As I gather my thoughts for my new year resolutions, it just crossed my mind to take a look back in time and to show how bad leadership has been a major drag on the progress of Nigeria for much of our 53 years of independence. I want to begin this piece with a self confession about what I need to do better in 2014. I get regular feedbacks from fans of this column around the world and I am grateful for them. While the great majority admit and thank me for sharing my thoughts with them, a respectable minority including one or two of my trusted friends and confidants have wondered aloud if I could make those articles shorter. It is a correct observation I plan to work on in the new year.
I am not a trained journalist. I do have some journalists I so much respect for their lucid language and brevity. Three of them include a gentleman named Sonala Olumhense who proudly won “the journalist of the year award from Sahara Reporters on December 21 at their well attended Christmas Party in New York. The other two are Okey Ndibe and Rudolf Okonkwo. They all can write and their articles are never as lengthy or wordy as mine. I have become their student for the most part, and part of my new year resolution is to emulate them more in 2014 and beyond. I crave your indulgence to let this be the longest article for this year. It is a promise I mean to keep. So help me God.
