Strong democratic institutions are very important in a democratic state; but if a nation is in a precarious situation, especially war time, a strong leader is most needed. The absence of a strong leadership that could produce a spiralling effect on Nigeria’s war against insurgency is the main cause of the current chaotic security situation in Nigeria’s northeast. The current scary situation would not have become this messy had it been that we have strong leadership.
Some people are of the view that President Goodluck Jonathan appears not to be on top of issues of statecraft when it comes to tackling the growing violence of a frightening magnitude, fuelled by a few hundreds of ragtag insurgents. This view is not an attempt to cast aspersions on the exalted office of the president; neither does it suggest that the president should have applied iron-hand in his style of leadership. But the fact is that we have allowed insurgents to unjustifiably kill Nigerians, annex their lands and humble our gallant military, thereby making Nigeria appear a weak country. Indeed, the situation has given the insurgents the control of the course of war in the northeast.
Some schools of thought may argue that Nigeria’s peculiar political environment and the prevailing political situation are what make the president appear not to be on top of the war. A strong leader could have intelligently used the carrot-and-stick approach and avoided the current situation which has brought confusion in the minds of most Nigerians. Is the government really in charge of the nation’s affairs?
The current frightening insecurity in Nigeria has taught Nigerians a big lesson. Few months from now, Nigeria will elect a new president. There is hope that Nigerians can turn things around, insist and vote for a strong president regardless of ethnic, religious or geographical considerations. Even though the Nigerian political environment, most especially the choice of who occupies the seat of the president, has so much been polluted with mundane issues and lack of political progressivism, Nigerians must insist on a strong leader. Nigerians must choose a president and commander-in-chief with the ability to inspire enthusiasm in Nigerians with just a wink of an eye; an individual with vision for the future, who can go the extra mile to get things done; one that can differentiate between reality and smokescreen and also remain positive in the public eye, no matter what the situation may be.
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When Nigeria has such a president, development issues will quickly replace mundane ones in our polity; ragtag insurgents will be decimated within days and Nigeria will be returned to normalcy, with her lost respect in the global eyes restored. But for Nigeria to have such a president come 2015, we need only one thing – Nigerians must vote with their ‘heads’, not with their ‘hearts’.
Zayyad I. Muhammad
