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A retired Assistant Director of the State Service, Dennis Amachree has called on Nigerians to kick against recycling of leaders, whose families have been in the political space for years and have nothing to show for it, and as such, a new Nigeria of hope cannot emerge.
Amachree who was the guest speaker of the Afrikanwatch Network annual lecture titled, A New Nigeria, with innovative ideology, devoid of hypocritical leaders, which was held at the College Hall of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos stressed that the current politicians lack the ideology to give birth to a new Nation.
He went further to examine which kind of leaders Nigeria has had since independence from Britain and asked whether Nigeria had been led or ruled since independence? “Mention one president that actually led this country, and think of how many rulers Nigeria have got, at the presidential level, since independence”.
A political aspirant recently said that he will turn Nigeria around if he is allowed to “RULE.” So it is very apparent that most of our politicians see the opportunity of public service as a chance to RULE over the “slaves” or “subjects” of Nigeria. But alas, Nigeria is not a monarchy to be ruled over; neither are we slaves in our own country.”
Speaking hypocritical leadership, he hinted that most of the country’s politicians say one thing, but do something else. “Nigerians are used to all the campaign promises of what they will do for the populace but continue to behave in a different way.
Under such leadership, the citizens can see barefaced corruption, nepotism, unimaginable fraud and total disappearance of integrity. Nigerians have been caught up in the quagmire of hypocritical leadership, where we are at the mercy of the politicians.
In a democratic system, where “We the People” are supposed to be the repository of power, politicians have relegated the citizens to the background where, if a politician built five kilometres of road, we come out with our drums, dancing and thanking the governor or president for providing that infrastructure, as if he built the road with his own personal money.
It is simple, the citizens beating the drums are ignorant and the politician is taking advantage of their lack of knowledge”.
“It is a truism that most of the politicians today are ignorant of or devoid of leadership skills and qualities. Very few politicians do understand what leadership is all about. But most politicians are in public office to appropriate our commonwealth into their personal pockets. That is why “Leadership for development” becomes a big problem. A big problem because the fundamental objectives of being in public office are not for development but for personal aggrandizement”
Amachree reiterated that the political landscape in Nigeria lacks cognitive rigidity when it comes to ideology.
“Ideological extremism is totally shady, where carpet crossing is a commonality.
In the United States, the Democrats are pro-choice (support abortion), while their Republican counterparts are totally against abortion. In such rigidly held beliefs or ideologies, It is rare to see politicians crossing the carpet. But in Nigeria, it’s easy to cross the carpet because there are no ideologies or strongly held beliefs that can change the conviction of a Republican to be a Democrat overnight or vice versa.
The recent outcome of the All Progressive Congress (APC) convention is instructive. If you observe carefully, most of the principal officers of the APC, are decampees of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)? This simply means that there is no ideology that both parties hold very dear. If the political benefits get bad in the APC, don’t be surprised to see the same politician decamp back to the PDP. In concluding his lecture, he said, a New Nigeria can be realized if only insecurity can disappear, giving an example of the turnaround of the wrecked economy of Greece, Singapore Malaysia, Vietnam and Rwanda on the African country. A demonstrative leader”
“Nigeria can turn around by taking advantage of the low-hanging fruits. We must stop the jamboree going on in Abuja. It is insane for us to be paying 469 federal legislators the highest salaries in the world. Our professors and medical doctors are migrating to other developed countries because this country does not value their contribution to the nation, as compared to legislators; some who don’t utter a word during sessions but smile to the bank at the end of each month.
We need leaders that will grow the country. Leaders who understand the meaning of “Service” in Public Service, Finally, every public servant must be held accountable by being monitored with strict Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Private companies succeed hopefully, together we will birth the Nigeria of our dreams”
On his part, the chairman of the occasion, Col. Barr. Abayomi Dare retd reminded Nigerians of the political rascality and abuse of power and corruption that has kept the country in the darkest mood but believed that after the rain, the sun will shine “The impunity with which the rule of law is disregarded, the injustice faced by the lowly, the inability of the legislative to call to order the unruly acts of executive and vice versa, have destroyed the hope of many for a better Nigeria. The terror attacks from Nigerians – turned rebels against their motherland, with the support of foreign entities, have diminished the desires of many to stay and build the nation.
The Nigerian economy is being exploited by serial looters in government and private organizations, leaving the nation burdened with debt servicing and serial borrowing by successive administrations. Backed by unstable policies, with no long-term vision for investors, Nigeria stands on the brink of becoming an economically failed state.
But in all of these, Col. Dare retd holds strongly that a better Nigeria can arise from the ashes of all that have besieged and have placed the nation in comatose. But, it begins with you and paying rapt attention to all that will be discussed here today, and in other progressive gatherings. Also, the father of the day, Otunba Bamidele Dada, OON, has stated that Nigeria needs leaders who can uphold the rule of law and the ethic diversities. “In line with the Theme of this Event-New Nigeria- I should like to emphasize the importance of good leadership at different levels of our society.
What Nigeria needs today are leaders who uphold and respect the law! If we are to succeed as a Nation, and with ‘Nation-building’, we must have leadership committed to the rule of law and a visible sense of equity, fair play and tolerance. We must have leaders with a reflective sense of tomorrow, other than that of private bank account enrichment and material acquisition.
Meanwhile, the editor-in-Chief of the Afrikanwatch, Mark Orgu said, that the idea of the event was to chart a new course for a new Nigeria, noting however that the country is serious bleeding, and only leaders with a conscience are what the country needs in 2023.
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