Such leadership also comes with investing in the people, which to a great extent will grow effective followership for the needed sustainable development across the continent to occur. When this happens, we can then be proud to say we have achieved the leadership for the Africa we want.
Intellectual leadership will recognize the dearth of Igbo participation in the mainstream media. A deficiency that left a vacuum now filled by mushroom blogs and other fallacy manufacturing platforms that contribute little in shaping the news agenda. We need leaders who will partner with the millions of Igbos abroad to bridge the demographic distortion bedeviling the region and channel our naturally endowed entrepreneurial skills homewards.
Introduction Youth: the life of a country, the strength of a nation and the hope of innumerable generations. Their resilience is like the eagle in the sky, strong like a lion in the jungle, they are the fresh life line and the future of Nigeria. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2019) defines a youth as the early period of existence, growth and development. It is the stage in the life of an individual that is very crucial because it is the decision-making stage. Jogging down the memory lane. I remembered how 12 professors were called to sit in an airplane. When the plane was about to take off, they were informed that the plane was made by some youths in the nation. They all quickly ran out leaving one woman who was sitting confidently. Surprised, onlookers asked her why she was still in the airplane and she said, ‘if indeed this airplane was made by our youths, trust me it won’t even start’. I think it is high time this mind-set changed. I quite agree with Rachel Jackson who said “Our youths are not failing the system; the system is failing the youths. Ironically, the very youths who are being treated the worst are the young people who are going to lead us out of our nightmare”. A Nation in need of Accountable Leadership Effective and accountable leadership remains one of the biggest challenges to development in Nigeria today. Leaders in our nation have not always responded effectively to the needs of the country, but there is hope in the rising generation of youths who could play a critical role in building accountability for successful representation, economic transformation and public service. Currently, Nigeria face problems that are common to all sovereign units. These problems are generally in relation to capacity building, governance, regional and sub-regional economic integration, tribalism, corruption, food security, unemployment, external debt burden, international trade and payment relations amongst others, all of which could easily be traced back to its calibre of leaders and leadership structures. The role of the youths in addressing and solving these chronic problems that seem second nature to Nigeria can never be overemphasized. This calls for the need to understand leadership objectively and within the African context, working towards educating, enlightening and empowering Africa’s next generation of leaders. In our current generation, youths are trying to take on leadership roles that were previously reserved for seniors, a move that hasn’t been received in the most positive light by the elderly. Across the world, leadership thinking has shifted from the erroneous belief that age, experience and maturity were the dynamics that led to modern and innovative systems. Most countries of the world are diverting significant resources towards securing the future of their countries – by preparing the younger generations for responsible and productive leadership in politics, business, technology and other areas for sustaining democracy. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case in Africa and Nigeria in particular. Former US President Barack Obama was young when he took over governance in America. It was the same with David Cameroon, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Both of the leaders performed brilliantly and turned around the socioeconomic lives of their countries respectively. The recently appointed commissioner for youths and sports in Oyo State, Oluwaseun Fakorede and the youngest speaker in the country today, Hon. Sangodoyin are good examples of how the younger generations can lead their countries successfully. Indeed, leadership is changing across the world! The Hope of today’s Youths Youth-Empowerment I strongly believe youth empowerment should be at the foremost pursuit of the Nigeria youths in taking on the reins of leadership in our country today. Youth empowerment is a process where young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. It is a structural and attitudinal process whereby young people gain the ability, agency and authority to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other citizens in the nation. I have always asked myself a couple of times the difference between youth empowerment and youth development. My search revealed the answer buried deep in the manifesto of the Executive Governor of Oyo State as regards youth empowerment and youth development. “In his words he said youth empowerment is different from development because