It is exactly two months to the next general elections to elect our next president. Now, we know the candidates of the major parties.
Any and all other challenges we may have and are facing lies squarely at the face of who will lead us, assemble a team and articulate solutions to such problems. We are not short of people who have the capabilities and competence to rule this nation and can actually make a positive impact on this nation. What Nigeria needs is a simple, compelling and purposeful plan implemented and executed with a deep sense of sincerity.
Being generous to people and flashing money around should no longer be the prerequisite for governing Nigeria. We don’t want anyone to just feed some of the masses for a season and think that by doing so he has a right to their hearts and soul and therefore he should take over the presidency or governorship of a state. We need people who would be honest with us in Nigeria and who would really try to lead and govern this nation according to equity, fairness, the rule of law and the fear of God.
Anybody who is going to rule Nigeria in 2015 must come to Nigerians and tell us his vision, his ideas and where he is taking us to. He should tell us how he is going to achieve those plans for us. This is the time for us to know what our potential leaders have in mind to do for us. We want to listen to people that have researched the issues, the problems and the challenges of this nation. We want that person that understands Nigeria and Nigerians and understand the place and context of Nigeria in the comity of nations. We want that person who has a plan, a purpose, a vision, a direction and who has a heart for this nation; someone who will take this nation from where it is to where it should be. We don’t want business-as-usual anymore in this nation. We have too much at stake and we have too much to lose.
Nigeria is one of the most blessed nations in the world. Yet because we have consistently had at the helm of affairs people who have neither plans nor thoughts, we are wallowing in abject poverty. For example, 69 per cent of Nigerians still live in abject poverty, while the gap between the rich and the poor widens. According to reports, eight out of 10 Nigerians still live in poverty and the growth in the economy did not translate into better living standards for the population.
Nigerians surely must be tired of struggling for light, struggling for water, struggling for jobs, struggling for food, struggling for transport and of dying on a daily basis because of lack of medical care and from road accidents.
Governing Nigeria requires a thorough understanding of the nation, the different peoples, their needs and aspirations. It requires careful thought, planning and a lot of consultation. It requires setting up machinery that will take many adverse needs and opinions into consideration. It requires foresight, effective and efficient planning. It requires a thorough understanding of Nigeria’s potential, its vast resources and the opportunities it provides.
There must be a willingness to leave the past and move into the future. Change cannot happen if the people are stuck, unwilling to move forward. Processes in our educational, religious, electoral, legislative and governance systems that will bring about change must be put in place. We must be ready as a people and as a nation to endure the hardships and the consequences that the change will bring about. Change is not always easy. People naturally will always want to remain in their comfort zones. They have to be forced to change their thinking, their attitude, their way of life. We must be faithful as a nation to such changes.
I think it is possible to have an organised society, to have a responsive government and to have a responsible people and to begin to do things the way they should be done. Nigeria has the potential to rise. A new set of leaders and thinkers who will engender a new mindset, re-orientate and re-educate the citizenry, and act as a voice of reasoning and pressure point must be sought out, trained and developed. Nigeria has the boldness and character to rise to the top, but lacks the moral fibre, as corruption and greed is quite rampant and must be rooted out. Needless to say, Nigeria is moving at a painfully slow pace with a desperate need for improvement.