Good leadership is a luxury in Nigeria. The mother of Nigeria's problems since independence hasn't been corruption but that of poor, weak, or bad leadership. It takes good and strong leadership to do the extraordinary to tackle corruption. As former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings proved, the most effective medicine against corruption is 'No Mercy'. Corruption is not invincible in Nigeria as some of our leaders have made us to believe; 'a powerful cartel' our leaders say is behind our nation's woes. But the inability of our leaders to tackle this 'cartel' raises questions as to the incorruptibility and boldness of our leaders themselves. An even bigger problem in Nigeria is that even when a leader has destroyed or weakened a cartel, the same leader simply takes over and becomes a cartel himself. In order to justify applying drastic measures to curtail corrupt acts in Nigeria, we must understand that corruption is a murderer and thus must be treated as such. Today, many people have either died or lost their sanity because of the multiplier effects (both physically and psychologically) of corruption; poverty or malnutrition, accidents caused by bad roads, lack of sufficient and timely medical care, hazards caused by substandard products and services, squandered or delayed entitlements and benefits, etc. With good and strong leadership 'as small as a mustard seed', some individuals have moved mountains; