The honour Musa Usman needs

BY LADESOPE LADELOKUN

The willingness to sacrifice one’s interests and comfort for the benefit of others is no doubt the hallmark of a selfless leader.Of course, leaders abound in Nigeria but she sure has honest and altruistic political leaders in short supply.

It is evident in the merciless looting of the treasury by major actors in successive governments, avoidable interparty and intraparty crises and the unspeakable disdain for the common man by a great number of  political leaders.

But every leader was once a follower. An irredeemable lover of filthy lucre will not suddenly become as pious as the Pope on assumption of a leadership position -just like a self-centred follower is not likely to become selfless because they have become a leader.No one can give what they don’t have.

Flowing from this, it is understandable why many Nigerians have tipped Mr Musa Usman for leadership positions in spite of the barrier of western education. Last week, Daily Trust newspaper had reported that Musa, a gateman, rejected a house gift from a boss he served for 25 years but opted for a borehole to be sunk in his community instead to assuage the suffering occasioned by water scarcity despite leaving in a thatched house!

It is, therefore,not  surprising that the news of Musa’s selflessness reverberated across Nigeria and won him accolades from well meaning Nigerians. In Musa, they see the qualities lacking in a good number of today’s tribe of leaders whose philosophy is: while we enjoy,the people can suffer.

Though a Muslim,he is a shining example of one who imbibes the teachings of Jesus Christ who enjoined his followers show him love by sparing a thought for the needy and providing their needs( Matt 25:31 – 46).

Worthy of note is the fact that the Jigawa-born gateman has a Local Government Chairman or lawmakers that represent his Giljimmi settlement who probably have got allocations for constituency projects to alleviate the suffering of his hapless constituents.

And I ask, what project,if any in Musa’s Giljimmi settlement, takes precedence over provision of potable water?Didn’t the late afrobeat creator, Fela Kuti,sing about the indispensability of water in his evergreen “Water no get enemy”?Indeed water has no enemy.It is a truth that cannot be punctured. Fight it,and you are gone.

Musa’s story has again brought to the fore the need for citizen participation in the processes of planting constituency projects. Nigerians are in the best position to tell those they have elected in various capacities where their shoes pinch and not the other way.

With his little or no education, he has shown better understanding of what good governance means than  many degree-wielding Nigerian leaders despite  the fact that he does not hold any political office.He has demonstrated that selflessness is an attribute that can translate into better living conditions for our compatriots.

We do not need to look far to see  leaders with the direct opposite of the qualities he exudes.After reversing the gear of development in the education,health and other critical sectors,their children attend tony schools abroad,leaving the underprivileged to battle for spaces in Nigeria’s public schools while they turn their backs at the mess our schools have become.

Also,the coffers of the state lose weight when they suffer mild illnesses.They go on medical tourism abroad,but the common man battles with mosquitoes in teaching hospitals while they sleep on bare floors.Was it up to two years that the wife of the President cried out that there was no syringe in Aso clinic?”If somebody like Mr President can spend several months outside Nigeria, then you can wonder what will happen to a man in the street,” she said. Nothing can be truer.

No doubt, for a country that is almost always in the news for the wrong reasons owing to the activities of dishonest people who have left her image badly battered, Musa’s story inspires hope  and the believe that  good people still occupy this space. Hear what Mr Verghese, Musa’s Indian boss, said : “Musa has served me diligently for 25 years.We would travel to India and leave our house under his care and behold, we would meet everything intact.He’s indeed an honest Nigerian.” Where will looters hide their faces?

Expectedly, Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to honour Musa with a national award for being a good ambassador and displaying rare alruism. For a man who opted to have a borehole sunk in his community instead of enjoying the comfort of a brand new house, no honour can be bigger than concerted efforts by those who control the levers of power to provide real leadership in every facet of our national life and  display of selflessness in the discharge of their constitutional duties for the good of Nigerians.

Ladelokun writes from Ogun State via [email protected]