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.]
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In the debates on national wage in Nigeria we miss the fundamental point: there is little or no productivity in the economy. If we had a truly productive economy there is no reason we can’t have the kind of minimum wage of 400 or 500K that Labour wants. But we can’t, because the
level of productivity in the economy cannot support it. Remember, minimum wage is not just about government salaries. There are not more than 2, at most 3 million civil servants in Nigeria. It is even more about what is paid in the private sector, to household staff, etc.
All of this is why, all things considered, including avoiding a minimum wage that multiplies already ravaging inflation (assuming such a wage can even be paid), I recommend a minimum wage of between N75,000 and N100,000.
In fact, speaking about productivity, how productive is
The Naira tanking back down to the 1,400s to $1 demonstrates what some of us have been saying. Seeking a falsely “strong” currency when the fundamentals are out of whack is shadow chasing. The focus should be on the STABILITY of the exchange rate, not a populist exchange rate
and premature declarations of “best performing currency”. Reports that there are now multiple exchange rates to BDCs, Customs, and NAFEX are also worrying. It’s not yet uhuru. Let us stabilize the Naira at whatever is its true market value and then pivot to the real issues:
taking Nigeria to 20-25K megawatts of 24 hour electricity in 2-3 years starting with Lagos, Kano, Onitsha and Nnewi (Aba seems promising with Geometric power) so we can create a truly productive economy. Dealing decisively with oil theft and ramping up oil production to bring in
Our relationships with others sometimes deepen or shrink in strange ways. When I was a Deputy Gov at the CBN, there was this bank MD that wanted my approval for certain things concerning his challenged bank. But he would not follow the guidelines we gave him, instead looking for
shortcuts and expecting me to play along. One day my patience snapped. I terminated our conversation and showed him the door of my office. Long story short, the matter was eventually resolved after the bank met certain regulatory conditions. Today that MD (since retired) is
a good friend. After I completed my tenure in November 2014 and left the apex bank, my deceased father in law was buried in early 2015. The MD sent a personal representative to the funeral with a gift. Note the phrase “after I had completed my tenure and left the apex bank”.
Nigeria’s economic distress is simply part of a 40-year downward trajectory that was broken only briefly by the Obasanjo civilian presidency and to some degree under Yar’Adua/Jonathan (up to mid-2014). Ever since, especially from 2015, we fell under completely incompetent
economic management and have not recovered. The immediate future looks difficult. One wishes one could see what will create fundamental change, but alas! Throwing money that is not created wealth at problems will not solve our problems. It only makes them worse. We need to lay a
real foundation for longer term economic transformation. That 80% of Nigeria’s exports in 2023 was oil tells you we have yet to get serious. “Palliatives” (just google the dictionary definition of the word) will never reverse poverty. Wealth is positively created. You cannot
I have seen in the mainstream media and floating around on social media including Whatsapp, a report purported to be that of the CBN Special Investigator appointed by President Tinubu. I have some comments on this development.
1. The “report” has no signature appended, so we
can’t assume it is the real and official report.
2. Assuming it is in fact the real report, it’s wrong for such a sensitive report to have “leaked” to the public before the President and his government have reviewed and spoken to it. This is because the “report” talks of
“chargeable offenses” and mentions specific individuals it recommends to be prosecuted in addition to Emefiele. This is a media trial and prejudices the rights of these individuals named or referred to. This is NOT how a report into the Central Bank of Nigeria should be handled.
I have been a public commentator, nationally in Nigeria and internationally in the global media, for 35 years. As a lawyer-journalist, a UN diplomat, a consultant, a central banker, a university professor, or a one-time presidential candidate. It’s interesting, then, to see some
who were mainly dormant in 2019 as we mounted the first real challenge to the political status quo in Nigeria, assume today the haughty position of “final” arbiters of who is virtuous in Nigeria & who is not, simply because they finally woke up in 2023. Let no one be confused.
Today, I am nonpartisan. By choice. I love my country no less, and reserve the right to criticize, commend or advice on the management of the Nigerian state. To label people negatively as “enemies of Nigeria” simply because they do not