Patriotism of the people makes a
leader a superman than the measure of his strength and technical know
how.
I have come to realize in the cause
of time that what builds a nation is neither primarily the technical know-how
of those at the helm of affairs nor the beautiful idea and policies put in
place but PATRIOTISM which emanates from having an adequate sense of
belonging, equity and fairness in the government. Until the current
administration gets that fixed, this current struggle has no end in
sight.
There is no other time the present
government needs the loyalty of her people than now. It is easier to say that
the current crude oil price is the problem or the ongoing war against
corruption. As at today, the dollar is exchanged at N320, inflation is trending
towards double digits, the stock market goes red daily, unemployment rate goes
North, the standard of living goes south and many more. You can say the future
is promising but it will be unfair for anyone to deny the current situation of
the country as well.
In one of my published articles in
the
early part of this current administration, I raised on concern on
patriotism and why this current government must try as much as possible to win
it by all means especially in the area appointments, perception and ideology.
That it doesn't have to be 50-50(Norh - South) but there must be some measures
of balance in the political system for the government to drive in
programmes that will change the nation. Because when all seems to be down
as it is at the moment, it is the perception of people around you that will
help or Mar leader. Even, Jesus asked, "who do men say I am?" And
also that this CHANGE should be systematically and gradually instilled in
the people. You don't drop a hot "dodo" in the mouth of your child
just because you care for him, you will destroy his throat along the way.
Unfortunately, such an idea sounded
crude and old- fashion in the ears of a lot of people. Rather, they were quick
to give examples of how development runs in Europe and America. But they forgot
that our sociocultural values differ and it would take sometime to get to that
level of reasoning as a nation. As it is said, "Rome isn't built in a
day". A young lady almost made a fool of me on Facebook. But I didn't
forget to tell her in return "that a person who doesn't understand history
and yet not ready to learn would forever remain a child".
Some even said, "we don't mind
if all our appointees come from Daura". I laughed profusely. Because I saw
ignorance at its peak. I had to recommend some books by Emil Durkheim for some
of them.
In sociology, there is something
called sense of belonging and participation in government. You neglect it at
your peril as a leader. It is the first thing you must win as a leader not just
in words but in the act before presenting your beautiful ideas. Because that is
the foundation that will set your pace and direction.
You don't need a Prophet to tell you
that an election result where the difference between the winner and the loser
was less than 3Million in a nation of over 160M people was from a divided
people. Therefore, the first thing to fix is the unity problem of the people.
No beautiful idea of the president will sail through until he wins the
patriotism of the people across regions.
You may conclude that this assertion
is too early, but about 25% of the tenure of this administration is gone
already. Only 50% left because the last 25% is an election year and nothing to
be proven then. You can ask the former President Jonathan to buttress on
this.
Whoever tells the President that he
the nation is United for him, the person just lied to him. He should go on
social media to confirm this. The current struggle of this government tilts
more to sabotage than just the global economic reality or corruption. The
first litmus test was the just presented budget and then, the wish of the
opposition party who would always want to prove to the people that they made a
wrong choice at the poll. Forget the excuses of using a wrong template for the
budget construction. It was more to sabotage. The current government can ignore
this at her peril.
Apart from the ministerial
appointment which was the right of the people by constitution, The early
appointments of this current administration between the North and south was
ratio 42 : 5 and in which you gave the Eastern part of the country ZERO
ALLOCATION . Yet, you expect those regions to see it as a selection strictly
based on competency and not tribalism or punishment for what happened at
the last poll? Then, it is really tall order.
They won't roll out drums for you.
You must be ready for hatred and sabotage.
You have them in the civil service
to sabotage your budget, you have them in the Villa to leak out your secret.
You have them in the media to publish more of your flaws than strength till
they make you look incompetent in the end. The appointments are gone already
but the indirect impact is what we are experiencing now as a people.
The President got his starting point
wrong and he must quickly address it and shun advice from sycophants who either
don't want the best for him but for themselves or just a display of
ignorance of the management and the importance of social cultural value in any
nation building.
The President must prove to every
region that he loves them and that Nigeria belongs to all. Compensate with
competent hands. Let the Biafra agitators see reasons why they must support
instead of the fear of prisons. Let the Shiites feel that you care for them
even though you belong to the Sunnis group. Let the female folks feel welcome
around you even though you have your reservation. This is the first battle for
the President. Then, the war against corruption can follow.
Patriotism of the people makes a
leader a superman than the measure of his strength and technical know
how.
God bless Nigeria
@tunde_adenuga
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