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The anthology of Yar’Adua’s Agenda – From Tactical ‘Go slow’ to Democratic ‘No Motion’

January 6, 2009

The dynamics of democracy is to bring a specific ideal into practice - the ideal of a government by and for the people. A democratic government is therefore saddled with the responsibility to deliver good quality of life to the people; not just to the people who voted it, but also to those who did not vote it. In a democracy therefore government is accountable to all citizens. The ancient Athenians who invented democracy learned this lesson when they took practical steps to make government involve all citizens and serve the general interest.

The dynamics of democracy is to bring a specific ideal into practice - the ideal of a government by and for the people. A democratic government is therefore saddled with the responsibility to deliver good quality of life to the people; not just to the people who voted it, but also to those who did not vote it. In a democracy therefore government is accountable to all citizens. The ancient Athenians who invented democracy learned this lesson when they took practical steps to make government involve all citizens and serve the general interest.
Democracy is controversial, and the easiest interpretation is majority rule, but this is not democracy. It is merely government by and for the majority. The real ideals of democracy consider changes that frighten the establishment, and it leaves no one free to enjoy the unchecked power that leads to arrogance and abuse of the people. In order words, it is a government by the people and for the purpose of serving the general interests of all citizens. In order for democracy to be successful, leadership is very crucial. Leadership and democracy intersect and for democracy to function, there must be good leadership at all levels. These leaders must have a clear and proper vision, with decisive plans of action for the nation’s development. A strong and visionary leader is the primary force behind social and institutional change because he is capable of building the necessary conditions and infrastructure for the facilitation of a sustainable development. At the moment, Nigeria is in need of that strong and visionary leader. Nigeria is currently on a sick bed and needs a team of physicians to resuscitate it back to live. The presidency is unwell and in a critical condition and it needs healers to restore health to it. Those who are in power seem to be in a cloud-cuckoo-land and they just wonder about without any particular direction to follow. They seem to be unprepared for the position they found themselves and our dear President is not in a good condition to provide the direction to which his lieutenant should be leading the country. All we, the Nigerian people, can see is full demonstration of ignorance of how to govern, whilst the people in government are busy playing politics of vendetta and intimidation and are misplacing priorities in all sectors of our economy. It is a shame that Nigeria finds itself in this situation where our leaders are incapable of our running our democracy in a gloriously successful manner. It can be effectively said that Nigeria is heading toward social catastrophe. President Yar’Adua started with a seven-point agenda, and then vision 2020. But after almost two years of Musa Yar Adua’s administration, there is absolutely nothing to show for it yet. Our president has adopted a ‘GO SLOW’ approach and it is not working. Now he has disappointingly moved Nigeria from his tactical ‘Go Slow’ method to a motionless position. At the moment Nigeria is not moving forward, it is rigidly static. Clearly Nigeria is currently and effectively in a democratic ‘NO MOTION’. Those who run the government at the moment seem not to have a good grasp of democratic ideals, which is why they probably pretend, not to understand their leadership roles. The picture we can see is that of a team of presidential executives that seem to be confused and complacent in their ignorance, of how much damage is the existing intrinsic institutional corruption is causing the government’s promises to provide uninterrupted electricity, quality education for all, efficient and effective network of transportation (Road, Rail, Air and water), security to life and properties, food security, and employment. Economic literacy is a key requirement for the leader that Nigeria needs. We need a leader who has the strength to manage and co-ordinate our national systems and channel a direction toward the country’s sustainable development. At the moment, the whole socio-economic system in Nigeria is static and what we need is a president who is healthy enough to work and put Nigeria back in motion not the one who will hold the whole nation in captivity as we have right now. The right leadership is particularly crucial at this time of global economic depression. We needs a very strong, agile and healthy president capable of delivering some carefully thought through developmental programmes that will uplift the economic spirits of the Nigerian people. Nigeria needs a good hands-on manager who is able to manage his team of ministers and state governors with their commissioners for sustainable growth and development. Leadership in a country can be likened to what obtains in an organisation. When the company manager recruits his employees, he does not leave them to do whatever they like. The company has policy instrument for its operations within which the manager himself is responsible to provide the leadership and direction for his staff. He does not leave it loose and later turns round to accuse his employees of not contributing to the profitability of the company. Where there is no good manager, there is no co – ordination and no direction and consequently no results. A good manager is a good leader. He conducts his business openly and leads his team charismatically. In contrast a bad leader cannot lead his people. He is always having something to hide. He is very secretive and panicky because he is afraid of his limitations. If you do not have the capacity to manage, you cannot lead, and you must relinquish the instrument of leadership to those who can. As a capable leader, you must be up and running to be able to deploy resources and manage those resources. In a democratic setting, the electorates are expectant of results from their leader, and the leader cannot disappoint them. Disappointment is what Nigerians are getting from their leaders at the moment. Our elected representatives in government are still embedded in the yoke of military mentality. They are oblivious of their responsibilities to account for their stewardship to the people who voted them. I view it very unfair whenever people try to shift the responsibilities of the leaders on individual Nigerians. They are quick to shout complacently ‘we are all leaders, we are the government’; and they argue that both leaders and followers have responsibilities to engage in the development of the nation. Good, this view is understandable, but it cannot be taken as sacred. What that school of thought must remember is that, we, the electorates, the people of Nigeria, with our votes at the election, have already transferred the power at our diaposal to the politicians for the constitutional period they are to be in office. With that singular act, we have effectively put them in charge and given them the instrument to use state resources to our benefit. Therefore, it is our constitutional rights and their own constitutional duties to deploy state resources, with the power vested on them by us, efficiently, conscientiously and effectively to provide the enabling conditions and infrastructure for public bodies and entrepreneurs to operate successfully. What is apparent is that no matter what individual entrepreneurs do, if government fails to play its own role of providing the necessary infrastructure to facilitate business operations, the attainment of maximum quality of life through economic development will remain a mirage. The state is naturally saddled with the responsibilities of providing infrastructure for the people. It is the responsibility of the state to provide, or at least make available, the enabling environment for the society to create, access roads for mass transportation and effective business logistics; uninterrupted electricity, good education, excellent telecommunication system, security to lives and properties, and other social benefits. Once in office, public office holders must ensure that leadership rain must come down from the top. The followers have given them their votes in exchange for a quality of life. It is the responsibility of the leaders to fulfil their own promises to the electorates. Nigerians are a very hard working people and are very enterprising, but what we need is the right leadership for our democracy to experience sustainable development. Nigeria needs a team, led by a strong visionary leader who will put together concrete programmes and policies that will lift the hope of ordinary Nigerians from the shackles of poverty to plenty. It is only when the government has fulfilled its responsibility to the Nigerian society through adequate provision of the necessary infrastructure, that people can positively think of what they can do for themselves and the country as individuals, communities and as businesses in the spirit of social responsibility. The government of President Musa Yar’Adua is currently far from those qualities and characteristics. It is glaringly clear that Mr Go Slow has not delivered on any of his seven point agenda, not a single one, and at the moment Nigeria is static and motionless. The responsibility to put Nigeria back in motion rests squarely on the President. He must provide the leadership that will enrich our democracy and progress the development of our country. He is the boss and the buck stops on his table. If he is lacking in the strength and capacity, physically and/or mentally to carry on, he must hand over the government to the Vice President as contained in the Nigerian Constitution. He must do this in the interest of Nigeria. Long live Nigeria and God bless our country. -Dr. Adebisi Adewole PhD Dr. Bisi Adewole is a University Lecturer He is also Leader, Nigerian Forum Abroad (NIFAB)UK

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