The effect of leadership failure
The major cause of leadership failure in Nigeria is the lack of proper and intellectual training and discipline on the part of the leaders in government.
This therefore implies that, for the Nigerian government to get it right in leadership, there is need for adequate capacity building on the part of leaders in all spheres of national governance.
Plato said, “A nation is that society that is being led by men and women who are properly trained with the proper knowledge of human life and are aware of what goodness is all about”.
In spite of the decay currently experienced in our governing systems in Nigeria today, good governance is still very much possible if only we can tell ourselves the truth and shun all forms of mediocrity and sentiments. A government void of all forms of anomalies isn’t rocket science but a product of sincere leadership which is a product of wisdom, which demands virtue, proper education, intelligent reasoning, other requisite capacity building initiatives and prior experiences in key leadership areas. Our current leadership failure is a as a result of the deficiency of these qualities in the current crop of leaders at the helm of affairs in various areas of leadership.
The gross inexperience and incapability in leadership has resulted in a failed system which is also taking its toll on the younger generation who are the only beacon of hope on which the nation can recline. The youths have become instruments of destruction and other vices in the hands of the leaders. The youths are being used to perpetrate political, ethnic and religious discords in the society today, and this has been calculatively achieved by weaponizing poverty to its very core. The youths are being deliberately kept in an impoverished state so that they can easily be manipulated to satisfy the selfish desires of the leaders. This however, is gradually making the younger generation worse off because corruption is gradually being institutionalized in all areas of our national life, as doing the right thing is now ironically perceived as an abnormally in most quarters today. Cheating, bribery and extortion are now common place in our everyday lives and this cuts across the leaders and the led. In our society today, it is really appalling to see how that those who are meant to be role models, setting exemplary records of which the younger generation should take a cue from have become objects of reproach to their families and the society at large. I want our leader to know this, “They are not and will not be Role Model in tomorrow’s society”. They never think of the future of this great country, therefore do not seek ways to birth and preserve a better tomorrow that will be beneficial to the entirety of the populace. All they do and seek to achieve are trivialities which are aimed at personal and selfish gratifications, with no plans for the wellbeing of the citizenry of our dear country.

The Effect of Corruption on Leadership and political Failure in Nigeria

The current predicament that has befallen us as a nation is the product of sentiment and compromise in electing and appointing people into key and sensitive positions of leadership. This resulted from paying deaf ear to evident incapacities in individuals due to political, ethnic, religious or any other affiliation and the collecting of bribe to push any candidate with the interest of leadership in public offices without proper screening and assessment to know if such person has the interest of the people and the nation at heart and also the wherewithal to prosecute it.
The level of corruption currently experienced in all facets of the society today is the product of the seeds that have been and are still being sown by our leaders. They have institutionalized corruption in no small way, therefore the followers seem to see nothing wrong in following the ugly trend that have been set by the leaders. Today, very few in our number are ready to pay the price of going through the right process to become financially accomplished, most people have now come to discover another way which is seemingly easier and faster. Bribing in all its shades, mild and forceful extortions and fraud of all sorts are now the new normal, and are now being celebrated by many. Things as basic as gaining admission into an institution of learning and securing employment can no longer go without soiling your hands in one of these ugly abnormalities. It is even very much pertinent now that the very few who seek to go through the right path no matter the cost and shunning these ugly trends are now regarded as being abnormal and are therefore despised by many in the society today, while those that have embraced the trend are admired by many. It therefore takes a strong will and determination backed by the Lord almighty to remain focused and not follow this ugly and devilish trend, since the normal has become abnormal and the abnormal is now normal. Many are being despised and staunchly persecuted today not because they have done any wrong, but because they simply have chosen the right path.
Corruption in public offices is now the order of the day and it is also a consequence of failure in the leadership system. God-fatherism and nepotism are now common place in the public service as those who were meant to be exemplary have set a bad precedence which is now being followed by all and sundry. The effect is even far more reaching as these public servants also in one way or the other are leaders in their own right who are meant to set the pace for others to follow, be it in their families, immediate environment or any other sphere of influence.
