Inequality of Equity and the Search for Quality Leadership in the Nigerian Polity -By Tony Osakpamwan Agbons

There is an unhealthy trend in Nigeria which if not nipped in the bud can spell grave dangers to our collective aspiration as a nation made up of several nationalities. The multi-ethnic and religious foundations of Nigeria cannot be blindly waived aside under any disguise, be it political exigency, act of commission or omission. The acidic level of distrust, suspicion, hatred, and avarice amongst the constituent parts of Nigeria is at an all-time high. Our much vaunted unity in diversity is turning into a mirage.

This above scenario is quite distressing, and our entire landscape is currently dotted with flashing red lights ready to explode. It is a ticking time bomb waiting for detonation. There is palpable fear and apprehension across the land. No one is sure what the next day will bring. The future of the country looks bleak even for hitherto extreme optimist like me. From the North to the South, there is an undeniable palpitation of a looming inferno of sulphuric proportions. There is insecurity in the form of an unending insurgency, banditry, nomadic herdsmen/farmers clashes, kidnappings, and other forms of criminalities. All these are indicators of a failed nation state. The government and the governed seem to be in a limbo as to how to burst this ugly trend capable of consuming the Nigerian project.

History is replete with examples of climes that has gone through similar case like ours but who by dint of hard work, truthfulness, determination, fairness, equity and quality choices made a turnaround. It is often said that, “a people who do not understand their past, will not be able to decipher the present and make preparations for their future”. As a young undergraduate at the University of Benin, one of my mentors and renowned Professor of Virology, Nosakhare`Odeh Eghafona, often said, “a man or woman who does not know where he is going, will not know where he or she is on getting there”. That aptly describes the Nigeria of today. As a people we are looking bereft of ideas, rudderless and visionless both at the level of leadership and at followership. The propensity for “it is about me, me, and me” has remained our bane and the reason for our current self-destruct. No one is thinking about the greater good. There is no exception!

A society cannot be at war when it is not actually at war. The vestiges of war are all around us. Not trying to be a war monger or outlandish, there are clear signs of a catastrophe even to the most casual observer. Nigeria is drifting and drifting towards anarchy. The current political elites are shockingly treating the obvious signs and symptoms with kids’ gloves. They are deliberately and arrogantly oblivious and unperturbed about the looming dangers ahead. Our political leaders, sorry rulers! are in a bubble, swimming in a cocoon, and completely detached from the citizenry while dooms day beckons on the horizon. They are busy enjoying the perks and spoils of office while the people they are meant to be serving are groaning, languishing, and mourning under the scourge of poverty, pains and general malaise of a failing (failed?) system. The age-old maxim of “been my brother or sister’s keeper” has been jettisoned by a directionless crop of leadership. There is an unparalleled dimension of despondency in the land not seen since the bloody civil war of yore. A cursory look at the remote causes of the despondent state of Nigeria points at bad leadership, poor choices, missed nationhood moments, poor followership and other miscellaneous extraneous indices which are sometimes hard to decipher but grouped as `the Nigerian factor`.

Dark as the aforementioned may seem, there ought to be a glimmer of hope for the divine rescue of the `few Lots remaining in Sodom and Gomorrah`.  Delving into the realms of spiritual revelation, imagine a Nigeria where with an executive and legislative fiat, we finally realise and decide that to stem the tide towards the abyss, we set an honest machinery in motion for the actualisation of a true fiscal federalism. Imagine a Nigeria where the federating states are allowed by the letters of the constitution to be truly federal and not unitary like we are currently practising. Imagine a Nigeria where aspiring to become a President is no less attractive than becoming a State Governor, Local Government Council Chairman, or a Councillor. Imagine a Nigeria where the crude oil in Delta or Bayelsa State belongs to them as a comparative advantage for their development just like the Gold or Groundnut in Zamfara and Kano States is for their merit and the Federal Government are there to provide an enabling environment for the states to thrive without making the central government irrelevant. Imagine a Nigeria where the basis for qualification to aspire for leadership position is not ethnic or tribal colouration but the quality and content of an aspirant. Imagine a Nigeria where competence and know-how is the only criteria for political ascendency.

As we move towards the Aegean year 2023, there are several permutations as to who becomes the `next king` of the most populous black nation on the planet. That is if we get there as a nation! Clearly important to state that in view of current happenings that are threatening the corporate existence of our nationhood. We certainly cannot pretend now that all is well. Certainly, it is not! The permutations of who becomes the next President do not engender any excitement or hope in the citizenry. It is the same old…. same old (emphasis mine) group of men who have held Nigeria `hostage` by the jugular and solar plexus since independence. For the 2023 Presidency, equity and fairness should point to a consensual priority for the Southeast geo-political zone. The logic is that we have been practising a common sense `unwritten rule` of South – North taking their turns within the `unconstitutional` contraption of our six geo-political zones of Southwest, Southsouth, Southeast, Northwest, Northcentral and the Northeast.

Proponents and ardent followers of our democratic evolution since 1999 advance that in this ‘turn by turn’ arrangement between the North and South, the three appendages of both divides need to be pragmatic. The pendulum surely should swing to the South in 2023 for equity’s sake. The burgeoning talk is that the Southwest zone morally should not be in the equation as this democratic dispensation actually began with a son of the Southwest zone – Olusegun Obasanjo in the saddle. When the dynamics swung again with the demise of the North`s Late Musa Yar` Adua, the Southsouth`s Goodluck Jonathan stepped in before it swung back to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari from the North. All the swings happened in the spirit of an unwritten agreement.

Believers in the principles of fairness and equity opine that since both the Southwest and Southsouth has had a go, our brothers and sisters from the Southeast should be supported to put out the best they can offer to be the next `King`. Fair enough. It is just fair enough! In a recent informal discussion on this issue, a friend did propose that the Southeast can produce a capable Nigerian to lead the ship of state in 2023. He even went on to reel off some names. That is a matter for another debate! There is a precedence for the legitimate aspiration of the Southeast. Nigerians in 1999 consciously and unconsciously (due to exigencies of the time) felt it was wise and only fair for the Southwest to produce the President. The two major political parties (capable of winning the elections) at that time even produced presidential candidates only of Southwest extraction – General Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae. Advocates of fairness contend that having a President from the Southeast is just and equitable. This proposition makes sense and one hopes it happens all things been equal. However, as Nigerians, our long-term belief and desire is that we get to a level in our democratic journey where transmutation to elected positions will be based purely on quality of the individual(s) and not the combo of any zonal, ethnic, religious, or subterranean `king-making` considerations.

Dr. Agbons writes from the United Kingdom