We have weaknesses that we must wean ourselves of, more like casting old cloths away and behind us in 2021, and some that we must convert to strengths in this our course correction quest for a New Nigeria.
Interestingly, we are almost unanimous on most issues that plague us, but we carry on with them almost subconsciously, when we each have related responsibilities and opportunities to do differently, as if in some kind of trance. It is an interesting but sad phenomenon, to see us dispassionately and almost objectively discuss and dissect issues only to act otherwise when we are individually called upon to serve.
That we individually and collectively have not done well by our country is not in doubt against the background, that it is how we think about ourselves that influences how we act and relate with ourselves and where we are today is only the result.
WE MUST END THE BLAME GAME – WE ARE ALL GUILTY
By acts of omissions and commissions in the individual discharge of our responsibilities to ourselves, families, groups, work place and communities we have been suboptimal, some more so than others and finger pointing is futile and we are required to move in a new direction in honesty and humility for the sake of our children, grandchildren and the unborn generation
For what does it matter now, that one person is more guilty than the other. We are all in a mess collectively as a society, as a nation and what is required of us is to take responsibility and accept to choose the role, we shall each play to create the New Nigeria, knowing that how well we do this, will determine how quickly we begin to make progress in the direction we seek.
We must leave finger pointing behind and create our spheres of influence one person at a time advocating for our future by changing our mindset first and seeking to change those of others through our every THOUGHTS, WORDS and DEEDS.
WE MUST END THE PREDOMINANT APATHY TO OUR POLITICS AND
GOVERNANCE
In the affairs of men, politics and governance go together. The result of politics is governance. Good politics results in good governance and poor politics, in poor governance.
Politics or politicking, is all the interests, activities and organization to obtain power or control and authority to allocate and manage human and material resources to achieve planned objectives.
Governance is the how those who succeed to obtain power control and authority, plan and organize the allocation and management of those resources to achieve results.
Wherever and whenever a people aggregate to achieve goals, there will be politics or politicking, as some persons must be either nominated, selected or voted to represent and be invested with the authority to lead the group by directing, controlling, allocating and managing resources, towards achieving their planned objectives and results, since everybody cannot speak at the same time and create dysfunction. So political leadership or leadership are those assigned the responsibilities to plan the governance to achieve the desired results.
It is human instinct to aggregate, connect and relate, so all humans participate in politics one way or another consciously or unconsciously, deliberately or inadvertently.
Ultimately, we are all politicians at some levels, so long as we are human beings and relating with one another, carrying out some activities and expecting positive impacts and results from the activities of others, exercising control over aspects of our affairs viz the management of human, material resources and opportunities in which we are invested.
If we are interested and invested in the results of governance in whatever way, we are politicians at some levels, since we all belong to some aggregation from family units to communities up to country
Politics in the main, is how leadership is recruited to provide governance that will deliver planned objectives and results by the way they allocate and manage the resources,
The leadership recruitment process in all of these levels directly impacts the governance and therefore the achievement of the desired results. To be human is to hope that our daily activities and aspirations result in improvements, promotions, development in all related aspects of our lives and at some levels to be assigned or assign to others, responsibilities to discharge on behalf of the aggregation.
Staying aloof therefore is mindless in our circumstance today and apathy cannot help to change our narrative. We each must assume some role.
WE MUST END OUR TURN YOUR TURN, OUR ZONE YOUR ZONE
I still struggle to understand the utility of turn-by-turn zoning of political offices and believe me I have tried. I don’t know if it is as result of my work experience, for I could never succumb to any consideration outside of competence in an evaluation of a candidate for a corporate position and also, I fail to see the connection between where a person comes from and their competence to achieve desired result.
Also, in our own context, at all levels of political leadership, the overarching sentiments during term renewals, is to let the existing occupants have a second term, as if it were a guaranteed right, with no heed paid to their governance results in office. It is almost comic were it not for the impact on our national psyche and our fortunes.
Let’s think this over again. We have had almost 23 years of democracy with this ‘our- turn, your-turn,’ ‘our-zone, your-zone concept. What can we objectively say is the gain of the zones that produce the leaders at those times other than a few more new houses in a few communities and do these houses approximate to ‘sense of belonging’ or welfare of those zones or communities?
Our constitution already guarantees the participation of all peoples and what we should do is ensure that we do these things in line with our constitution and they shall be the desired sense of belonging.
WHY TRIBAL, ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS POLITICS & SYCHOPHANCY MUST END
The Human instincts to connect and relate with other beings like ourselves and become comfortable and safe with established familiarity, is the root cause of our tribal, ethnic and religious politics and is justifiable as it is the first evaluation criteria of recruitment choices that we make, in the absence of any other objective evaluation criteria.
When we have other criteria such as desired job results and impact, job description, required experiences, skills and competences, we as rational humans will modify our choices of recruitment because the effect of their performance will be personal and with practice, this unproductive evaluation criteria will be done with for the good of us all.
WE MUST DUMP ETHNIC NATIONALITIES & HEGEMONY QUEST
While rational peoples of other nations are thinking of the next century, we that pride ourselves as a most intelligent set of people would rather go back to pre- 1914 and do what exactly?
We must appreciate that even if we break our Nation into 6, 37 or 774 countries, our fortunes will only get worse, as the politicians who today at all levels are unable to provide proper governance in Nigeria will still be incapable of doing same as no miracle will happen to make them become capable and competent saints tomorrow when we break up?
PREDOMINANT MUTUAL DISTRUST MUST END
