Nigerian ‘rulers’ and commitment to selfless service

When our Nigeria attained Independence  on October 1,1960, thanks to the efforts of our founding fathers,  patriotism and commitment to a better Nigeria were the buzz words. This was because they thought of what  they could do for their country and not what their country could do for them apologies to John F.Kennedy.

After the first military coup, the buzz word became what the country  do for you as a new generation of Nigerians who loved corruption began to emerge . In the first republic, politicians were stealing in thousands and a few millions. By 1999,these group of Nigerians whose middle name was greed graduated to stealing in hundreds of  millions, and to  the Jonathan era, it was in billions. In addition, stolen funds were kept  in soak away pits and farm houses. A section of the citizenry also caught the bug as they saw nothing wrong in aiding and abetting corruption in as much as they benefited from the filth money.

Perhaps, this why Nuhu Ribadu,pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) advised that people seeking public office may need to undergo psychiatric test. He also said some Nigerians had lost their values by making unreasonable demands from people in public  office forcing them to deep their  hands in the common wealth.

As a result, the ruling class could no longer keep its  covenant  with the people , leading to where we are today, poorly equipped hospitals, universities that are not better than glorified secondary schools, bad roads , refineries that are not working leading to the importation of  refined petroleum deposit huge oil deposit and the worst of it economic recession.

In an interview with Late Elder statesman, Shettima Ali Monguno in 2007, he  said there was a decay in public office  because the country had jettisoned the practice of the community nominating  people who will run for political office. According to him,this role has been taken over by money bags who want returns on their investment.

Hence, our “rulers” no longer  valued commitment as politicians will promise to construct roads, drill boreholes and built clinics only to forget it about it once they get elected.

As Nigeria marks her 56th Independence anniversary, it is a thing of joy that we are alive to witness it, but the sad part is that the country is in a desperate search for leaders with conscience who know the meaning and value of leadership and not rulers.

Lawal, can be reached through [email protected]. Twitter: AbdulRafiu19