development is centred on developing individuals, while empowerment is focused on creating greater community change and it relies on the development of individual’s capacity”. Need I say that youth empowerment cuts across several programs the youths can empower themselves with through activities and experiences that will help them develop social, ethical, emotional, physical, and cognitive competencies which I believe includes the ability to analyse their own strengths and weaknesses, set personal and vocational goals, have the confidence, motivation, self-esteem and abilities to carry them out (including the ability to establish support networks in order to effect positive social change and fully participate in community life). Some of these programs include: Young African Leaders Initiative, International Youth Foundation, Young Africa, Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Foundation amongst many others. Active Engagement in Community Service The truth is that volunteering and active engagement in community service in order to help solve societal problems with others is another major form of civic activity in which the youths can engage themselves with, in order to take the mantle of leadership in the nearest future. Let us be clear, the benefit from this engagement is of two-fold: Firstly, the youths can train or be a model for the general public, to monitor what the government does which I believe will help create more watchdogs to check the actions and policies of the government and by so doing prepare themselves for greater exploits in their leadership aspirations. Secondly, I believe that apart from building networks and gaining useful experiences with other people in the society, the volunteers can make themselves useful for the community and keep themselves well-informed of the current situations in the nation. Also, participating in these activities help raise awareness of the youths about the current economic, legal, political issues and social development in the country, which will place them at a better position to check the government’s performance and aim higher in the future. Education and Human Capital Development I remember a popular legal maxim which states that nemo dat quod non habet (no one can give that which he does not have). However, Nigeria remains a stubborn exception to this rule. Our wizardry is so remarkable that we are capable of giving what we do not have and importing exactly what we have. In a knowledge-based economy, human capital development and its educational transformation into good governance and effective leadership is a challenge for youths who may want to challenge the status quo and take the mantle of leadership in the future. Furthermore, since capacities, skills, know-how, knowledge, skills, ideas and commitments which add economic value to the nation are all categorized under human capital. Therefore; young people should focus more on the following topics – civic engagement,
As John C. Maxwell rightly said, “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. Suffice it to say, the ripple effect of good leadership impacts positively on the collective progress and development of a people and their society at large. On the flip side, a nation that suffers from bad leadership is doomed to fail. Inferring from the fact that youthful age (ages of 15 to 35 years) is an apogee of strength, innovativeness, and fast intellectual reasoning, the influx of youth in leadership is considered the cleverest and most effective strategy for promoting and reaping the dividends of pragmatic leadership. Casting back to the eras of people like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Africanus Horton, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Ahmed Ben Bella, Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara and many other great men of yore; one fact stands out—they were all youth when they made formidable leadership impacts that changed the history of their country for good. The current dispensation is also not a sacred cow. Examples of youth leadership exploitation abound across the globe. Sadly, however, for a long time in Nigeria, the sit-tight attitude and unending recycling of the older generation politicians has systematically barricaded the youths from taking the lead. Hardly do political or decision-making positions given to them. From the president, governors, law-makers, the country’s ambassadors…down to local government chairmen, pinpointing a youth in such position is as hard as seeing a white tiger in the wild. This menace has impeded Nigeria’s bulging youth population from unleashing their political potential and has inhibited the country’s progress in no small measure. Despite being endowed with abundant human and material resources, and having been driven by 60 years of self-governance, waves of underdevelopment still blow heavily in the country. Issues of corruption, widespread poverty and its attendant frustrations, insecurity, religious and tribal crisis, electoral violence, human rights abuses and dwindling economy are perceptibly deep-seated. The misery surrounding this pervasive underdevelopment resonates with the legal dictum, “nemo dat quod non