Thread by @MoghaluKingsley

#BIGVision #MoghaluSeries

VISION #2: THE WORLDVIEW STATE (CONTD)

What we need most in Nigeria is the emergence of a NATIONAL leader with a real worldview. This type of leader will necessarily have intellectual depth, philosophical reflection, and practical leadership ability to

inspire, motivate and provide guidance to Nigerians. In a radical departure from our present and past experience, he or she will be able to appeal to our enlightened, collective interest, to “the better angels of our nature”. Historically, great leaders have had this ability.

From America’s Abraham Lincoln to Britain’s Winston Churchill and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, from China’s Deng Xiaoping to Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohammed, from Botswana’s Seretse Khama to Mauritius’s Ameena Gurib-Fakih. The countries led by these great men’s and women have been

built and developed on the basis of worldviews that could be clearly identified. Given our own tortured past and present and the possibilities before us, a leader with a worldview of radical transformation in the direction of national unity, economic development, and our place in

the world is now needed in our country. My vision of how to reinvent Nigeria as a worldview state rests on the following steps:

I recommend that we establish a simple, short and profound Worldview Charter entitled “One Nation, One Destiny” (I know, this was the motto of National

Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the Second Republic, but the wording is only a coincidence!). This document should be prepared by a committee of relevant intellectuals drawn from the fields of philosophy, history, literature, law, sociology, economics, sciences and business, and

including youth and women. It should be a short, easily understandable document of not more than two pages that addresses the following issues:

1. The Amalgamation if 1914.
2. The promise held out by “the labour a of our heroes past” such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo,

Ahmadu Bello, Anthony Enahoro etc.
3. A determination to recreate a united nation by building on the strength of our diverse and dynamic people.
4. Express regret about the loss of millions of lives in the Nigerian Civil War and affirm that such a tragedy will never happen again.

5. Affirm the importance justice, equity and the rule of law as the basis of governance in the “New Nigeria”.
6. Affirm entrepreneurial capitalism which encourages the ethic of individual hard work, while seeking a proper balance between the role of the state and the marketplace,

as the foundation of a productive Nigerian economy in the context of a developmental state.
7. The need to establish a true social contract between the state and the citizens of Nigeria, with minimum outcomes to be delivered to citizens, and encourage citizens to pay their taxes

on this basis.
8. Innovation and skilled human capital, not natural resources, as the foundational basis of economic activity in the “New Nigeria”.
9. A determination to restore/achieve Nigeria’s eminent place in the world deriving from its unique position as the most populous

nation of the black race.
This Charter should be ratified by the National Assembly and all State Assemblies , signed by the President and all State Governors, and taught in all primary and secondary schools in Nigeria, with a simple version at primary level and a more

comprehensive one at secondary school level. This will create a new generation of Nigerians with the necessary mindset of patriotism and strategic national ambition. The President and his or her cabinet should act on and communicate this worldview at all times, as should

Legislators and state governors. Building great nations often requires leaders with a strong ability to communicate to and with their fellow citizens and to lead by example. The worldview state is a condition precedent for practical good governance, coming in Vision #3.