We are still searching for effective leaders at all levels of governance. Our founding fathers and the United Nations desire effective leaders for Nigeria and Nigerians to be like the Asian Tigers. The hope at independence was that Nigeria would be led by effective leaders.
Many years after our national Independence, those we started with like the Asian Tigers have overtaken us because of effective leadership.
Sadly, Nigeria’s leaders have failed woefully.
It has been a parade of rudderless leaders and rudderless parties. Many more are of the opinion that if we are to have effective leaders, such leaders must have antecedence of performance that is not based on sentiments.
They should be leaders that will not be ethnic based/biased and must be leaders that are nationalistic rather than clannish, leaders who are holistic, nationalistic, patriotic and mentor to all Nigerians and not few Nigerians.
Now we are on the march again for such effective leaders to emerge at Local, State and Federal levels at 2023.
The prayer on everybody’s lip is for the reality of how such effective leaders can emerge in 2023. For these to happen, the electorate and the delegates that appear not to know what Nigeria wants must be enlightened or educated about what constitutes effective leadership in Nigeria.
We can only have effective leaders if we go back to the basics of democratic tenets. Such leaders must be chosen by the people because the people know what they want.
They must not be leaders chosen by religion or region for the people. They must not be leaders imposed by leaders of other groups, cabals or mafia of emotional or sentimental groups.
They must be leaders that emerge in free and fair elections. They must be transparent leaders that the people will be happy to have as their leaders.
They must be leaders that the people can send and not leaders that send or toss people up and down in a divide and rule game using religion – the opium of the people.
Effective leaders must be leaders that work for the people. They are leaders that work and labour for the unity, progress, and development of the land. Effective leaders do not have primitive tendencies for accumulation of enormous wealth that are useless to them and their children.
These are leaders that are not ethnically biased. They are leaders that are nationalistic rather than clannish. Effective leaders are leaders that are for all religions, tribes, and creeds.
Effective leaders always have policies that do promote unity, equity, and justice. Effective leaders are leaders that can take us to our destination. Effective leaders are not narrow-identity leaders that dance to the tom-tom beats of the bigotries of sects, cabals, or mafia of ‘nattering nabobs of negativism’ that are hell-bent on dividing a united Nation or the Nation that is already divided by centrifugal or centripetal forces.
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Effective leaders can never emerge by breaches of democratic process in rigging, ballot snatching and other electoral malpractices. Genuine and effective leaders can only be gotten via observation of internal democratic principles that produce leaders of the people for the people and by the people.
As 2023 draws near, we must tell ourselves the home truth that Nigeria cannot and may never get our desired genuine and effective leaders by recycling ancestor-leaders that had wasted their time and slots and are now hell-bent on usurping the times of their children and children’s children.
We at The Trumpet are of the opinion that effective leaders are not and cannot be greedy. Effective leadership is not rocket science-neither is it a trial-and error experimental governance. Effective leadership at all levels is doable if only the followers and leaders develop the strong will to make this possible. Now is the time!