habet” (no one gives what they do not have). Nigeria’s grey-haired leaders obviously lack the daring energy, ingenuity and prudence needed to play critical leadership roles capable of curtailing the country’s multifaceted problems. With this reality, therefore, the need for maximum youth inclusion in leadership is not mere wishful thinking but a matter of necessity. Nevertheless, the ultimate poser is: what can be done to ensure that youths take the lead? I agree with Albert Einstein who long ago defined insanity as “doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result”. Copious research on the dearth of youth engagement in Nigerian politics, more often than not, heaps the tasks of changing the status quo of the government. I will beg to differ! Our over-aged leaders are not, and will likely never be willing to take proactive measures that will ensure the influx of youth in leadership. They are enjoying mediocrity. And they have nothing much at stake. Thus, I have a strong conviction that to change the current precarious narrative; we, the youths, must take the bull by the horn. After all, “Freedom is not given, it is taken”. In view of this, the following recommendations are proffered: Firstly, every Nigerian youth must shun political apathy and get interested in the business of leadership in Nigeria. Political apathy creates a comfort zone for the sit-tight attitude of our old politicians. Anyone up to 18 years old must get voter’s card and vote credibly during elections. On the same pedestal, we must shun and denounce political thuggery and bribery so we can stop being a politicking tool in the hands of our oppressors. Most importantly, in our littlest leadership chance, we need to do everything humanly possible to leave positive landmarks. Secondly, any youth who takes a bold step to contest for a leadership position must not be left to suffer humiliation at the poll. Hence, we must begin to support and throw formidable solidarity to any young person vying for a leadership position. For instance, Yul Edochie, a popular Nollywood actor and youth activist, contested the governorship election in Anambra state. Notwithstanding that Anambra state have a booming youth population; it was heartbreaking that he scored very low. In other words, he was betrayed. Another striking case is when Omoyele Sowore, a youth activist and #RevolutionNow convener, was detained by the DSS, possibly to truncate his blazing advocacy for youth leadership. Only an iota number of youths protested for his release. However, when a singer and known drug addict, Naira Marley, was arrested for an alleged internet scam, youths trooped out en mass to campaign for his release. Attitudes like this are like one chasing a rat while his house is on fire. Until we begin to support our fellow young people, our craving for maximum inclusion in leadership and decision will not be actualized. In fact, if we can unify and jettison tribalism and religious sentiments, the Nigerian youths have what it takes to produce a young president. Thirdly, it is high time we begin to mount irresistible pressure on our lawmakers to map out certain important leadership quotas exclusively for the youth. In the same vein, the continued practice of appointing elderly people to serve as ministers and commissioners for youth affairs is a dastardly act we must begin to challenge. Alas, the recent #EndSARS peaceful protest has once again reaffirmed that when determined, youth voices can lead to meaningful governmental actions. Again, we need to squarely and legitimately gain financial freedom. Although not many people talk about this, it is paramount if we are to take a pride of place in leadership. Our politicians have taken the advantage of endemic youth unemployment in the country to cage the youths and turn many into errand and political hallelujah boys. Of course, he who feeds one controls him. For our integrity to remain unshakable and for our voices to translate into a meaningful cause, we must at least be able to feed ourselves and pay our bills. And we know, acquiring a skill is the surest way individuals can break out of the shackle of poverty. Often-taken-for-granted skills like carpentry, tailoring, bead making, barbing, plumbing, phone repairing, painting, creative writing etc. are all extremely veritable sources of income one can monetize and be free from poverty. Moreover, with the advent of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and the internet, there are volumes of soft skills that can be learnt even in one’s comfort zone. we need to develop an acute appetite for skill acquisition. Furthermore, the need for a proactive lifestyle cannot be overemphasized. We need to put an end to defamatory and cancerous attitudes like cultism, drug addiction, arm robbery, rape, etc. After all, to purge a vice, virtue is needed. Finally, voracious reading is a sure arrow in the quiver. “Leaders are readers” said Harry S. Truman. Sadly, the Nigerian youth of today detests reading. Part of the reason for our leadership failure is because many
