Akpabio and Orji Kalu: Leadership decisiveness and entitlement

Without an iota of doubt, what Nigeria lacks is a decisive leader. We have been led by people who are conformists, and no thanks to how we have been politically structured. Nigeria needs strong leaders to take her place as a giant in Africa and the world.

We need a leader who will exhibit decisive as a way of life and commitment, not just one-off. We need people who will put the national interest above their interests. There is a need for a massive change in our leadership selection and recruitment process.

Brother Orji Kalu was a decisive leader as a governor for eight years. One achievement that will prove him as a change agent was the exploits of Enyimba FC and winning the continental trophy back-to-back during Orji Kalu’s leadership. It takes courage, boldness, and decisiveness to manifest those feats.

Like every other governor in Nigeria, Kalu had his fair issues with corruption and the anti-corruption agencies. He was, however, lucky to have been a free person and a senator, unlike Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, who spent some time in prison before being pardoned by Buhari. Kalu was released from jail after the Supreme Court foiled his conviction.

I am happy Mr Kalu admitted he was called a thief and said he is not one. The Nigerian legal system has acquitted him, and his people have re-elected him as their senator despite his charges. What a case of luck and unfairness if we consider ordinary Nigerians who have spent their lifetime in jail for stealing a paltry sum or for not committing the offences they were charged with.

Yet, our crying senator wore his entitlement gown and accused Nigeria of being unfair to him. We would have been fair to Uzor if we had made him the senate president with his failed and copied ’emilokan’ slogan.

The Nigerian system is producing leadership failures and third-class thinkers and storytellers. It is evident in how our governors have taken the Senate as their fortress after 8years in office as the CEO of their states.

The Nigerian leadership system can create an entitlement mind-set out of once a courageous person simply because everyone wants to remain relevant and conform to the political order. Otherwise, people like Kalu should have progressed in their leadership rather than retrogressively into a crying senator, accusing the system that has been unfair to two generations unborn.

Kalu should count himself lucky. His people love him; he is free, but not at the price most poor people have paid. I agree he had built factories and employed people in the past, yet we called him a thief, according to his thesis. But should he progress and give us his achievements in the recent time rather than demanding rewards for his past efforts?

What would it be if the likes of Dangote resorted to politics and, a few years later, accused us of unfairness? What is the current state of Kalu’s factories built and operated in Ota? What happened to those he once employed? What are they surviving on since he is now living as an employee of the country, yet the government is unfair to him?

Thanks to our political system, Kalu slipped from a decisive leader and governor to an ‘entitler’. He showed the signs during the build-up to the elections. He once said that Lawan should be made the APC flagbearer maintaining that Buhari has the right to appoint his successor.

Unlike the northern governors who stood for equity by insisting that power must shift to the south, he was not seen as decisive and progressive. Anyone who had wished to have a successor appointed by Buhari, given his performance for 8 years, is not a friend of Nigeria.

Akpabio, in a different vein, showed decisiveness in their approach. No wonder he is now the Senate President. In the build-up to the elections, Godswill Akpabio aligned with equity in power rotation and purchased a presidential nomination form. He was the first presidential aspirant to stand down for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He took the lead in evaluating his chances and stepped down for a man who was a better option than him.

He subjugated his interests to ensure that someone as strong and prepared as President Tinubu emerged as the APC flagbearer. Otherwise, the power would have gone to Atiku if a lightweight politician like Osinbajo or Lawan had clinched the ticket.

Akpabio put his mouth where his money was. He supported Tinubu till the end and delivered his zone to the APC more than Kalu did for his party. It is, therefore, in the interest of justice and Nigeria for Akpabio to have been elected as the Senate President.

Kalu’s tears and outbursts are a typical representation of the Nigerian political class and how everyone is putting their interests above the interests of others. It is a classical simulation of the principle of Psychological Egoism, which states that there is always an overriding personal benefit beneath every charity or claim of selfless work people do or appears to be doing.

Godswill was decisive from the inception of this political era. He was calculative by porting from the PDP to the APC, became a minister and supported the rights movement. We need more leaders to be decisive in the ordinary person’s interests and not only for their interests.

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Some opinions have it that Kalu’s crying drama and accusation of unfairness is geared towards getting one of the lucrative positions in the Senate, having lost out on the presidency. If that is true and he gets what he wants, good luck.

His outburst and entitlement disposition is similar to that of a senator or House of Representative member who came to the house’s floor to display his four wives to prove to Nigerians that he is an influential parliamentarian.

As a country, we have a long way to go in how our elected leaders see their positions, the privilege attached to it, and the enormous responsibilities required to take Nigeria to the next level if we must survive the potential lynch of the rich by the hungry poor. There are dangers ahead if our leaders continue to be entitled and do not allow the poor of the poorest among us to breathe.

Nigeria is unfair to many people, including those ‘Japaying’ for no other reasons than the country’s risk. Therefore, it is high time for our elected leaders to commit to dedicating themselves to national interests and appreciating the privileges bestowed on them rather than crying like Kalu. Please allow people experiencing poverty to breathe.