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Chris Odinaka Nwedo
As Nigerian society is increasingly witnessing an ‘intense political rascality’ and suffocating economic hardship due to discreditable leadership, it is imperative for the citizens to embrace the need for active participation in politics and governance. Meaningful participation in the processes and the system of governance by the people can impact positively and significantly the political culture basically, and enhance the prospects for quality service delivery. Being part of the politics and dictating the direction and quality of attention are road-maps capable of sensitising every representative of the obligation to be proper. When a representative knows that the people are active and disposed to decree against misrepresentation, he\she is conscious that he\she is not merely sitting for the people but has the inescapable mandate to find valid answers to the challenging needs of his constituency. The pressure and challenges from the constituency should make the delegate mindful that the obligations of his office are critical to the nature and quality services available to the community.
The nature and quality of services clarify the value of his/her representation and textures of the overall governance. Some of the ways of active participation in politics include excise of the inalienable right to vote, mobilising and educating compatriots on the need for conducts compatible with electoral rules and regulations, mobilising rationally and constitutionally against misconducts from the electoral umpires, supporting and encouraging whoever wins the mandate justifiably. These are legitimate roles as active participants in the process, while participation in the system of governance also include objective determination of priority areas for greater concentration, setting feasible targets, consultations, counselling and purposeful support and finally threat of recall. Imprudent governance, erroneous policies and programmes and the outrageously malfunctioning services of national institutions in Nigeria defined with clarity the nature of the wildness of the political elites having been abandoned to their frolics.
The unhopeful events in the polity have doubtlessly demonstrated the need for the ordinary Nigerian to start understanding that he/she is virtually defenceless and unrepresented by the representatives. Supervision by means of active involvement is a more certain instrument for demanding for what are rightly his in terms service and positive leadership direction. Positive leadership has inherent capacity to elevate the individual citizens and through the citizens the society is wholistically impacted positively. Positive leadership direction is a provocative foundation for rediscovery of the followers because it sparks rich and constructive social dialogue among the citizens. This has potential for enormous impact particularly in a society like ours deformed by nepotism, falsehood, distrust, acrimony and violence. This is because “positive leadership focuses on facilitating the best of the human condition, or on virtuousness. It is based on a eudaemonic assumption—that is, that an inclination exists in all human systems toward achieving the very best of the human condition…”1 Positive leadership direction points to flourishing interpersonal and virtuous behaviours. It is an affirmative source positive of emotions and vigour. “It enables ‘positively deviant’ performance”.2 This means that its focus is on outcomes that dramatically exceed common or expected performance. It enables individual to thrive and flourish challenging obstacles and impediments. For Jon Gordon positive leadership has the capacity to increased understanding of leadership potential and increased competence to move people in a positive direction…”3
Nauseating prettiness of the leadership evident in nepotism, pervasive corruption, political unruliness and overt disloyalty to public interest and oath of office have strongly impacted damagingly the quality life and prospects of meaningful engagement in the system by the rest of the citizens. At the roots the prettiness are the insecurity and comprehensive fears of uncertainty. It disheartens that the fear and negativity predominated the thinking and behaviours of most compatriots. The development is principally responsible for widespread lack of trust, decreased productivity, poor focus on issues national in scope, uninspiring personal enterprises and subpar nation performance. Being enveloped in the thick clouds of fear and uncertainty many Nigerians are pushed into desperate misdemeanour, insanitary religious postulations, distrust, secessionism and violence as survival mode. The change indispensable for better Nigerian society is necessarily in the inclusive participation of the citizens in decisions affecting them directly or indirectly. Nothing justifies abandonment of the fate of Nigeria exclusively in the hands of maliciously treacherous politicians. The challenge of constructing a liveable Nigerian society is the duty of every Nigerian citizen. This duty is inalienable. Doing the right thing for real change we deserve in our society is non transferable commitment.
Figuratively speaking, grounds have been shifting to provide atmosphere for Nigerians to begin to access proper handles for steering clear of political deception, oppression and deprivation. It is the duty of all to be essential component of a successful national narrative as participants and not spectators. I believe that it is an inviolable obligation for the people to breathe in the service consciousness, swiftness and efficiency in the management of Nigeria’s national wealth in favour of collective interest. It can be explained that the reason why the national conditions got deteriorated unchallenged is that most Nigerians are corrupt, hypocritical, prejudiced and gullible. We have always had leaders that profoundly reflect the nature of our people. Many of our national media institutions are despicably biased and perverted, more hysterically is the social media that is seemingly kidnapped by rebellious armies of propagandists who do everything to market all conceivable falsehood against common national aspirations. These detestable ‘mercenaries of sharks’ invade, attack and attempt to drown every objective criticism of the nation’s wrong leaders. During the political campaigns one naturally would dismiss these media viruses as campaign tools but the continued havoc is incomprehensible. They have neither respect for truth, objective analysis of the national conditions nor the sacrosanctity of the individual’s views. One should be terrified of the immense potentials of these awful militants for further devastation.
No society veritably grows with this brand of virus infestation. When you quieten the truth, how do you get the right? When things are not right how will they be good? I do not think that with these vicious propagandists that judge every statement with scripts in their hands are well disposed to see Nigeria succeed. Sustainable reconstruction of Nigeria is onerous task of all. The government and its agencies must be open to constructive suggestions and must be inclined to galvanise views and efforts of every well-meaning citizens and concerned partners. Today’s discomforting efforts to speak truth to power and the conscious struggles for appropriate rights to the so-called dividends of democracy are the only chance for a new order for service delivery and accountable leadership.
In the face of constant assaults of political sorts, Nigerians are in dire need of active methodologies, more pragmatic apparatuses for steering the wheels of the society away from those in power who do not mean well at all. We have been hoodwinked for so long by these vicious groups of politicians who used misleading tools such as false ethnic and religious propaganda to readjust their positions as they criminally subvert the will of the people. Threatened by imminent forfeiture of the felonious advantages, they caused divisions among their ranks and re-converged more potently. But with the end of the 2015 elections, and redistribution of new positions, it became evident that some of the former ‘powerful’ political tricksters found themselves idiotically outwitted, disillusioned and hanged to dry by the ones more devious.
I believe a productive change Nigerians need is incomplete without disappearance of the nation’s human-worms who are absolutely responsible for the depletion traditional values of fraternity and care. These values have become substituted with bestial deprivations that are orchestrating prevailing national damages and causing pains. No one disputes that the tools in the hands of Nigerian ‘human-worms’ are malevolence bias and corruption. These are surreptitious weapons in the hands of the bad leaders for diffusing the hardship and tribulations. Nepotism stifles the nation while corruption hurts the vulnerable disproportionately and undermines the nation’s potentials for caring and catering. As corruption is blamed for horrific economic felonies and joblessness, nepotism is accountable for culpable mismanagement of material and human resources readily available in Nigeria. For Femi Fani-Kayode, ‘the Nigeria has continued to be ruled by charlatans while those who deserved to rule had been denied the opportunity’. Nigeria cannot regain her true identity without change structured on a transparent institutions and processes where the powers of collective will are absolute and irreproachable. The idea and practice of the citizens determining their fate as a collectivity is now imperative considering the failure of the leadership in areas of right judgement.
To be continued