Sunday 10 July 2016

Why Nigerian Leaders Do Not Perform (2)



                                                                                 
                               Former Nigerian Leaders        

Another reason why Nigerian leaders do not perform is egocentrism. Nigerian leaders are self-centred, they think of themselves and nuclear family only. So, they do everything possible to amass illegal wealth for themselves and their children. How can a leader whose preoccupation is how to amass stupendous wealth for his family build infrastructures for the country? In most cases, Nigerian ex-leaders are richer than the country.

Moreover, the role of opposition political parties also hinders Nigerian leaders from performance. Opposition political parties may not have solutions to the problems confronting the country but engage in campaigns of calumny, unhealthy criticism and rivalry so they can take over power from the ruling party by all means. They want power not because they want to better the lives of the people but for selfish reasons. When former President Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC) as it was then, issued a statement condemning the action and asked the National Assembly not to approve the emergency rule proposal yet it did not provide alternative solution to the insurgency! The preoccupation of the APC then was to take over government from the PDP yet it was not better than the PDP as an opposition political party then! But in other climes, once elections are over, members of opposition political parties will collaborate with the ruling political party to ensure that the country succeeds. The concern of opposition political parties in other countries is the development of the country and not just the acquisition of power.
 One other reason is the Crab Theory. The crab theory is premised on the fact that since I am not the president no other person should be president. Watch the crab very well and you will see that no crab can stand in a particular position for a long time before it is pulled down by other crabs. So, every crab does everything within its power to pull down other crabs and any country where the crab theory is practiced, progress is very difficult to achieve. There was a vivid demonstration of the crab theory with the Boko Haram insurgents because the then opposition APC didn’t collaborate with PDP government to combat the insurgents. Party loyalty is another factor why Nigerian leaders do not perform. Contracts awarded to party members are never executed or poorly executed and such party members are not usually prosecuted because of party loyalty. This is why there are many uncompleted projects across the country. Lack of love for the country by Nigerian leaders is also responsible for the failure of governance. If the leaders truly love the country they will build infrastructures and also ensure that institutions work. It is only in Nigeria you see past and serving leaders patronise foreign hospitals while the hospitals at home are decrepit. Also, it is only in Nigeria you see the children of past and serving leaders studying in foreign schools while the schools at home are decrepit. Additionally, Nigeria has the largest numbers of leaders with stolen money in foreign banks and huge property outside their country.
Furthermore, lack of national interest, consciousness and goal also hinder Nigerian leaders from performing. National interest, consciousness and goal are factors that unite a country. These factors deemphasize ethnicity, religion, sectionalism and regionalism but uphold nationalism which makes the country come first in everything. Does Nigeria come first in everything Nigerians do? Nepotism is also impediment to performance. Under Buhari, about 80% appointments are given to the north irrespective of competence. Again, Nigerian leaders do not perform because there is no punishment for corrupt practices. Leaders who embezzled huge sums of money while in office are never punished during or after office. This is because there are no strong institutions to try erring public office holders.
Lack of performance by Nigerian leaders is evident in erratic electricity, poor road and railway network, mono-economy, housing deficit, insecurity, poverty, collapsed education, moral vices just to mention but a few. Nigerians should not expect development and good governance from their leaders if ethnicity, religion, sectionalism, regionalism, nepotism and corruption are not addressed.


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