To encourage good governance in Africa, Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese-British telecoms tycoon, since 2007 has endowed a $5m prize each year for an African President who governs well and retires when his term is up. For seven years of the 12 years since this prize began, no worthy recipient has been identified. Since the era of decolonization and independence of African countries till date, only an infinitesimal few of about 5% out of more than 200 past leaders of Africa have governed their countries with clear, established and undisputed legacies of sustained relevance. Yet, our Presidents speak so loftily of anti-corruption, good governance, and democratic ideals. Here in Nigeria, anarchy and chaos is gradually becoming the norm and order of engagement. Herein, therefore is a recommendation for Nigeria’s future Presidents’ consideration – you can live just fine without corruption and abuse of power; you can live comfortable on the Prize’s $ 5million initial payment plus $200,000 a year for life; you can live on your post presidency entitlements from the Nigerian government; you can live on goodwill and contentment, on speaking and writing honorarium, and on falling back on your initial profession. All great men of history – Gandhi, Lurther King, Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa among others, all lived a life that made their societies, countries and humanity better than they met it.
The world is swiftly growing less tolerant for political kleptocrats and misgovernance. From Hong Kong to Chile, to Lebanon, Iraq to India, the people are marching on the streets. We are seeing strikes, riots and people are revolting against slow economic growth, dashed expectations, lack of social securities, persistent corruption, rising inequality and worsening feelings of frustration by the people. The Nigerian people on their part are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the glaring tyranny and lack of respect for rule of law, due process, social justice and social amenities.
A rusty cloud of discontent is quietly gathering. Initially it was much less about Sowore’s Revolution Now, now it is almost everything similar to it, and about political ineptitude, failed campaign promises, underdevelopment, anarchy and lack of socio-political direction. A situation that can only get worse with our projected population trajectories. Our population is expected to contribute largely to the world’s 10.9 billion people at the end of this century. These people would need shelter, hospitals, schools, potable water, roads, social opportunities, power supply and other social amenities. These issues require Nigeria’s next Presidents to lead for legacies; to provide new economic initiatives, not a blind continuation of a laissez-faire ruin; to lead for something bigger than themselves; to lead in true practice of good governance and development, service and servant leadership; and to observe the rule of law.
As the subtle search for our next Builder and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces gathers momentum, we must adjudge our presidential candidates based on two classifications of their personal attributes and political skills. To achieve the public policy goals of our constitutional enterprise, those who aspire to lead us must be men of ambition, passionate drive, strength, courage, optimism, self-confidence, listeners and learners; more importantly, we need a strategic thinker, a coalition builder with political savvy, executive competence and a persuasive communicator who can clearly articulate our common visions. We need a president who even in the face of impossible circumstances, can exude an infectious optimism and holding out hope for all Nigerians.
The next generation leaders and Nigeria’s next Presidents are not unaware that it is easy to steal billions of dollars; that even though our country is richly endowed in natural resources, it remains a poor and lawless country. This creates vacuum and plethora of opportunities for looting and plundering; or that the auditors, police, prosecutors and the people who should have slapped their hands in the Nigerian treasury will shamelessly chose to kiss them instead; but no amount of wealth can save a man from the consequences of his failed leadership – recent court judgments on corruption trials remain instructive and a reminder that you cannot always get away with corruption and abuse of due process.
If I were the next President, I would first build my character around a culture of disciplined leadership before aspiring to build physical infrastructures. There can never be any meaningful physical infrastructural development without attitudinal development and discipline. As Lewis Lapham said “leadership consists not in degrees of techniques but in the traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual efforts, and it imposes on both leaders and followers alike the burden of self-restraint.” Beyond character, the next president must be a political tribune of change and master of statecraft. He must be a disciplined constitutional democrat, a disciplined guide to our constitutional ideals of separation of power, and a disciplined commander in character, moral compass and political efficiency.
To create a grandeur of epic development results, a presidency must be defined by something worthy of consideration as a legacy. Building a presidential legacy requires future Presidents understanding of a presidency as a constantly puzzling and changing institution which at a bare minimum requires someone who can unify his country and bring the best potentials in the citizens; someone with the charisma and character, executive abilities, judgment, political savvy, a strategic sense of policy innovation, and the discipline for excellence and inclusion in development project implementation.
For the umpteen time, we need a President with a home understanding of our development challenges; who knows the creative answers to the problems; who have the people skills to galvanize Nigeria’s most skilled experts, statesmen, politicians, entrepreneurs and citizens to build the blocks of our development; a President who is specific on his development agaenda – focusing on the top developmental priorities of energy and power supply, support for enterprise and manufacturing to thrive, rule of law, social inclusion, education, security, health care, among other top priorities; for inasmuch as no sector must be undermined, he must focus on the sectors that his work, ideological leanings, policies, and presidency would be defined. Let’s take the power sector for instance, a Nigerian President can decide to commit his presidency to solving the energy and power sector challenge, providing a sustainable steady power supply for Nigerians and enterprises in Nigeria.
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Our presidents are our number one celebrities. Everything they do is news – but what kind of news are they making? Good leaders, therefore, must learn to respond to societal yearnings through their actions, policies and leadership. By 2027, our President should be proud that most poor Nigerians have rescinded poverty, that most of the voiceless citizens have a voice, and that the wide gap of social inequality is stitched before the end of his Presidency.
Let me hesitate to state in brevity the specifics of what the next President can do for legacy: to have clear economic plans; promote institutional efficiency and independence; to promise little during campaigns but act more while in office; to build our local capacity for creativity, investments opportunities and industrialization; to fight the power sector monster to finish, until we have 70% constant power supply; to bring competent Nigerians together to drive the implementation of development policies; to be a democrat, observer of rule of law, and respecter of the will and wishes of the people. If he chooses to seek for only one term in office, he will achieve more, as he would careless about his reelection bids and challenges, his political enemies and the need to appease and service the political system at the expenses of our development need.
THE SUN, NIGERIA
