VACANCY: Visionary leaders wanted here!

Of all Nigeria’s former Heads of State and Presidents, which one among them can you describe as visionary? Which one among them would you say was far-sighted enough and adequately laid the foundation for a greater country during his leadership not just for his generation but generations unborn? Nnamdi Azikiwe? Aguiyi Ironsi? Yakubu Gowon? Murtala Muhammed? Shehu Shagari? Ibrahim Babangida? Ernest Shonekan? Sani Abacha? Abdulsalami Abubakar? Olusegun Obasanjo? Umaru Musa Yar’Adua? Goodluck Jonathan? Muhammadu Buhari? Which one?

While I leave you to ponder that question for a moment, I believe that much more than at any other time in our country’s history, the need for visionary leaders, with the increasing poverty, widespread lamentations and current economic recession in the country, cannot be overemphasised.

Had we been blessed to have visionary leaders who truly understood what governance is all about, and recognise the sheer power they have in transforming this country as Presidents, changing the lives of millions, and writing their own names in gold because of their indelible legacies, we will not be grappling with many of the challenges we yet face in Nigeria today.

And this is more so with a huge percentage of elected leaders failing to meet the expectations of Nigerians and an infinitesimal number of our politicians that could be described as visionaries especially in the face of dwindling revenue from oil. I also believe the urgent need for visionary leadership is particularly imperative with the enthusiasm of most Nigerians now seriously dampened in the capacity of the Buhari administration to bring about the much-need positive change they voted for and which everyone of us are eager to see.

On a personal note, when President Buhari, right from the inception of his administration failed to immediately appoint ministers who would work with him to deliver the promises made during the electioneering campaigns based on the seriousness of the country’s situation, I knew, straightaway, that this is one administration that cannot be prompt or urgently attend to critical national matters or generally do the needful at every point in time in moving the country forward. Sadly, this character has been the hallmark of this administration.

On many indices today, Nigeria keeps lagging behind. Yet, those we elected to help accelerate our growth and speed up the process are sleeping on the job and have yet to inspire confidence that they have what it takes to steer the country to the right destination at the soonest possible time.

Now, don’t get me wrong. While it might be argued that a President has the prerogative to take decisions at his own time and should not be seen as being stampeded by the people or the media in tasking critical decisions, there are things a purposeful leadership will never be foot-dragging upon.  There are equally things a serious-minded country cannot afford.

In the critical things that matter, we keep faltering. For instance, education, which should be the main plank of our country’s development, continues to be underfunded despite its criticalness in empowering our citizens to effectively engage in a fiercely-competitive global village. We have become so comfortable churning out half-baked graduates from our universities which are not reckoned with in the rank of the world’s best universities. We are not alarmed at the danger that poses to our future. We are okay producing graduates whose knowledge base and practical experience in their chosen fields of study cannot match up with that which their counterparts in other climes are exposed to right from school.

On health, it’s the same story of national disappointment for years. Yet no leader has stood up to confront this frontally. This point was brilliantly captured by public affairs commentator, Emmanuel Ugwu, in his very engaging and well-written article, “Mayowa Ahmed and the story of a silent genocide,” published days ago when he wrote that the death of Ms. Ahmed, the stage IV ovarian cancer patient whose case recently became public knowledge through the social media, is nothing but ‘state-sponsored genocide’ which is silently decimating the Nigerian poor.

For instance, despite the fact that Nigeria has the highest cancer death rate in Africa according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), aside the unpleasant news that 250,000 new cancer cases are recorded yearly in the country, our various leaders haven’t thought it wise or fit to have a standard and indeed world-class cancer treatment facility established in the country no matter its cost. Not even one! Currently, there is no clear vision or communicated plan to even build or equip some of our existing teaching hospitals for that purpose.

That is why, like Ugwu rightly posited, Ahmed would have lived longer or even beat the disease if the circumstances of her death were different. She would most likely be alive today supposing she was born in a country that places the highest premium on the lives of its citizens.

However, if we will confess the truth, the young lady’s case wasn’t peculiar. Many other Nigerians have died like her. Wickedly wasted by a political leadership that failed them and a political class which believes the lives of average Nigerians matter little!

