Do Nigerians Truly Deserve Bad Leaders?
There is a school of thought that believes that Nigerians truly deserve any bad leadership they get, simply because most citizens celebrate insincere, corrupt leaders, and they either kill off those potential leaders who can make positive difference in po
* It’s a two-way thing. You can ask, does the leadership in Nigeria deserve the type of common man they “serve”? We are all responsible for the type of leaders we produce. A look at how our leaders operate today is a good indication of how they operated when they were ordinary citizens. The way an average Nigerian behaves today, shows what type of leader he/she would become. Until we change ourselves on an individual level, we cannot produce changed leaders. - Mr. Buga Dunj, Jos, Plateau State
* No. Very bad decisions of a self-imposed tyrant few whose selfish agenda, actions and inactions have eroded Nigeria leadership systematically while they bait citizens with their financial inducements. Unfortunately electorates have fallen for this foolery time after time. This makes mockery of democracy, taking our collective development and progress several steps backwards unnecessarily. Poverty, security, unemployment e.t.c. must be addressed urgently. We must henceforth elect the best candidates as only the best is good enough for Nigeria. - Miss Apeji Patience Eneyeme, Badagry, Lagos State
* Do we deserve the bad leaders we get? Some sections of society deserve to have bad leaders; however, I think the majority of Nigerians do not necessarily deserve these leaders who can’t differentiate between left and right. - Mr. E. Iheanyi Chukwudi, B.A.R., Apo, Abuja
* Absolutely; we celebrate insincere corrupt leaders who dubiously ignore truth, honesty, sincerity, e.t.c. and embrace lies, ethnic/religious hatred, avarice, greed, corruption etc to our detriment. We celebrate their victory during election. Nigerians’ hard-earned wealth is stolen and stashed at wealthy nations. No sacred cow has been sent to prison in the ongoing corruption fight. We need leaders not affected in his/her service by decisions on any financial consideration or other gain. When people see he is genuinely disinterested in looting, his words will carry greater weight, and espouse understanding and wisdom in the policies or methods he advocates. Masses will look ahead to see how the policies proposed will affect not only present but succeeding generations. Swift and clear decision is the mark of a true leader, who will be quick to reach decisions, based on sound premise, basic truth. - Mr. Dogo Stephen, Kaduna State
* We are all responsible for how far we have come as a nation. It would also take the collective effort of all Nigerians to build the nation we all deserve. - Ms Nkeiruka Abanna, Lagos State
* The truth of the matter is that corruption and other vices have been in our body politic for long and that is why we always elect or appoint never-do-well people in governance, which must stop, to help move Nigeria forward. Since our independence, things are not moving fine in spite of abundant resources we are blessed with, because of corruption. I believe this government is trying to bring out the shape of good governance with people-oriented leadership. This fight against corruption must be supported. - Mr. Gordon Chika Nnorom, Public Commentator, Umukabia, Abia State
* Yes, because most citizens celebrate serially insincere, corrupt leaders, and either kill off those potential leaders who can make positive difference in power due to selfish sharp practices or do not even allow them to get into public office in the first place. This unfortunately includes some of the very best presidents Nigeria never had whether military or civilian. The only way out of this challenge is reverting to truth, sincerity, honesty, patriotism, avoiding corruption etc. The apt time to act is now. - Mr. Apeji Onesi, Lagos State
* This is a question that deserves nothing but the truth. Nigeria has everything and in abundance. In human resources we have almost the best in the world in areas of education, economy, finance, science, health, administration e,t,c, plus the best natural resources in terms of weather and landscape. In fact, we don’t deserve bad leadership and the only solution to that is to do away with ethnicism, tribalism, sectionalism and the worst of it all, religion. With the type of knowledgeable people we have in this country, we are not supposed to have the type of leaders we have today. - Hon. Babale Maiungwa, U/Romi, Kaduna
* The leaders are all Nigerian citizens and we as citizens played one role or the other in allowing them get to power. If those elected or selected turn out badly in their leadership roles, then the citizens must also share the blame in bad governance. It is a classic case of garbage in; garbage out; we only derive what we put into the system. So, if we must be sincere with ourselves, sometimes we deserve the leaders we get in this confused country. And the earlier we begin to vote out such bad leaders, the better. Countries like Ghana, Rwanda and Botswana are enjoying good leadership; why should Nigeria be any different from the others? It is utterly frustrating and a big setback for our development process in this country. - Mr. Olumuyiwa Olorunsomo, Lagos State
* Yes, Nigerians deserve any bad leaders they get, due to the greediness and rebellion in the activities of politicians, sentiment, changing of voting patterns, problems of power-sharing, micro zoning in political offices e.g. presidential, chairmanship, governors, senators. In adequate negotiations, geopolitical zones of the states of the country, poor ward congress, the defect in Nigeria’s constitution, some negative activities of political leaders, e.g. money politics, poor delegate selections, which does not provide for fairness, party manifesto problems, poor conduct of state primary elections where political members are not carried along, endorsement by political god-fathers. The only way out is to play good politics in terms of good selection of leaders, conducting primary election in peaceful manner, changing the Nigerian constitution, capacity building and education of Nigerians on political matters and improvement in the mode of selections that will recognise quality leaders, reorientation, peaceful conduct of elections and political reforms in the mode of selection and introduction of guidelines to the political parties.
- Mr. Michael Adedotun Oke, Founder, Michael Adedotun Oke Foundation, Abuja