The price of greatness is responsibility.—Winston Churchill
Full disclosure before you read this article, I am not a politician neither do I belong to any political party; therefore, this piece is not a support for any political class, its objective is to spur our political elites into accountabilities. As expected, after the presidential election many people will be in the analysis and name calling mode, however, we should not allow our analysis to spring up hatred that will further divide us. Our concern is to get Nigeria to work again. Having said this, let me congratulate President Mohammed Buhari (PMB) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the process is not perfect, but you helped to deepen Nigeria democracy; therefore, you both deserve commendation and congratulations.
Congratulations to Nigerians. Though the result may be disappointing for some and celebratory for others, what is important is not who won but how to make Nigeria win, therefore, all must join hands together so Nigeria can win. Age is a powerful thing, no wonder the holy scripture says “teach us to number of days that we may apply our heart to wisdom, by the time PMB finishes his second term, he will be fourscore years. This is nothing but divine grace because not too many are privileged to achieve such an advanced age especially in a country where the average lifespan is 53years. I believe that after reaching that age, nothing much is left to be achieved in life therefore, the need to begin to appraise one’s legacy and the opportunity to rewrite the wrong.
PMB now need to seriously and passionately focus on seizing the grace that Mother Nature has bestowed on him; build an enduring legacy and a nation where everyone has equal opportunity to live their full potential. No matter how well-intentioned, I do not think history can be kind if one leave a legacy where 50% (91 million Nigerians) of the population are in extreme poverty, where 23.1% per cent of the people are unemployed, where 43.3% of the population are either underemployed or employed, where 55,4% percent of the young people between the ages of 15-35 years are either unemployed or underemployed, where some states in Northern Nigeria have almost 90% of people living in poverty and over 80% in illiteracy. I rode in an Uber three days ago and had a conversation with the young man who chauffeured me. I was shocked to find that he studied Mechanical Engineering at the University, and because he could not get a job, he took to cab driving. Such an individual will find it difficult to trust in the Nigeria system.
Mr President should leave a legacy of diversity and inclusion: where the life of every Nigerian counts; where every Nigerian is given the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the growth of this country; where genuine entrepreneurs have access to the required capital; where every Nigerian has access to quality education, healthcare and security; where every Nigerian can aspire to become anything in the land without the fear of being marginalized either because of religion, ethnicity, gender or political views.
PMB now has the opportunity to significantly change some perceptions especially accusations relating to nepotism and ethnicity bias. The war on corruption must not just be sustained but must be pursued with vigour, and without mercy; however, it must be seen to be done without fear or favour. Corruption cannot be won if it is selective; the battle against corruption will be lost if the president cannot begin the campaign with the closest and the dearest to him. The president must remember that corruption can only be fought successfully by building a strong economy because as long as there is a high incidence of poverty, high unemployment the war against corruption will be a mirage.
The president needs to build a solid economic management team because currently, the cabinet seems to be the weakest in the current time. In selecting the team, no attention should be paid to colours, gender, race, ethnic background or religious affiliation or political leanings; what the president should be concerned with is a Nigeria that works. We need a sound cabinet to manage the affairs of this country, after all, no one can grow taller than his or her head. We need a highly cerebral, committed economic management team – a team that understands the dynamics of our economics. There are bright minds that would have been brought to the fore in other sane society, minds like Dr Andrew Nevin, Bismarck Rewane, Kingsley Moghalu, Dr Sarah Alade, Prof Pat Utomi, Dr Alex Otti and a host of others in the academia and many more that are not within the shores of the country. The president should go beyond ethnics, religious and gender divide to make things work for Nigeria. The president needs people with cultural intelligence, people who put the nation above their interests.
As PMB and his team celebrate their victory at the 2019 election, they should remember the average Nigerian. The President should not adopt a winner takes it all approach. He should extend olive branches to the opposition or oppositions. He should be wary of excluding them because Nigeria deserves the victory and not APC or PDP or other parties. The celebration will be meaningless if it encourages #exclusion; those who are celebrating should remember that Nigerians are becoming more politically intelligent. Therefore, the era of some people seeing themselves as political invincible are gone. Godfatherism is going extinct as well. Keeping people in poverty and giving them handouts just like some shameless and conscience dead and morally bankrupt politicians is losing relevance. Apart from the fact that it will not cut it anymore, bribing your way into office with 2kg of rice, garri and some hilarious combinations will not build any legacy. History won’t be kind to those who chose to continue to undermine the potential of the people.
PMB sir, a great opportunity has been presented to you to become a father of modern Nigeria. To do this should not be difficult, leave no stone unturned to lift people out of poverty, build a strong economy, practice diversity and inclusion, live by example, eradicate extravagance in governance (no public official should be using taxpayers money to fly business class or charted aircraft) embrace selfless service, maintain zero tolerance for corruption, shun nepotism and work for the good of all. Speak words that edify and motivate the people, let your words flow with kindness and your heart ruled by empathy. If you do this at this age and time, history shall forever be kind to you and yours, and if you chose not to, the history would only see you as one of those men or women who pass the face of the earth and lost the opportunity to make a difference.
In conclusion, to drive this nation forward, we need courageous and fearless leaders. PMB needs to exhibit courage if Nigeria is to achieve a much higher level of success. In your hands lies that power to shape the future of this country, to take a bold stand that will transform the capacity and capability of the Nigerians, I do hope that the President will for the sake of Nigerians take a bold stand, act decisively, and engage with Nigerians in an extraordinary way.
Olukunle A. Iyanda
Dr Iyanda is a strategy and innovation advisor
