Deploying Integrity For Leadership

BY YEAT ANGO

Nigeria seems to be hot at the moment even when we are yet to the General Election year, but it feels like we are there already. A lot of ‘I will’ and ‘I promise’ are flying in the air, with only a few talking about their achievements in public service.

For some, it is a do-or-die affair; and to others, it’s just passion for the time being. Either way, they all seek the same thing: Power. Money seems to be the talk of the town, it’s like modern day slavery, people’s consciences are being bought at a price, and one wonders when we became commodities for sale.

Hunger seems to be ravaging the citizenry, and for many they are seeking today’s daily bread, not worrying about tomorrow. From the recent primaries conducted by political parties, it was said that one politician had to part with whopping sums of $25, 000 to each delegate.

But I posit that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have been on strike for close to four months, and silence has been the response from both the president, Muhammadu Buhari, and his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo. The educational system has been relegated to allow politics to dominate national discourse.

Nigerian leaders have put the future of the youth on hold all for their selfish needs. When they come out and stand on podiums seeking the support of young Nigerians, it is for attainment of political power and nothing else. If they forget that these same young people were killed at the Lekki Toll Gate, they need to be reminded that that horrifying incident won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Hunger has become the major plague hitting the people. Men and women in power know that Nigerians’ major problem is food. When they come out to campaign for political offices; they use the poor citizens’ weaknesses to buy them.

They simply provide food  for the poor on Election Day and starve the electorate for another four years. This is something we know, we are used to it, we expect them to give us food or money during campaigns, an average Nigerian would go through a stampede just to get a 50kg bag of rice or a bottle of groundnut oil. This is what they made out of us, a set of beggars.

There is this presidential candidate that has been tagged a stingy leader. Why? He has failed to demonstrate generosity as they often put it. Unlike others who are willing to pay any party official to win, this stingy candidate is known to say the truth and work towards the enthronement of a system that works for all.

I hear people ask for giveaways, stipends and grants and I wonder, after this, what next? What happens after the money has been spent and you’re stuck in a country with poor leadership that is incapable of running an efficient system for the good of all citizens?

When politicians indicate interest to contest for elective positions in this country; the deployment of stolen funds are often the basis upon which electoral triumph is often realised. After electoral victory attained at great commercial cost, huge debts are incurred and the need to pay back these investments becomes a task that must be done. Once in office, the looting and laundering begin, all in an attempt to recover invested funds on the electoral process. How then do you expect men of integrity to lead a nation enmeshed in commercialised democracy??

A religious leader recently called a politician stingy who is grossly deficient in generosity. I wonder, what form of generosity was he talking about?  When someone fails to share money or bribe his way into political office, is that stinginess?

In this country, nothing goes for free. Politicians who give electorates N5000 at polling booths see such funds as investment that must be recouped when elected into political power. According to reports, with the population of 200 million as a nation, each Nigerian is indebted to International financial organisations to the tune of N500, 0000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira). Why enjoy five-minute pleasure and luxury to suffer for about four to eight years?

We need to understand that Integrity is something we should hold dear. Unfortunately, among our politicians aspiring to lead us, they are deficient in integrity and cannot be trusted.  The system is endemically corrupt to an extent that we feel if a leader doesn’t bribe us then such a leader is not a true leader. We have sold our consciences for a few naira notes. We have forgotten that as we keep selling our future, we are making the prospects of developments of our nation grow dimmer every day. Maybe till the day we wake up and there’s no country for us, the hope of getting our nation back from the shackles of global financial institutions shall continue to be a mirage.

Let’s talk about ourselves, charity begins at home. Your child hasn’t even left school yet, and you’re already paying for him to be registered at a ‘Miracle Center’ as we call it. How do you expect such a child to succeed? He might pass the external exams of course due to assistance, but what about JAMB. That is why we get to complain about the low performance of young children. In our own little way, we have failed and that’s what gives these men the effrontery to actually give people cash so much pride because they know they are poised to make you pay it back the hard way.

Honest men and women, who choose to stand by morals and principles, are looked upon with disdain; we see them as powerless people who lack knowledge in politics. To join the crowd, we often advise them to play dirty since it’s the only way to succeed in realising their political ambition. Citizens are part of the problem. Citizens need to break this jinx or else getting honest leaders to change the country would be an impossible feat. There is a need to commence earnest work to effectively change the course of politics in Nigeria.

In conclusion, citizens ought to make the right choice as Nigerians have lost track of principles that once kept citizens united for the common good. Antagonising the government and crying here and there does not guarantee a change. Citizens must look inwards and walk toward bringing change. Nigeria cannot change without citizens of goodwill coming together for the common good.  Citizens must set the bar high, aim for the best and display an inspiring character to move the country forward. We must restore our past values in such a way that corrupt and evil leaders are rejected and condemned. This, citizens e can do it, so long as they  remain resilient and focused in achieving growth of a nation that is still the sleeping giant of the African continent.

– Yeat Ango is a student of Law at the University of Abuja, Gwagwalada