Mr President, let’s be clear in
advance that the antidote I here-later prescribe will not secure you a
return ticket back to the Aso-Rock Villa by 2015. It will not! So at
this point you can make the decision to stop reading this open letter
because it isn’t what any incumbent African president would want to
hear. However, you still have the rare privilege to right the wrong
while you lay a fresh foundation for a true democracy and government
even as you write your name in gold in the historical pages of Nigeria’s
history.
The writing of this letter was inspired
by the reading of a Bible passage at church last Sunday.The particular
Scriptural reference can be found in the book of Prophet Isaiah chapter 9
verse 6; you could ask one of the boys to read into your hearing at
leisure. Nevertheless, I would point out few elements you could relate
with: government, child, son, counselor/adviser, peace, development,
paradigm shifts, relational wisdom and authority.
Permit me to elaborate on each of these
elements starting with governance. There are so many definitions of
governance as there are people in the world. But for the purpose of this
letter, I would define governance as an institution established by the
people of a particular geographical entity saddled with the
responsibilities of using optimally their common resources; human,
capital and material for the social good of all concerned. Mr President,
from this definition of governance other set of elements are listed
which are;institution, people, responsibility, management, resources,
and social good. It goes without saying that governance isn’t for kids
but for people with capacity, courage and competence. Unto the second
and third elements from our scriptural reference; child and son. There
is a huge difference between a child and a son especially in African
settings. A child is characterised by naivety, foolishness and
immaturity. A son on the other hand is trusted with responsibilities,
emblemized by wisdom and dignified by maturity. Time and willingness to
learn are the distinguishing factors. Age has little to do with wisdom.
We hear about baby adult and precocious babies.
A counselor or an adviser is the next
item on the agenda.Having established the fact that responsibilities
aren’t for babies, even mature adults need good counsel or proven advice
to succeed in any undertaking. Mr President, you don’t need too many
advisers, senior, junior or special for that matter. The question is:
what is the quality of their counsel? What value have they added to
national issues? Does this add up to the peace and unity of the
citizenry? It is not in quantity but quality.
Next items are peace and development. No
nation can record meaningful development in the absence of sustainable
peace and security. In actual fact, levels of FDI decrease in period of
political instability and religious crises. Sir, it is disturbing to
know that the humongous wealth in this country hasn’t translated into
quality standard of living for the citizens. Our resource control
formula is a huge fraud! I understand that we need to compensate states
with rich deposits of our wealth in wealth-sharing formula but not at
the expense of other non-oil-rich states. This also brings us to the
issue of true federalism that has been shut out of the Nigerian
equation.
Another element is paradigm shift or
change. Mr President, we have since become a non-progressive country
since transition to democracy. This democracy isn’t delivering the
expected dividends to us compared to other climes. What are we doing
wrong? Do we really have democracy in Nigeria? The change am calling for
is a proper alignment to true democratic structures and principles as
practice in advanced democracies of the world. You can lay a solid
foundation for a true democracy in Nigeria. Let the change start with
you as the number one citizen of this beloved country.
Next is relational wisdom. Dear sir,
there is wisdom and foolishness in association, it has nothing to do
with MSc or PhD, a wise man in an association of foolish people will
soon become foolish in a matter of time. There is still wisdom in the
saying that: “Show me your friends and I will tell you the kind of
person you are.”
Forget the effusive smiles that greet you everyday, it
is cosmetic! Please take time to audit your close relationships,
extrapolate their relationship history with governments before you. Are
your present friends and associates good testimonials of past
governments? What does the majority say about them? Are they really
competent for the job?
As I close with the last but not the
least element, authority, I would like to ask this salient question.
Where do you derive your constitutional authority from? From your
position as the president, or from the citizens of this country? I would
like you to reflect on the above listed elements even as you prepare to
step aside come 2015 and engrave your name in gold in the pages of
Nigerian history!
Long live Nigeria!
Daodu Olanrewaju
Regional Representative(Nigeria)
Alternative Lifestyle Communication,USA.
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