There could be a foundation without a house, there should not be a house without foundation! Plan should ideally precede action; one reason people often say that ‘those who fail to plan, plan to fail!’ Transformation is not an aloof concept.
There could be a foundation without a house, there should not be a house without foundation! Plan should ideally precede action; one reason people often say that ‘those who fail to plan, plan to fail!’ Transformation is not an aloof concept.
It’s a concept that feeds on contexts and contents-- A theory often provoked by intolerability of status quo; a practice propelled by effective will backed by courage to turn radical vision into laudable mission that mow down all and every thing that stand on the way of what is right, just and should be. Transformation taps into people’s spirit to alter power equation that often entrench structure, culture and content that support and strengthen status quo. It is more than mere transmutation of a barefooted boy to shoe wearing man or president! A government that touts transformation has no business importing petroleum products, let alone the shameless discourse of oil importation subsidy. There is no worse antithesis in basic economic logic than a country importing what she produces. It is the synonym of what is tagged ‘penny wise but pound foolish’ in local market parlance. It amounts to exportation of citizens’ jobs, subtraction from national income, expansion of unemployment market and creation of crime pools. The three basic necessities of life; Food, shelter and clothing are today unacceptably high in cost, hence most Nigerians have been priced out .It is scandalous that a modest Two-bedroom apartment in Abuja, the Federal Capital, a city predominantly populated by civil servants, where over 90% of convectional civil servant barely earned 1 Million Naira/annum goes for as high as 1.5 Million /annum. The same trend occurs in other parts of the country. This has become consolatory alibi for ubiquitous corrupt practices within and outside the civil and public services. Not anymore! No one seems to feel bad about corruption anymore. Our problem is no longer that ‘officials are corrupt but that corruption is official’. Law and rules even where they exist become disobeyable. It is undoubtedly true today that most of the exotic properties in Abuja, the Federal Capital are owned directly or remotely by civil and public officers who astonishing receive wages that can not justify such ownership. These contradictions and counter-revolution are functional images of hypocrisy in our corruption webs and war. When the situation of a country gets to appalling level that people become sympathetic to the cause of common criminals the doomsday has then come. We are already at that level where a flag of corruption no longer provoke repulsive emotion. A state where wrong does not evoke zeal for correction not to talk of reprehension. A ‘growing’ economy like that of Nigeria, even though a capitalist economy; without a deliberate informed intervention by the state will die. It must adapt to reality. For instance, energy must not only be available, it must be cheap. If it is not cheap, it will heighten cost of production and this will cripple the country’s capacity to comparatively compete with other state producers thereby surrendering the economy to bad weather of globalization. Increasing tariff of electricity, no, of darkness, by government shows how short-term benefits always override long-run consideration in our plans. The deterministic position of the Nigerian rulers to increasingly privatize Education, outsource Health services and hand over other critical sectors of the economy to characteristically ruthless capitalists has taken freedom to prosper out of the reach of the people. When this is added to the existing and persisting structural disempowerment and infrastructural comatose, including unemployment, a country with opportunity for crises emerge. We can not continue to wear neoliberal trajectory with garment of free economy in a country where ninety percent (90%) of wealth is in the hands of ten percent (10%) of the population and yet expect peace. As long as we continue to subordinate majority of our people to the whims and caprices of the few capitalist slave masters, disenchantment and social dislocation will persist. As sure as day and night is the returned fight of the dispossessed poor. You cannot take light, water and hope away from people and expect them to wait forever. Creating a tiny class of favored few who often illegitimately amaze stupendous wealth and live loud in the midst of majoritarian poverty stricken folks is a sure sign post to potential danger. Without rescuing the lot from poverty trap, the society itself enters its own snare with worse consequences. Transformation must provide answers to questions that affect our Economic Structure such as: Who owns what? What is survival like? What are the primary sources of people’s livelihoods and income? What is human condition like and how are economic resources being distributed? How do we prevent Master-Servant syndrome in the social and economic intercourse among the people? Where is the portion of women in the economic space? Is government values-driven? What are the values? How does state/society treat women- Ethnic and religious groups? What values and lifestyle do religion and media promote? Does society tolerate differences and accommodate diversities? How are the diversities managed? Where is the place of merit? What are the Family values? How do we support the people to promote good values?
