NEWS DIGEST – Change is ubiquitous in any society, particularly in that which strives to fulfil human needs. And it takes a committed leadership to accomplish a propitious change in a society. Nigeria’s short life has been packed with successions of social changes. There has been the shift from regions to states, from agriculture to industries, and now power shifts from the two of the nation’s North-South major regions. Mostly, these changes have not been for the benefit of the ordinary Nigerians. Only those in the corridor of power have benefitted while the common man have remained in abject poverty and wallowing destitution. Since independence in 1960, the nation has mostly been under rule of the military. The prolonged military rule in Nigeria combined with corruption to undermine due process, the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and efficiency in government have made matters worse. But the people have rightly rejected the military, with the return of democratic rule in 1999.
The biggest change now in the nation is the first successful transfer of power from an incumbent administration to an opposition as we have seen in the last general election of 2015. How does leadership elates to social change? Leadership has always been one of the best factors to consider when determining the goal of any society, it does not matter how big or small a community might be; it has to have a leader if it wants to be developed. Nigeria needs societal leaders who put public interest first and above their personal interest. Leaders who subordinate private narrow goals for broader community objectives. Given this description of the type of leaders that Nigeria needs, compared to the antecedents of Nigeria’s past leaders, it is clear that the majority of them were opportunists who try to serve their private interests with gross disregard to the needs of Nigerians.
Take for example how successive military regimes and even not so far the last administration misused power, grabbing and hoarding as much money as they could possibly put their hands on without minding the effect of their behaviour and actions on the society.
Leaders bring about change in society. A society without talented and committed leaders will retrogress or at best remain stagnant. That has been the problem with Nigeria. A careful examination of the attitude and behaviour of the leaders of post-colonial Nigeria shows that many of the civilian, as well as military leaders, were mired in the pursuit of selfish personal goals at the expense of broader national interest. Chinua Achebe, one of Nigeria’s legendary writers, in his widely cited book, “The Trouble with Nigeria” rightly pointed out that “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” He pointed out that “there is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character, there is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else,” but leadership. It is my hope that the current administration will right the wrongs in this area, and break away from the nation’s sordid past, set the path for meaningful change and purposeful leadership.
As we have seen, change can start anywhere and most importantly when people set aside their personal interest for the greater good of society. We can see clearly that the only reason why we saw the kind of change we have seen in 2015 was because leaders of the three legacy parties and the factions of two other parties have agreed to came together to form an alliance to face the ruling party. For any intended change to occur in a society the people must be convinced by the leaders that such a change is both possible and desirable. Hence the need for systematic set of ideology that reflects the feasibility and desirability of a particular change. And since most of our leaders are not committed to politics ideologically, they tend to waver on issues.
Consequently, nobody is held responsible for any policy failure in the society. For our politicians to behave, we should device means to hold them responsible for their actions or in-actions. In an educated and politically mature climes the vote is the ultimate weapon of the people. But we also as a people must positively change our personal attitudes to be able to change the social structure.
In order for the struggle of change in Nigeria to succeed, we have to remain vigilant and intensify our efforts in areas that we are lacking. The rule of law must be applied blindly without fear or favour. Also, hard work and intelligence should be rewarded strictly on merit without regard to ethnicity, region or religion. Jobs should be given base on the most important quality of ability to get it done. Sound economic policies should also be instituted to diversify the nation’s single commodity economy. Economic development requires stable legitimate government, strong protection of rights be it human or property, rule of law, investment in human and physical infrastructure and an economy that thrives largely on private sector. Looking at the aforementioned, Nigeria has been doing poorly in these areas. It’s high time that this country implements these panaceas if it really want meaningful change because almost all countries that have developed applied all these things across the board.
In conclusion, good leadership is critical and important to the survival and progress of Nigeria. The people have an important role to play. But the people’s commitment would be difficult to secure if the leaders who are calling on them for sacrifice do not themselves make any sacrifices. Also, to get the desired change, good and young people must join public service to drive the change we desire. Nigerians should always elect or appoint people of probity and proven integrity, game changers who will depart from business as usual type of leadership to manage the affairs of the nation.
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