It has popularly circulated that there are no bad followers but bad leaders and I vehemently agree to that. The problem of Nigeria as I have argued is not recent neither is it a 21st century problem but started right from the onset of our independence and initiated by our so called colonial masters, down to our founding fathers and to our present day leaders. Moreover, the “rain that beat Africa(Nigeria) began four to five hundred years ago, from the discovery of Africa by Europe, through to the transatlantic slave trade, to the Berlin conference of 1885”.
When the colonial masters arrived Nigeria and other west African states, such as Ghana, Sierra Leone etc, as an offer at the controversial gathering of world leaders at Berlin. Germany. These expatriates did not encounter an un-organized nor confused people but rather people with great cultural heritage, well arranged and structured local government. People who are very humble, docile an obedient to their local rulers, and even aided the missionaries who brought the gospel of peace and freedom
The white with their so called supremacy and wealth of experience in governance and politics sought to colonize the people of lesser worth and to enrich themselves in all sense, brought about merging of a people with diverse heritage and languages in what the called “the amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorate”
The reason for amalgamation will at the cause of the years reveal the selfish ambition of our colonizers, thus they systematically induced the problem that would plunge the nation into “a cesspool of corruption and misrule,” the cessation of social justice and rights of the citizenry. They further introduced indirect rule a system of leadership, which involves a few individual and in this case, the colonial masters. This system of governance did our nation more harm than good, causing the people to watch from a distance while their dictators rule them to penury. This, they left indebly on the minds of those they will be handing on to, come 1st October, 1960
But, to better elucidate the degree of leadership degradation in our country, the political corrupt practices, the crippling development of almost every sector of the nations economy and the nefarious propaganda of the deadly sect-Boko Haram, I draw out this piece of information by Professor Chinua Achebe, the late prolific Nigerian writer and the recipient of the Nigeria national merit award, Nigeria’s highest award for intellectual achievement in his last book: there was a country: a personal history of Biafra. He writes on the root cause of the primary Nigeria problem-Leadership.
The British governed their colony of Nigeria with considerable care. There was a very highly competent of government officials imbued with a high level of knowledge of how to run a country... they had the experience of governing and doing it competently... There was district order during their time but there was unresolved religious and political bigotry among those they governed. The British were well aware of the inter ethnic tensions and posturing for power among the three main ethnic groups by 1951.
Initially the British resisted any agitation for independence often by handing out stiff jail term for "sedition" so the disturbers of peace. They knew the value of their colonies and the natural sources they possessed in Nigeria's case oil, coal, gold, tin, columbite, coca, palm oil, groundnuts and rubber as well as intellectual capital. Surely, great Britain has no plans to hand all these riches over without a fight.
Thus, before the left Nigeria on independence day, the left us to carry their crafty governing skill and that became the foundation of our problems. Thus, the first election in Nigeria supervised by the governor-general Sir James Robertson, a British, elected "a courageous English junior civil servant, named Herold Smith to oversee the rigging of Nigeria's first election, so that its complaint friends in (Northern Nigeria) would win power, dominate the country and serve British Interest after independence... and one night echo that popular faith in genuine democracy was compromised form its birth."
Having successfully done this but not aided by Herold Smith who was knowledgeable of such moves on a baby country-Nigeria and the intending social malaise in Nigeria's politics. The rigging of election, corruption, manipulation of judges and magistrates, absence of social justice and above all anarchy in the country ensued right from the onset sown by crafty and self-centered right leaders like Sir James Robertson.
Our leaders (that is those they placed there) continued with the same legacy and foolishly refused to let go of these vices or the demonic inheritance but instead transferred it to their children -our present day leaders. Their successor has long polluted the polity of the nation and shattered the daily yearnings of many Nigerians.
Nigerians should wake up to fight for her independence against bad leaders that kept the country in bondage. They citizens must all unite as one if we must set things right in our political system, for maybe "religion may divide us but then nation unites us."
Well written
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