Thread by @MoghaluKingsley

#BIGVision #MoghaluSeries

VISION #1 : LEADERSHIP IS EVERYTHING ( CONTD)

Our leaders sow distrust by seeking power on the basis, not of competence or any vision, but of tribal/religious allegiance. They sow distrust of the Nigerian state and govt by their corruption in office.

Our leaders have exploited these divisions instead of liberating and educating their citizens. But, in order to liberate and educate, the leader must have the substance to do so. You cannot give what you don’t have. As the late Fela Kuti put it: Teacher don’t teach me nonsense!”

Leadership for Nigeria requires that the leader be able to rally his or her countrymen and women around a common goal or destiny that is higher than what divides us. This is different from the narrow views that fuel ethnic/religious chauvinism that dominates our politics.

Nigeria’s leadership jinx flows from three conundrums: “Us” versus “them”, power versus responsibility, and loyalty versus competence.
In “Us” v “them”, extreme attachment to primordial identities creates factions. This breeds a twisted “governance” culture of nepotism.

In the power versus responsibility conundrum political power is interpreted by its holders as all about authority rather than service, responsibility or obligations to citizens. Extreme sycophancy follows, by those who want to be in the leader’s good graces. The leader’s ego

becomes more important than objective work performance. Governance failure is the result. As the French King Louis XVI famously said: L’etat c’est moi” ( “I am the state”). This is often the mindset of political leaders in Nigeria. The third conundrum, loyalty versus competence,

arises from the first two. The “us” versus “them” and power versus responsibility syndromes create a psychological need by leaders to surround themselves with “loyal” aides. The leader wants to feel secure in the loyalty of subordinates whom he/she knows personally and trusts.

Competence takes second place, if at all. This kind of leader is not looking to achieve transformation because it can’t be achieved without competence, however loyal the ministers, Special and personal assistants might be. The sole focus become regime survival.

Say what you may about him, and he wasn’t perfect, but Olusegun Obasanjo did not yield to this tendency. He emphasized competence and diversity, and through that earned loyalty as his team felt empowered and appreciated for work they did. This is why he achieved strong

institutional and economic management success. Now, what are the leadership solutions available to us as Nigerians? Democracy offers us the first opportunity. Leaders should normally shape the destinies of nations, but citizens ought to act as a check on leadership performance.

But we as citizens have failed in Nigeria to do this, bar cause we are weakened and divided by poverty, tribalism and so on. It is time for us to stand up for our own future. We must exercise our democratic rights more robustly. We must make informed, objective voting decisions.

To do, we must understand what really is in our best interest. This means that voter/civic education is job #1. Our leaders must build a nation out of “ a mere geographical expression” that Nigeria is seen as today (and yesterday).This means a country that was artificially formed

and not a nation in a real sense. But it can be achieved by real leadership. It is citizens who decide who has responsibility for their welfare. As Amina Gurib-Fakih, former President of Mauritius put it, “we get the government we deserve. The one we vote in. It’s your vote “.

Recommendations: A President of Nigeria must:
- communicate clear goals based on a unifying vision of Nigeria’s destiny.
- uphold high ethical and moral standards in governance.
- lead by example based on the principles of transformative governance.
- Ensure appropriate training

across the Nigerian public service to support a transformative leadership.
- personally ( not delegate ministers or other govt officials) hold town hall meetings across Nigeria to communicate a new vision of leadership and governance, and get a 360-degree “leadership audit”

from citizens.
-Support and empower the “Office of the Citizen” to hold the government and governance accountable to citizens of Nigeria.
[Concludes Vision #1.]