How do you expect a public servant to hold onto his integrity in service when the process that brought him into the system was corrupt? He was inoculated into a corrupt system through a corrupt means. Positions in public offices are being sold in Nigeria today by visionless people that do not have the interest of the nation at heart, but rather seek to rob the nation of its future in order to achieve selfish desires. Service is no longer the goal in public service, but illicit gains driven by selfish and irrational desires.
Politics in Nigeria is now the heritage of the ruling class who now see the positions they hold as an inheritance which they must cling to firmly no matter what it will cost. It is now common place to go as far as killing innocent lives and committing all forms of atrocities, even such as not to be mentioned among men in order to gratify their selfish interests. Those who are plucked out of their positions by the inevitable hand of death still try as much as possible to infuse their kins into the system even before they pass on so as to give room for the continuous perpetuity of their evil intentions even after they are long gone from this side of the divide.
It is now clearly obvious that the ruling class we currently have in the nation have no good intention towards the nation but seek such positions for personal aggrandizements. They use any given opportunity to exploit the nation and deprive the citizenry and even generations yet unborn of their due rights and privileges. They rather see the citizens as tools and instruments they need to perpetuate their evil intentions.
The scourge of corruption has also now eaten very deeply into the nation’s economy and the reason is not farfetched. We are known for the production of nothing else globally other than the oil which God gave to us freely as a gift but has gradually been turned to a curse by our leaders. We have banked on the oil and become so complacent, seeing it as an end rather than a means to an end.
Our leaders never sought out ways to harness our natural resources. We banked on a single commodity instead of diversifying the economy to create room for other sources of revenue. A leader with a good knowledge of governance should take out his or her time to select those who are capable of helping her administration reach the targeted goal. Everything goes wrong when there are visionless leaders who only think of themselves.
Lack of direction is the absence of a sense of vision and a sense of direction is very important in leadership. It has become very obvious that Nigerian leaders are lacking the sense of vision and direction in leading the nation towards a meaningful development.
The nation’s scarce resources are now seen as a “national cake” of which everyone must partake. Everyone at one level of governance or the other seek to have his or her own fair share in the nations treasury and it is even much more pertinent now that they don’t just want to have a reasonable share in the cake but they now want to have the entirety of the cake. The citizenry are also not left out now of this ugly aspiration as everyone now seek ways to have a piece of this cake too. Everyone now seek ways to meet this desire, whether “legitimately” or illegitimately, not minding the implications of their action on other citizens and the future of our dear nation.
All these anomalies currently experienced have resulted in a dearth in moral standards in our society. We have been plagued by a very deadly virus that is still eating deep into the core of our being. Our institutions have been weakened and every aspect of our national life is now a victim of its environment. All that is left of us is a shadow of our true selves. We are now the object of shame and ridicule in the comity of nations and nations that once looked up to us and held us in high regard now look upon us with disdain. We have been bruised, fractured and maligned; our true essence have been lost even as we now grope in unending darkness with no hope of the rays of light in the near future.

Who then is to take the blame of all these abnormalities that has bedeviled our dear country?
Are the citizens to be blamed?
Are the leaders to be blamed?
Well, there are different schools of thought that will provide very unique answers with possible explanations to these questions and even back up the answers with facts that are actually tenable in every sense. That however, will not in any way provide the needed solutions for our current predicaments. Casting blames and aspersions will not take us forward by an inch, rather it will peg us at our present position, retard our advancement and distract us from the possibility of making any meaningful progress.
What then is the solution to this quagmire?
What is the right line of action to follow?
Who are those to champion this new course?
How can we go from here and arrive at where we ought to be?
When is the right time to act in order to effect the needed change?
The above questions if properly asked, with relevant and sincere answers given, and the right lines of action are meticulously followed will go a very long way in the recovery of our dear nation. This is not the time to bring personal ambitions and sentiments to the fore. It is the time to put all our differences aside and join forces together so as to become one mighty army to fight this ugly scourge that is eating up our nation.
