, the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) started engaging in ‘dance of macabre’ of policy summersault. Their incompetence and professional hogo mundugus muay, further pushed the Nigerian economy into the dish. An economy that has been rated as first in Africa suddenly entered recession. What a devastating ignominious political yo-ho-ho and hurly-burly. The integrity assertion with which Mr President was voted became odoriferous. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu lamented a missing humongous amount of money in the ministry, but to the dismay of most Nigerians, this wicked act of corruption was swept under the carpet. The APC led administration came up with all tactical lying measures, what Patrick Obahiagbon called political ‘crinkum crankum’ to defend corrupt practices. So, what integrity is being displayed here? Is this integrity or corruption of the highest level? APC should know their game is up because sensitive Nigerians are aware of this political ‘mendaciloquence’ and are waiting to respond with a corresponding action. The worst of this laughable state of decadence was displayed when recently, Mr President was handed his unsubstantiated West African Examination Certificate (WAEC). How come was it so difficult for the result to be released before election in 2015? How come is it so difficult for Mr Integrity to display integrity by simply saying the truth and resign? This is nothing but a colossal disgrace to Nigeria as a nation. Although, whether good or bad, sensitive Nigerians are ready for action in 2019.

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Although, the APC led administration is full of media prostitutes, it is obnoxious to continue to waste time enumerating their political blunders such as aggrandizement in the security of the country and ‘zabernism’ in governance. What a political and administrative ‘muahahaha’! Now, it is no longer a laughing matter but a serious search for a new and competent captain. This is because the Nigerian ship is still terribly sailing and must as a matter of alacrity is rescued. It is expedient that all broadminded Homo sapiens in Nigeria and abroad extricate themselves from the stranglehold of the present Mephistophelian in power. The job of a sailor is not for the ignoramus or the untrained. Taking over the governance of the Nigerian economy is not a job for the unqualified, the vagabonds and the ordinary man, but for icons with responsive and understanding of the workings of democratic structure. The present ‘lumpen’ leadership has once again thrown the upcoming 2019 elections in Nigeria into a rat race context. Nigerians are in a hurry to retire the APC led administration and relegate them to where they belong. In achieving this objective, do we just choose blindly? No, Nigerians are now more sensitized and cannot afford to repeat mistakes.

In preparing for the next elections, a bandwagon effect among Nigerians is now translating to a new national anthem. I am ‘Atikulated’ is fast spreading like a wildfire and becoming a household emblem. One may begin to ask some serious questions. Why are Nigerians going in this direction? Does it mean that other presidential candidates are not relevant? Well, the answer is not farfetched. One underlying factor is that while the elephant is the biggest animal in the jungle, the lion is always the king in the animal kingdom. Among the contestants, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is the best product of himself. He has the experience, the exposure and the competence to deliver the required good life to Nigerians. His antecedents as the vice presidents have proven that he is a political giant with incontestable records. His contribution to economic growth in Nigeria between 1999-2007 remains a point of reference. As the then vice president, the privatization policies that sailed the Nigerian ship to a cruise remain indelible in the Nigerian political scene. Under his administration together with his boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, their ingenuity accorded Nigeria certain outstanding foreign direct investments (FDIs). Not only that, to strengthen the Nigerian economy, they grew the country’s foreign reserve to 63 billion dollars. What brilliance! Who can do this again in Nigeria if not a man with governance intelligence; the man called Atiku Abubakar.

 

It is not unconvincing that Atiku Abubakar is the right man for the job in Nigeria. As a politician and business man, he has established businesses to employ thousands of Nigerians. While some politicians are busy carousing and extravagantly ‘hedonizing

’ during the enormous problems in Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar was busy empowering Nigerians and the Nigerian youths with his business empire. It is common knowledge that such a man will attract enemies from political juggernauts. The schemers in opposition are propagating a conflagration of baseless allegations on corruption. Nigerians must be asking logical questions. Why has a man who left office for about eleven years not been convicted till now? Or why has the APC led administration failed to see his corrupt side when they asked him to join them to change Nigeria? Why has corruption suddenly become their music at this time that he is contesting against incompetency? Their insinuations are laughable and condemnable. Nigerians are not deceived by their permutations and their political cacophony. Come 2019, Nigerians are super ready to prove that they are not gullible. The yearning of all progressive Nigerans to vote Atiku Abubakar is a consolidated one. I implore Nigerians in diaspora to rise to this same occasion and bring Atiku on board. His governance intelligence and experience will change the course of the Nigerian state from the escapable catastrophe. Thus, we are all obligated to Atikulate and boldly vote out redundancies. Nigerians, we can do it. So, let us come together to save Nigeria.

 

Grace Okagbare

Founder and Global Director Atiku Diaspora Network.