Weekend Arena - In Nigeria The Ruling Class Benefits More When There Is Disunity..

Yes, good followership must synchronize with an ideal leadership to move any society forward. But ‘be ye not deceived’, bulk of what it takes to build a nation comes from the leadership. 

Give it 85% conservatively. If a nation gets it wrong in terms of leadership, then the chain of progress would be similar to a cluster of coaches and wagons on a rail line following a dead, stagnant engine. In this case, it could be called whatever, but not a train.



If you study some of the great leaders that have walked this earth, they all share one trait: the passion to make their society, their world, the world, a better place. Some set out with their ideas and principles, while others married philosophies from various sources, but one sure thing is that they oozed what they believed in. The essence of seeking power for them was to replicate those ideals in the hope that it would hasten the development process of their people.



The progenitors of modern Nigeria, whom citizens believe contributed so much in terms of nation-building, had such traits too. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Michael Okpara, and several others in that generation across the regions, all had their ideologies of nation building; and tried to live in line with their beliefs. From their writings and speeches, one could guess what their opinions on certain issues and policies would be. They propounded and documented ideologies way before they assumed offices. Azikiwe was not the President when he published, ‘Political Blueprint for Nigeria’ and ‘Economic Reconstruction of Nigeria’ in 1943. Awolowo was not in power when he published ‘Path to Nigerian Freedom’ in 1947.

 Several others leaders of that generation showed their commitment and passion for the emancipation (economic and political) of the citizens. This could only have come out of genuine love for the people, because a leader must love the people before ever thinking of how to set them free from their socio-economic afflictions.


That was why it was easy for them to attract genuine loyalists. People were (and have been) loyal to them because of what wafted from their personalities, what they represented. It is not the type of loyalty seen in our polity today that is serviced with credit alerts and Ghana-Must-Go bags of money. Real leaders attract the enduring type of loyalty. As Premier of Eastern Nigeria, Michael Okpara, known for what he called ‘pragmatic socialism’, could not afford a personal house, until years after he left office, when a group of associates donated money to build him one. All his activities revolved around agriculture and industrialization, and could be seen today, though as relics due to mismanagement, across today’s eleven states, making up the old eastern region.



Today is different. Political ideologies are expressed as caps and their designs. By their caps, ye shall know them. It has become a fad that even their mentees now adopt it as their first ‘dividend of democracy’ when they get smuggled into political office by hook or by crook. It is glaring that since 1999 when this political dispensation happened, Nigerians have continued to be increasingly impoverished at the expense of the ruling class. Bulk of the income the country makes, is used to service the flamboyance of the ruling class, but successive presidents have done nothing about changing this status quo. 

How can a legislator who finds it difficult to vote in favour of a 30k monthly minimum wage sit comfortably to consume millions of Naira as gross earnings in a month? A genuine leader who loves his people would question this. When a leader loves his people, he would not approve of policies that would inflict economic hardship on them. He would make their welfare his central attraction. His primary preoccupation in government would be to serve and not to be served.


But these anomalies are possible because 90% of the ruling class in Nigeria came to office to feather their nests. It is not because they love the people and truly desire to serve them or work towards emancipating them. They are a class of opportunists who happened to be in the corridors of power, buoyed by a skewed system that has continuously entrenched mediocrity. They are most reluctant to fix this for fear of losing their political relevance. Things can still change if Nigerians speak in one voice about their emancipation, while dropping their ethnic and political sentiments, because reality remains that hunger knows no tribe or political party.


Nigerians must throw up a new ruling class by demanding electoral reforms. If Nigeria embraces a system that is cheaper to run, transparent to execute, confidence-building for the electorate, new leaders will emerge. If it will take electronic voting to do so, Nigerians have to demand it and ensure the government signs it into law. 

That such reforms are being waved aside is deliberate. It is to perpetually keep away those genuine leaders who can us all????. The ruling class benefits more when there is disunity in the land. That is the strategy operational in Nigeria.

*Ngozi,Until Nigerians change their mindsets,this kind of write ups will be read and the people who read will move on...It is not just about the rules,its also about the ruled...Abeg if person wan discuss Nigeria problem eh,you need to get drunk first....hisss!