I sincerely believe anyone who sees himself as a member of Nigeria’s political class needs to sit down and do a deep introspection. Times as the one we are in seriously call for sober reflection. They’ll also need to ask for forgiveness from God for their many sins and atrocities against the people. If our politicians will tell themselves the honest truth, they will admit they’ve failed God and country, and most importantly, generations to come because they’ve simply left uninspiring legacies.

When my professional boss and leader, Simon Kolawole, wrote in his column on Sunday, that Agriculture is NOT the magic solution if we are really serious about diversifying from oil but that agriculture must give birth to industry if we are genuinely interested in creating value for our country, what he didn’t expressly mention was that it is the absence of visionary leaders that have brought us to the sorry state and mess we are in.

Like TheCable founder correctly observed in his characteristically engaging, witty and thought-provoking style, some things look so simple and doable but commonsense is honestly not common. Truly, our agricultural output as a country can be far better in quantity and quality than currently obtains. We can do better with technology, storage, conditioning, packaging and transportation. We can also bring out the real value of agriculture and spark off a chain of economic activities that will create millions of good jobs, generate billions of dollars in export revenues, and bring returns to investors, employees and government. But all these are only achievable if our leaders wear their thinking caps on and also put their hands to the plough.

Meanwhile, as it’s often argued that a people deserve the type of leaders they get, if Nigeria hasn’t been privileged or blessed with visionaries in government, the electorate which put them in power cannot also escape some apportionment of the blame.

When we, as a people, accepted that our political leaders can go overseas for medical treatments but shy away from questioning them on the source of the funds for such jamborees even when we suspect that state funds were used, we simply lost it. If these leaders understood that Nigerians will not take such nonsense from them, they would most likely not have contemplated some of these shenanigans or shamelessly continue to carry on with them.

Except for General Abacha who hardly travelled anywhere while he was in power, almost all our former leaders have, at one time or the other during their tenure, gone out of the country for medical care. Not one of them thought it paramount to leave an indelible mark in Nigeria’s health infrastructure. Yet, most of them, not minding the hypocrisy, usually stress the need to end medical tourism but are often the first, with their relatives and ministers, to hop on the Presidential aircraft or the next available plane for treatment abroad. . I will not mention that President Buhari is also a culprit since you already know this.

Despite the economic challenges of the country, and the immense responsibilities and challenges of leadership, I believe leaders must never be blind to the key elements that need to be in place in having a economically-prosperous society no matter what. Like the Yorubas often say, “bi a ba n sokun, a a maa riran” (Even if we are crying, we still see).

Creating an enabling environment for people and business to thrive is paramount. Education of the citizenry is core for development. Food sufficiency is key. A healthy populace is vital towards creating wealth for the country. And infrastructure in roads and power are necessities. Nigerian politicians and leaders have a whole lot to learn from the visionaries in the United Arab Emirates who are positioning their country as the best in virtually all key areas of human and national development. But that is a discussion for another day.

Sincerely, I believe Nigeria doesn’t deserve a party that gives sweet-sounding promises to win votes but turns around to deny such after it eventually clinches power no matter its pretensions of having the country’s best interests at heart. And neither does our country deserve a party that is a den of thieves and looters which can’t reform itself to play the role of opposition effectively and has shown it doesn’t even deserve to live.

What we need are visionary leaders. A new breed of politicians who are thinkers and intellectuals who will use their minds, hearts and brains to chart a new course for our country.  True leaders who will say this is the way, let’s walk in it. Patriots who are concerned mainly about Nigeria’s best interests now and in the future. Men, women and youths of morals and integrity who can inspire public confidence and hope. People whose track records evidently show they are purposeful and can deliver. And that is why, on behalf of myself and other concerned citizens of Nigeria at home and abroad, this vacancy is being placed.

We certainly no longer need the recycling of old leaders.  We have tested them. They have failed. We deserve better.  We need new leaders. Visionary leaders. For our country’s good. For our own good. And that of our children.

And so, while 2019 is still three years away, I believe those who think they are up to the task should step out now and start communicating those things they will do differently via lectures and papers, and through different innovative platforms! They should start proffering solutions they would offer assuming they are the ones at the helm of affairs now. It’s not campaigning. It’s presenting their ideas to the public for scrutiny and interrogation.

For instance, one of the things Nigerians didn’t quite do rigorously during the last elections was interrogating candidates well enough. This has evidently proved costly today. In future elections, it’s an error the Nigerian media in particular and the civil society in general, must ensure never repeats itself.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ofemigan