Thisday dissects what is expected of the new APC leadership in this editorial….read on ———————————————————————————————————————————- For the Oshiomhole-led new national executive to earn respect, it must promote the common good Ordinarily, as the party in power at the national level and in majority of the 36 states, the All Progressives Congress (APC) should be a beacon of democratic tidiness. That, sadly, is far from the reality, going by the mayhem and utter disorder that characterised the ward, local government and state congresses that eventually culminated in the national convention held yesterday in Abuja. It is, however, a credit to the party that the process by which about 6,800 delegates elected their leaders last night was transparent and devoid of the usual acrimony, despite the mild drama between factional delegates from Imo, Delta and a few other states. We congratulate members of the newly elected National Working Committee of the party, especially Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who succeeds Chief John Odigie-Oyegun as the APC national chairman even as we urge him to walk his talk. “We will subject everyone to the dictates of our constitution and remain faithful to the manifesto of the party on the basis of which we were elected by the Nigerian people. To my recollection, we haven’t had any serious platform as a party where the agenda was to debate policy options and choices attached to each policy we fought for. To me, this is what a political party should represent”, said Oshiomhole last week. We agree with Oshiomhole that political parties should be more an avenue for the contestation of ideas about how society should develop and thrive than a vehicle for seeking political offices. The challenge is that the APC, like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) it dislodged, has hardly articulated what it stands for in terms of ideas let alone canvass its platform to ordinary Nigerians. Meanwhile, to the extent that political parties remain the framework for democracies to recruit and organise the populace for power contests, when they exhibit incoherence in policy formulation and disorder at local levels, it is democracy that is endangered. Unfortunately, for the past three years, impunity and arrogance have found expression within the APC where unmanaged factions have in recent months emerged as the ambitions of rival political war lords clashed openly and in some instances, violently. Besides, its mechanisms for internal democracy such as periodic congresses, conventions, National Working Committee (NWC) meetings, etc., were hardly convened while its membership and leadership at ward, local government and state levels were left to conjecture. Those of its members who found themselves in government have carried on more or less like an exclusive club of the ‘chosen’. Yet a party without a definable ideology, structure or institutional memory ought to have spent more time in internal engineering than in seasonal electioneering contingency. It is indeed noteworthy, as we highlighted only recently, that the democratic credentials of the principal promoters of the APC are thin but what is even more worrisome is that after three years in power as the ruling party at the centre, they have yet to show Nigerians that their party is a serious political platform driven by the core value of promoting the common good. By aggregating and representing the interests of their members, fielding credible people for public offices and holding government to account when in opposition, political parties have a huge role to play in any emerging democracy. But with prohibitive costs of expression of interest and nomination forms, for instance, many otherwise good candidates are usually denied the opportunity to stand for elections in Nigeria. And with that, we have a preponderance of incompetent politicians in strategic public offices. For that situation to change, the APC must lead the efforts since political parties are important in the recruitment of credible leaders at all levels of government. It is against this background that the Oshiomhole-led new national executive has its job cut out for them. We wish them the best of luck in their new assignments. Quote By aggregating and representing the interests of their members, fielding credible people for public offices and holding government to account when in opposition, political parties have a huge role to play in any emerging democracy
Senator Abraham Adesanya was a symbol of authentic combination of loyalty to one’s ethnic group and loyalty to one’s country. He was at the same time an outstanding leader of Afenifere that sought to promote and protect the interest of the Yoruba and a nationalist leader of NADECO that sought to promote and protect democracy in his country, Nigeria. Inspired by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, he led a life of idealism in which service to the Yoruba and to Nigeria was an uncompromising credo. Adesanya’s unflinching political activism was devoted to the promotion of democracy in Nigeria. He was a political activist that dedicated his political career to the righting of wrongs without deference to any form of prejudice, be it personal, ethnic or religious. I recall here that even without having met me in person, Senator Adesanya put up a stout defence of me in the