Every Nigerian, especially the youths must now awake from their slumber and take responsibilities for their lives and the future of Nigeria. It is time to own up to our personal and inherent inadequacies and lack of capacity, by seeking out ways to equip ourselves in all ramifications with all that is needed to make us assets that can foster the recovery of the nation. This is very important because, without competence, it will be very impossible to effect any meaningful change no matter the zeal, even when the right opportunities are provided with all the needed resources available at our disposal.
There is need for collective reorientation and a paradigm shift in our mindset as a nation. Nigeria has been plagued with some of the most deadly and most potent weapons against corporate advancement and national development, which have contributed in no small way to the present state of the nation.
Key among these weapons are ethnic and religious sentiments. These two have been deliberately and meticulously utilized by the elites or ruling class which constitute a very minute fragment of the population to subjugate the vast majority. They employed these weapons in order to pursue and actualize their selfish desires to the detriment of the entire nation. The seeds of ethnic and religious sentiments that were sown over the years have now grown to become a mighty tree that has spread its roots and branches to a very quiet corner in almost every heart, both the old or young, the leaders and the led.
For us to succeed in this quest for a new Nigeria, there must be deliberate attempts made by all, both the leaders and followers in seeing that these ugly scourge of religious and ethnic sentiments are done away with in every facet of our national life. This holistic approach is very much required if there would be any meaningful and positive development in this regard. It is not an approach that should be sectionalized or regionalized as the case may be if we must achieve the end goal of having a new Nigeria free from all forms of religious and ethnic sentiments.
Another very important factor impeding our national process is greed. This ugly disposition has been one of our greatest undoing as a nation. Our background can be said to have contributed immensely to this quest to satisfy self even if will be to the detriment of another. The colonization and ensuing slavery, coupled with inherent poverty has greatly affected our mindsets in that we now sieve any given opportunity available for self-aggrandizement. The average Nigerian believes there may never be another opportunity, so accumulate as much as possible as long as it lasts.
This ugly disposition has made us lose our humanity in some sense, and has made us selfish to the very core. We must learn to see beyond ourselves if we must rise from the shackles of greed. The simple antidote for greed is putting the interest of others before ours, which is the simple context of love. We can never say we love others if our interest is most paramount to us than that of another fellow. If we must therefore go beyond where we currently are as a nation, love must in all sense be our watch word and practice.
Our challenges as a nation are not exhaustive and therefore are not limited to the points that have been presented so far, but I must say at this point that all other challenges currently being posed at the nation have their roots in them, be it bad leadership, corruption, injustice, impunity and the likes. There is no need therefore, dealing with the branches of a tree if it still has its roots firmly to the ground and expect it to die. These are the root causes of our current challenges which must be adequately dealt with before we can say we are on the right part to winning this battle. Once there are properly addressed, we can then say we are on the right path to victory because every other thing will surely fall in place.
It is therefore time for every Nigerian, whether old or young to start seeking the rebirth of our dear country. We must put all that seek to divide us aside and embrace all that unites us. It is time to both seek and work towards actualizing a common goal that is in the interest of the nation. This is no longer the time to point accusing fingers or try to exonerate a particular class of people. We must all take responsibility of our current predicament and also take responsibility for the rebirth of our nation.
Everyone must strive to contribute his or her own quota in this current quest for a new Nigeria. No one should say I am insignificant or have nothing to offer as long as you are a citizen of this great country. There is a part we all have to play in our specific spheres of influence, whether little or great as it is the tiny droplets of rain that form the ocean.
Finally my fellow Nigerians, the Nigeria we speak of today is simply you and me, because there would never be Nigeria without you and me. If we be in order, then Nigeria will be in order, but if we be out of order, then your guess is as good as mine, Nigeria can never be in order. The onus therefore lies on you and I to bring forth the Nigeria we so desire as the destiny of our nation lies in our hands to deliver whatsoever we desire. Each and every one of us has a great part to play in this recovery process.
Nigeria can never be better than Nigerians are, it lies on you and it lies on me…
God bless Nigeria!!!