When Joshua was about to assume the leadership of the Israelites after the death of Moses, God told him to be “strong and courageous” – Joshua 1:7. This was because the Almighty knew how difficult the assignment of leading His people would be for Joshua. Anyone who is stepping forward at this stage of Nigeria’s development to contest for its leadership is either out to exploit its current level of corruption to line up his pocket or he is willing to put his life on the line to rescue it from further slide into moral and social decadence.
I want to believe that the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari (Ret.) as the flag bearer for the APC Party in the forthcoming Presidential elections in Nigeria is a clear indication of the gentleman’s determination to help change the current hopeless state of the country. I am hopeful that with this development, the much taunted “change” of the party is possible after all. My optimism is predicated on the character of the person of Muhammadu Buhari who I believe is not only a very strong and courageous leader but one who has never been inclined to lining up his pocket; he is the kind of leader Nigeria needs now.
The difference between Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent President and flag bearer of PDP and Muhammadu Buhari now of APC is the difference between the weak and the strong; it is the difference between the faint-hearted and the courageous; it is the difference between the inept and the strong-willed. The difference between these two individuals is that between the ill-disciplined and the disciplined, between the corrupted and the uncorrupted. They say “when the head is rotten, the entire body is certainly rotten”; this is the situation we have in our beloved Nation today. Goodluck Jonathan as the head of Government today cannot change the current situation in Nigeria even if he wants to, because “his hands are tied”. He has soiled his hands; “he who must come to equity must come with clean hands” – Jonathan’s hands are not clean. He has lost his voice, and all moral rights and strength to fight our greatest enemy in the nation today – corruption.
Each election year, Nigerians are inundated with lofty manifestos politicians come up with as they come seeking their votes; we all know that these programs are never executed as planned. Nigeria’s problem is not lack of bright and intelligent people to formulate the greatest and most wonderful development programs; it is not lack of the funds needed to successfully implement such programs. Nigeria’s problem has been the lack of will on the part of the leadership to selflessly execute these programs; our leaders are greedy, selfish and without the fear of God in them. And for as long as Nigeria continues to be under the leadership of such inept and greedy people, so long will we continue to languish and sink deep in the darkness of under-development. What we need today in Nigeria is good leadership; we need a strong, selfless leader who is willing and determined to sacrifice all, to effect the necessary change that Nigeria deserves. Nigerians will be doing a great disservice to our beloved nation if at this stage of its struggling existence they elect our current weak, selfish and incompetent President to continue in office. The need for a selfless, strong and courageous leader in Nigeria now, cannot be overemphasized; we have missed several opportunities to have the type of leaders we deserve as a nation all because of tribal politics and corruption.
By my reckoning, we missed our first opportunity to have a strong leader after the civil war in 1970. Most nations that have gone through civil wars have always emerged stronger, more united and prosperous under a strong leader. Nigeria, after its thirty months of civil war settled for a compromise candidate as its leader; one who was chosen based on tribal politics. General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd.), a young inexperienced military officer who had no battle experience was given this enormous responsibility. The sudden inflow of oil wealth to the nation immediately after the war which would have served as a catalyst of development for a visionary leader became a curse for Gowon. Rather than embark on rebuilding the nation and the people who have just been devastated by the civil war, Gowon went on a spending spree, constructing fly-overs and organising festivals. The nation became weak and divided; with so much wealth and a visionless leader, large scale corruption started to emerge – Nigeria began the drift in the wrong direction.
We had our second chance when in an attempt to stem this tide, one who had a vision for the nation, came into the scene to give it a new direction. Like most genuine agents of change, Murtala Mohammed who was a beneficiary of the emerging corrupt system under Gowon, embarked on this new direction, leading by example; he “repented” and stripped himself of all illegally acquired wealth so he could successfully persuade others to help build a morally strong nation – talking of coming to equity with clean hands. His mission was however short-lived; he was cut down by agents of darkness who never wanted any change. From this point on, Nigeria grew from one level of corruption to the other.
A third opportunity came briefly when the duo of Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon attempted to reverse this trend in 1983; this move was stopped in its track by the evil genius, Ibrahim Babangida. Under Babangida, corruption was institutionalized, becoming our national way of life. It has become cancerous and has eaten deep into the fabrics of the society and has eroded our values as a people. Babangida once boasted that everyone has a price and this statement has become the modus operandi of all subsequent governments since then. It is this mess established by Babangida and perfected by subsequent Governments that the next leader must strive to clean up if Nigeria is to take its rightful place in the comity of nations. Nigeria needs a “war on corruption” because no meaningful development can take place in a nation so immersed in corruption like Nigeria. And if PDP and Jonathan had what it takes to address this problem, they would have done so in the number of years they have been in power. I believe this is yet another opportunity for us as a people to salvage what is left of our great nation from the grip of PDP.
Muhammadu Buhari is familiar with the mess we are in and as observed above, he has been part of some attempts made to stop its growth. When he became the head of government in 1983, he undertook to eradicate the corruption that continued to plague the country. About 500 politicians and businessmen were arrested for corrupt practices and his War Against Indiscipline (WAI) tried to encourage productiveness and patriotism among the population at large. But the forces of darkness led by Ibrahim Babangida removed him from power in August 1985
In his perhaps the last attempt to help sanitize this nation, let us give Muhammadu Buhari all the support he needs. We must realize that this responsibility to change the statuesque in Nigeria today is beyond the capacity and capability of any one man; the fight will require the collective will of the people for it to be successful. The same forces that have resisted this change before are still very much around and they are more powerful than ever before. And unless as a people, we rally behind this man and rely on the power of the Almighty God, we will fail again. God forbid that we fail again; for the consequences of failure this time around are better imagined.
And for those “politicians” who hide under the toga of men and women of God, this is not the time for religious politics; this change is beyond religious affiliations. It will be fundamental and revolutionary for it to be permanent; like cancer, its treatment will not be superficial – it will involve a paradigm shift, a change in the psyche of all Nigerians, a renewing of our minds. It will be painful and expensive and will take a while to materialize. Many of its originators must realize that they are not in it because of what they hope to personally gain from it because they may not live long enough to reap its benefits. So this crusade is not just for 2015 but for beyond, therefore a lot of patience is required. The sacrifice we will be making now for standing behind Muhammadu Buhari is for posterity and perhaps for what history may say about us – let’s make it work!