Senate in 1983 when some members of the Senate Screening Committee sought, for clearly perfidious reasons, to mess me up during the ministerial confirmation hearing before my appointment by President Shehu Shagari as Nigeria’s Foreign Minister. The incident was illustrative of how, in an uncommon public friendliness, Senator Adesanya could proceed in the defence of truth and public interest. I come now to the theme of this symposium, Leadership and the Future of Nigeria. I must first state that throughout this presentation, leadership implies good leadership in Nigeria and in other countries. A leader must, in my view, possess to a good degree, inter alia, the following attributes: the capacity to inspire and form affinity with the people that the leader is leading; the capacity to have and articulate a vision of where he/she plans to take the country concerned; the capacity to deliver electoral promises; and the capacity to identify with and be seen to be tackling the challenges facing the people he/she is leading. Hence, leadership is primarily about service, and servant leadership enables the building of trust with bonding and continuing inspiration of the people. A good leadership must be defined by discipline, resilience, perseverance, determination, unyielding devotion, and, above all, a strong political will to act without deference to sectionalism. It is not always easy to find a convergence of all these attributes in a single individual. Nevertheless, I shall want to mention three examples of leaders whose performance in their countries had demonstrable achievements, especially in putting their countries on the global map and in some cases, lifting them from the nadir of developmental challenges. A common feature of their successful leadership is their capacity, during electoral campaigns and on assumption of office, to spell out in clear and unambiguous terms the goals and guiding principles that would define their tenure in office. My first example is Prime Minister Muhammad Mahathir in Malaysia. At the time our country attained its independence in 1960, by virtually all economic and social indices—education and health, roads construction, agriculture, etc–, Nigeria was at par or even a notch above Malaya that subsequently became Malaysia in 1965. It is common knowledge that Malaysia now the world’s largest producer of palm produce obtained the seedlings for its palm plantations from Nigeria which was then the world’s largest source of palm produce. Today, Nigeria imports palm oil from Malaysia. And in the wider scale of development including industrial, agriculture, and human skills, Nigeria now ranks below Malaysia. All this was mainly due to the leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir. To recall an illustration of Mahathir’s dedication and resilience as a leader, in 1981 when as Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General I visited his office, he showed me a stand with aluminum panels on which the progress of projects being executed by the various ministries of his Government was periodically recorded. And when 11 years later he received me as Secretary-General in his same office, he showed me how he was still regularly monitoring the performance of the ministries but now using a computer on his desk. My second example of good leadership is Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. When he assumed the presidency of his country in 1963, Tanzania had one of the highest rates of illiteracy in Africa, and the bulk of the population who lived in far-flung villages and towns were largely lacking in schools and medical facilities. Nyerere, inspiring his people and winning their trust with his clear articulation of his goals for their welfare and unity of the country, proceeded, initially with his socialist Ujamaa policy which he subsequently moderated by accepting a more liberal economic policy, to build a large number of schools, hospitals and health centres, and impressive transport facilities that included roads and the famous TanZam railway built with assistance from China to serve Tanzania and provide access to the sea for its land-locked neighbour, Zambia. Thus, in a relatively short period, the literacy rate and human skills development in Tanzania began to compare favourably with other African countries. My third example of good leadership is Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson of Canada. Mike Pearson (as he was fondly called by his friends and colleagues) was the Prime Minister when in 1968 Canada faced a major political crisis of imminent disintegration. The country’s major French-speaking province of Quebec was on the verge of seceding from federal Canada. The then French President, Charles de Gaulle, had the previous year in a state visit to Canada, while addressing a huge audience in Quebec, said “Vive le Quebec, vive le Quebec libre” meaning, “Long live Quebec, long live independent Quebec”. Prime Minister Pearson, himself English-speaking, was then approaching retirement and had to face the task of steering his political party in finding his successor. To the surprise of the long-standing senior members of his party, the Liberal Party, he jumped over the heads of such very senior party stalwarts as Paul Martin Snr and others to support a relatively junior French-speaking party member, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, from Quebec who had been in parliament for only about three years and with only
