When we talk about buildings in
Nigeria, it is hard not to remember structures that keep collapsing time and
time again. I must say from research and listening to people who have been in
the government for years that ‘building’ or implementing anything is not our forte.
Its been said that we usually have very great policies but the well mapped out
cookie crumbles as soon as it gets to the implementation phase.
We have all heard about stories
of children who at the age of 3 play the piano so well or athletes who have
been trained since childhood and excel with perfection at competitions. Now I
wonder, perhaps parents have not done enough to teach their children how to
build for others hence we do not have the culture or values associated with
building ingrained in our makeup. On the
private level, some people excel in Nigeria. Of course not to the best of their
abilities and within the limitations they have yet they still rise like Maya
Angelou would say. People want to identify with them because they are successful
and before you know it, they are thinking ‘Hey, I can run for Governor,
President, you know? I have succeeded in running an empire.’
When you look at the people at
the helms of affairs, it would do you good to also look at their credentials.
Many of these people have excelled in their private lives but it’s a wonder
they cannot translate that private success in public success. What then is
missing? Is the society so cursed that it cannot get a road built to a worthy
standard? We have people who have the technical and operational knowhow and we
also have people who can direct processes to achieve great results.
My perception of missing element
is that we do not have people – leaders as well as citizens - who have the
fundamental values necessary to build up a good society.
No one can claim he hasn’t had a
dream about something. He must have at least imagined life in better
circumstances. I cannot make a statement as profound as every Nigerian having a
vision for Nigeria because people hardly even have visions for their lives not
to mention for their society at large; living from one day to the next, just
existing and surviving. I judge not. But to move this nation forward, to move
this nation from being a dilapidated building and renovating it by rebuilding,
we need to have:
- Leaders who are groomed for the role of being a leader in Nigeria and not ‘accidental leaders’. Usain Bolt did not win his races by stumbling on the Olympics and deciding to give it a try. Sometimes, accidental leaders actually get it right, you only need to look at the Fasholas and Gowons of this world and you will see that although they never started out to fill these roles, when they did assume the roles, they took responsibility and made things happen. Let us reflect deeply on why they succeeded or still succeed. My take is they've got values.
- Citizens with values. That is the missing element in our country. The actions of a person will definitely showcase his values. A leader who has strong values and lives by them is likely to achieve more success than a leader who makes up his values as the situations arise. If a President has good intentions and is working hard to make sure things work, his success is largely dependent on his executives, ministers etc. If these people do not have values, forget it! A wise President is one who would select his team carefully, not based on political affiliations but on the ability to execute, strong work ethics, shared vision for the Nation and so on.
- Capable leaders who do not spend their time insulting the every effort of the President and his team whether they are doing a bad job or not. People on the side lines are usually the people who criticize. Criticism is good if it is constructive but when it’s about insults and encouraging young people to ridicule the authorities that be…let’s just say, in the future, you do not want such people at the helms of affairs again whether they have succeeded in the past or not.
At this point, I am thinking that
we need to train young minds, like al-Qaeda does train its young soldiers or suicide
bombers, wiring and rewiring their minds to know what values are, coaching them
to be leaders of thought and preparing them for life as we know it in Nigeria.
Maybe then, we can learn to build a good society. As it is, all we can have of
a good society is a vision at best.
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