The duty of responsible and responsive transformation leadership is to answer these questions and solve problems and not to abdicate responsibilities. No people in the world choose their leaders in order to accommodate excuses on why education - social, physical, health, job, rights and human security are not possible. When and where leaders dwell on why security of persons, lives, limps, health, rights, educational and job opportunities are not feasible and possible like we often do in Nigeria, victory has been surrendered to crises. A country where rulers live in nauseating opulence while more than eighty percent of their people live in penury, a country where the sick among the poor have no access to health care while their rulers spend billions on pedicure and manicure, a country where children of the poor are off the school while the children of the rich attend prestigious schools in Northern hemisphere, a country where rulers tag their hard working but poor citizens, miscreants, ‘area boys’, ‘almajilris,’ ‘lazy dolls’ and prostitutes even though they (the rulers) are the arch-creators of their misfortunes has everything in reservation for future war ! Leaders must value their citizens. This is not in word, in practice! Opening dialogue with them is one way of demonstrating this. Under democracy, in act, in word, in law and in policy, leaders have no moral right to impose on citizen’s risk - preference whose consequences will be borne by the citizens without discussing exhaustively with them. This has been the fault line issues in crises that berserk us. Call it National Conference or dialogue, we must come together to discuss our collective future and address our different fear and threats in this country. And the effort must be conscious and structured. This sort of dialogue must allow People to speak as individuals and groups about their peculiar experiences, hold their beliefs and freely express their feelings and fear. Government/Authorities must listen, understand and address the concerns of people. People should also be able to express themselves in peaceful atmosphere without hindering others from doing same. Governments and People must listen to other’s ideas with open mind even when people question popular stand, public policies and discuss various options for defining and resolving national problems. Leadership driven by transformation converts retreat into advance and challenges to opportunities. . It replaces despair with clear hope by bringing down all structures that obstruct equity and justice. It transforms people into citizens not by destroying common sense but by intelligently, justly and fairly mobilizing their energy to accomplish shared vision. It ensures that corruption gives way to honesty and transparency. Unlike transfusion that is external, transformation is internally spurred. Leadership that can not add value to crude oil its country produces can indeed not add value to lives of citizens. Biography of a man or woman depicting personal victory is a poor representation of transformation. Unless Jonathanized, transformation is not the evolution of a Shoe-less kid into a boot wearing king. It is the triumph of institutions over personal plan and ambition; the victory of spirit over the flesh that has returned our country to state of nature, where life is short, brutish and nasty!
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There could be a foundation without a house, there should not be a house without foundation! Plan should ideally precede action; one reason people often say that ‘those who fail to plan, plan to fail!’ Transformation is not an aloof concept.
It’s a concept that feeds on contexts and contents-- A theory often provoked by intolerability of status quo; a practice propelled by effective will backed by courage to turn radical vision into laudable mission that mow down all and every thing that stand on the way of what is right, just and should be. Transformation taps into people’s spirit to alter power equation that often entrench structure, culture and content that support and strengthen status quo. It is more than mere transmutation of a barefooted boy to shoe wearing man or president! A government that touts transformation has no business importing petroleum products, let alone the shameless discourse of oil importation subsidy. There is no worse antithesis in basic economic logic than a country importing what she produces. It is the synonym of what is tagged ‘penny wise but pound foolish’ in local market parlance. It amounts to exportation of citizens’ jobs, subtraction from national income, expansion of unemployment market and creation of crime pools. The three basic necessities of life; Food, shelter and clothing are today unacceptably high in cost, hence most Nigerians have been priced out .It is scandalous that a modest Two-bedroom apartment in Abuja, the Federal Capital, a city predominantly populated by civil servants, where over 90% of convectional civil servant barely earned 1 Million Naira/annum goes for as high as 1.5 Million /annum. The same trend occurs in other parts of the country. This has become consolatory alibi for ubiquitous corrupt practices within and outside the civil and public services. Not anymore! No one seems to feel bad about corruption anymore. Our problem is no longer that ‘officials are corrupt but that corruption is official’. Law and rules even where they exist become disobeyable. It is undoubtedly true today that most of the exotic properties in Abuja, the Federal Capital are owned directly or remotely by civil and public officers who astonishing receive wages that can not justify such ownership. These contradictions and counter-revolution are functional images of hypocrisy in our corruption webs and war. When the situation of a country gets to appalling level that people become sympathetic to the cause of common criminals the doomsday has then come. We are already at that level where a flag of corruption no longer provoke repulsive emotion. A state where wrong does not evoke zeal for correction not to talk of reprehension. A ‘growing’ economy like that of Nigeria, even though a capitalist economy; without a deliberate informed intervention by the state will die. It must adapt to reality. For instance, energy must not only be available, it must be cheap. If it is not cheap, it will heighten cost of production and this will cripple the country’s capacity to comparatively compete with other state producers thereby surrendering the economy to bad weather of globalization. Increasing tariff of electricity, no, of darkness, by government shows how short-term benefits always override long-run consideration in our plans. The deterministic position of the Nigerian rulers to increasingly privatize Education, outsource Health services and hand over other critical sectors of the economy to characteristically ruthless capitalists has taken freedom to prosper out of the reach of the people. When this is added to the existing and persisting structural disempowerment and infrastructural comatose, including unemployment, a country with opportunity for crises emerge. We can not continue to wear neoliberal trajectory with garment of free economy in a country where ninety percent (90%) of wealth is in the hands of ten percent (10%) of the population and yet expect peace. As long as we continue to subordinate majority of our people to the whims and caprices of the few capitalist slave masters, disenchantment and social dislocation will persist. As sure as day and night is the returned fight of the dispossessed poor. You cannot take light, water and hope away from people and expect them to wait forever. Creating a tiny class of favored few who often illegitimately amaze stupendous wealth and live loud in the midst of majoritarian poverty stricken folks is a sure sign post to potential danger. Without rescuing the lot from poverty trap, the society itself enters its own snare with worse consequences. Transformation must provide answers to questions that affect our Economic Structure such as: Who owns what? What is survival like? What are the primary sources of people’s livelihoods and income? What is human condition like and how are economic resources being distributed? How do we prevent Master-Servant syndrome in the social and economic intercourse among the people? Where is the portion of women in the economic space? Is government values-driven? What are the values? How does state/society treat women- Ethnic and religious groups? What values and lifestyle do religion and media promote? Does society tolerate differences and accommodate diversities? How are the diversities managed? Where is the place of merit? What are the Family values? How do we support the people to promote good values?
The duty of responsible and responsive transformation leadership is to answer these questions and solve problems and not to abdicate responsibilities. No people in the world choose their leaders in order to accommodate excuses on why education - social, physical, health, job, rights and human security are not possible. When and where leaders dwell on why security of persons, lives, limps, health, rights, educational and job opportunities are not feasible and possible like we often do in Nigeria, victory has been surrendered to crises. A country where rulers live in nauseating opulence while more than eighty percent of their people live in penury, a country where the sick among the poor have no access to health care while their rulers spend billions on pedicure and manicure, a country where children of the poor are off the school while the children of the rich attend prestigious schools in Northern hemisphere, a country where rulers tag their hard working but poor citizens, miscreants, ‘area boys’, ‘almajilris,’ ‘lazy dolls’ and prostitutes even though they (the rulers) are the arch-creators of their misfortunes has everything in reservation for future war ! Leaders must value their citizens. This is not in word, in practice! Opening dialogue with them is one way of demonstrating this. Under democracy, in act, in word, in law and in policy, leaders have no moral right to impose on citizen’s risk - preference whose consequences will be borne by the citizens without discussing exhaustively with them. This has been the fault line issues in crises that berserk us. Call it National Conference or dialogue, we must come together to discuss our collective future and address our different fear and threats in this country. And the effort must be conscious and structured. This sort of dialogue must allow People to speak as individuals and groups about their peculiar experiences, hold their beliefs and freely express their feelings and fear. Government/Authorities must listen, understand and address the concerns of people. People should also be able to express themselves in peaceful atmosphere without hindering others from doing same. Governments and People must listen to other’s ideas with open mind even when people question popular stand, public policies and discuss various options for defining and resolving national problems. Leadership driven by transformation converts retreat into advance and challenges to opportunities. . It replaces despair with clear hope by bringing down all structures that obstruct equity and justice. It transforms people into citizens not by destroying common sense but by intelligently, justly and fairly mobilizing their energy to accomplish shared vision. It ensures that corruption gives way to honesty and transparency. Unlike transfusion that is external, transformation is internally spurred. Leadership that can not add value to crude oil its country produces can indeed not add value to lives of citizens. Biography of a man or woman depicting personal victory is a poor representation of transformation. Unless Jonathanized, transformation is not the evolution of a Shoe-less kid into a boot wearing king. It is the triumph of institutions over personal plan and ambition; the victory of spirit over the flesh that has returned our country to state of nature, where life is short, brutish and nasty!
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