“The Igbo historical past is very important and at certain times it has been quite tragic. But we cannot remain trapped in our past and as someone once said, we cannot wish away the war that took place but we cannot continue to move forward with our heads slightly inclined backward. You will either trip or not move fast enough. Don’t forget that you are in a race with other groups. Nigeria of the sixties is markedly different from Nigeria of today and the Igbo nation would have to adjust to that reality and strategize accordingly” ~ Rotimi Amaechi Just yesterday a friend had asked, “who do you think can make the candidates’ list for Igbo presidency?” I was lost for a few minutes before replying Rochas Okorocha. When he asked why I told him that realistically he is the only one that has the chance of getting the necessary northern votes and that despite the perception out there I will personally pick Rochas over Jonathan and Yar’Adua for any top-level job. I won’t bother you with the rest of our repartee but you can be sure my choice of Owelle was not derided as most Igbos would have done. This is a question that regularly pops up in our discourse. Some say that Igbos don’t need the presidency to progress. That what we need is a restructured and equitable nation for the Igbos to excel. I agree. But I equally agree with the reasoning that it will be equitable for Igbos to produce a Nigerian president after all these years.In any case that is just by the way to present some of the discourse that informed this write up. Lately, the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Before the recent legal challenge, he had been controversially mired in what many news outlets sensationally interpreted as a ‘call for coup’. In a ‘sermon’ that saw him mention God over 15 times while commenting on the recent violence in Kogi state, the Senator had asked “Who says that the army cannot takeover in Nigeria? It is possible. Yes it is possible”. Surely James Humes didn’t have Nigerian lawmakers in mind when he stated that “every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership” A lesson or two may be needed from his principal who was dragged around the Code of Conduct Tribunal for several months but never descended to such depths of impolitic flippancy. Being a smart lawyer and an experienced politician one would expect that Ike’s speech will be dotted with properly chosen words, but let us just agree that every now and then we lose it. I had stated then that Ekweremadu’s outburst typified the emotional politics that is, unfortunately, the ubiquitous mindset of many Igbos since the 2015 general elections. Now accused of illicitly acquiring several properties which were allegedly not declared, the suave lawmaker from Aninri is facing an ex parte application filed by the Federal Government seeking the forfeiture of 22 “undeclared” houses in Nigeria and Ohaneze Ndi Igbo is having none of that. Chief Nnia Nwodo, leader of the Pan Igbo Group issued a robust statement in defence of “a revered Igbo son” and accused the federal government of persecuting him alongside others just because they are Igbos. Paradoxically Nwodo is saying this just a couple of weeks after Ekweremadu had dismissed the allegations as “part of the politics of 2019” while stating that the case has further exposed “those who colluded with the dismissed former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Umezulike and his cronies to steal and doctor his will.” Moreover, this is not the first time Ekweremadu has been accused of amassing properties illegally. During the last administration, a certain Mr. Steve Igweze of a certain Enugu Salvation Group had among other things alleged that the Senator acquired the Modotel Hotels, Enugu and 1000 plots of land in Enugu for a private university. So what in the world does Nwodo intend to achieve with his impetuous claims? I am trying to imagine the spectacle we would have been treated to if the ACF had stoutly defended the former SGF Babachir Lawal during his grass cutting days. I bet you are too. Have I in any way suggested that we should throw Ike under the bus? Not at all. He is a fine gentleman who humbly sits in the back row with regular guys like me in church. As a matter of fact, I believe he deserves all the political support he can get from Igbos. For one, he has the experience and connections. Secondly, he is still young and will be around long after Buhari has retired. He perhaps offered the best but unheeded advice during the heydays of IPOB. Those who criticised him then for being a major beneficiary of the political establishment that wouldn’t want his table shaken were simply ignorant of the facts of law raised therein. If Igbos stoutly defended Kanu why not Ike? I would rather have him on a table where political strategies and projections are being discussed and developed. However, the current allegations against him bother on illegal acquisition of wealth and have little to do with my struggles as an Igbo man in Nigeria. They are mere allegations anyway, and until proven beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law Ekweremadu will continue to discharge his duties as the Deputy Senate President. I cannot trust any other politician of South East extraction to wriggle out of such legal issues more than I can trust him. So playing the ethnic card in his defence is not only needless but also an inimical portrayal of Igbos as defenders of corruption whereas I know we are not. Of course, Igbos have been in the front line of Nigerian politics since former President Jonathan providentially assumed power and his defeat in 2015 conceivably pitted us against the victors. Have we handled it well? Opinions are divided but
