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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