The populist route is laden with cheers and encomiums that men find difficult to resist. The voice of reason is momentarily disparaged but elastically conditioned. My first take is to shred the notion that Igbo land lacked leadership. This completely nullifies the narrative that the IPOB Leader, Prince Nnamdi Kanu only attempted to fill a vacuum deserted by eminent Igbo men and women. On the contrary, the Afara Ukwu Prince was prior to the mayhem in Abia State, a subset of the leadership that is conveniently declared vacuum today. The Igbo establishment adopted the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as its route to national political relevance. It ensured that the revered Dim Emeka Ojukwu was politically humiliated in Igbo land in 2003. It, however, compensated him by ensuring the victory of APGA in his home state of Anambra. Even when the erudite Chuba Okadigbo of blessed memory broke rank and became the Vice Presidential candidate of the present Commander in Chief, the leadership was never pretentious on where to align Igbo interest. The Ohaneze Ndigbo was the first to endorse and order all Igbos to vote for former President Goodluck Jonathan. The entire Igbo land delivered over 97% votes to him in 2011. That was solid leadership and no vacuous spinning can obliterate that. Leadership is about order, direction, followership, and loyalty. The same Ohaneze Ndigbo directed the entire South East to vote for Jonathan in 2015 despite his neglect of Igbo land. The zone obeyed the order and delivered about 90% of its votes to Jonathan. The rest they say is history. My point is that we never had a leadership vacuum. I mentioned earlier that Prince Nnamdi Kanu was a subset of the leadership until recently. He was part of those that obeyed the order decreed by Ohaneze Ndigbo on who to vote for in 2015. He was unrelenting in his verbal annihilation of APC and never minced words in advocating for votes for Jonathan. This was in line with the position of Ohaneze leadership. My point is that Kanu did not occupy a leadership vacuum created by Igbo elders. He only attempted an uprising against the leadership that actually ensured he was released from detention and guaranteed his freedom. It was supposed to be a win-win scenario until he touched the tiger’s tail by decreeing no election in Anambra state. Those in the know will tell you that his violent utterances unsettled the Igbo leadership and prompted the issuance of several warnings to him. The meetings he held with the governors and the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo were all aimed at taming his apparent instigation of the youths to disobey constituted authorities. The big lesson here is that we must identify red lines and deal with such accordingly. The maturity of Abia State governor in handling the days of mayhem is quite commendable. He immediately reached out to the Hausa community, the leadership of recognized unions and traditional rulers to ensure that the situation never got out of control. He simply prevented an Armageddon. That is leadership. The synergy of Governors Ikpeazu, Obiano, Ugwuanyi, Tambuwal, Ganduje and El Rufail worked wonders in maintaining peace and stability during the crisis. This peace is even more needed now. There should be an immediate exchange of goodwill visits by the governors to reassure our citizens that there is happiness in living together. Last line: the same leadership that people are abusing and defecating upon is clearing the mess left by the Utopians. Kelechi Jeff Eme https://www.facebook.com/kelechi.eme
Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to cope with conflict by peaceful means.~Ronald Reagan Widely regarded by many Americans as the greatest president, the above quote was in an address by the 40th POTUS at the commencement exercises of Eureka College (Illinois) in May 1982. Remarkably he was equally commemorating his 50th graduation anniversary having become an alumnus of the same school in 1932. In his time President Reagan often harped on the need to supplant the old policy of hostility with the Soviet Union with gradual reduction of nuclear weapons, while covertly pursuing a scheme to sabotage their economy, a paradoxical strategy which nevertheless proved ruthlessly effective in diminishing Soviet power in the twilight of the twentieth century. On Monday news filtered in that Ali Modu Sheriff and his supporters visited Goodluck Jonathan as part of his consultation and appeal for acceptance since the appeal court victory of last week. Sheriff accompanied by a former governor of Niger state Babangida Aliyu had earlier made a similar visit to ex-military leader IBB at his hilltop mansion in Minna. It was reported that former president Jonathan while receiving them in his Abuja residence repeatedly referred to Sheriff as “my chairman” in his characteristic humility. He later assured newsmen that he had also met the others and that the problem of the party is being resolved as they are one family. In other news however, the Ahmed Markafi led faction had despite a police cordon, gathered in Fayose’s Abuja residence to announce that they have appealed the judgement at the Supreme Court and went on to issue a communique that totally rejected Sheriff as party chairman stating that they “are not at all deceived by the supposed olive branch being offered by Senator Ali Modu Sherrif, knowing that the only thing that can come from traitors of his ilk is nothing but a poisoned chalice and a Greek gift”. Strong words I must say, it appears some party members didn’t get Reagan’s memo, the die is cast and the result may likely be a requiem rather than revival for the once upon a time Africa’s ‘largest’ party. Let us take a look at the party’s road to perdition. A party founded on the virtuous principles of the G-34 led by former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, PDP grew to capture the seat of power in 1999. The party’s membership spread across the 6 geopolitical zones while it also built solid structures in all 36 states of the federation. Indeed so formidable was PDP in our national politics that its former Chairman Vincent Ogbulafor boasted that the party will rule Nigeria for 60yrs! Our people say that “no one should gloat over prison when the police have not departed”. I wonder what Ogbulafor will make of the current imbroglio. Once and again with many African stories, attaining success is often easier than managing it. The party became intoxicated with power and relegated the people. PDP had money and power, the essential ingredients required to improve the well-being of people, rather it chose to conquer and further pauperise them. We watched helplessly for 16yrs as they continued their wilful misrule while looting our collective patrimony with gleeful impunity. The party was so corrupt that it gained the notorious alias of “share the money”. As if that wasn’t enough, they also made sure our votes didn’t count as they rigged their way to electoral victories throughout the nation. Well, nothing lasts forever they say and like I warned in my article 10 years ago, the rise of progressives which coalesced into the APC resulted in the ultimate defeat of the party of looters. Since its defeat, the party has continued stuttering in a downward slide to ignominy. Not only have they failed to offer a whimper let alone serious opposition, they have equally been embroiled in a needless leadership tussle. Without delving into the chronology of the party’s numerous crisis which some trace back to its very 1st convention, when retired military money bags hijacked the process to thwart the candidacy of a better qualified Ekwueme for their fellow jackboot Obasanjo. Let us assess the current crisis which I believe was precipitated by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan’s insistence to contest elections in contravention of the rotational ‘gentleman agreement’ of the party, recall that while the former president chose to maintain calm in the face of startling revelations of wanton corruption under his watch, those who were to steer the ship rarely got off to a united start. When Senator Ike Ekweremadu who is the highest elected member of the party selfishly joined Saraki in the senate leadership, yours truly had wondered how one can offer credible opposition from an APC dominated NASS leadership? To me, that move magnified the leadership vacuum earlier created by Jonathan’s indifference and thus presented an opportunity for Governors to hijack the throne. Fayose, being a smart politician seized the moment and rallied his colleagues to fill the position left by Alhaji Adamu Muazu with the former Borno state governor. It is no secret that he was instrumental in Sheriff’s emergence as the acting Chairman of the party despite the screening of about 5 other candidates of which Sheriff wasn’t even among. In the usual manner of disregarding laid down principles, the party had once again shot itself in the foot. Olisa Metuh had said then that Sheriff was picked by National Caucus of PDP comprising the governors, members of the National Working committee, NWC and the leadership of the National Assembly. Sheriff himself thanked the governor profusely on his visit to Ado-Ekiti acknowledging that he helped him become the leader of the party. The coast looked to be clear and some expected the ship to set sail but that didn’t happen and may not happen anytime soon. Some say that certain elements within the party hierarchy had learnt of an alleged plot by the new chairman to contest the 2019 presidential election with Fayose as his
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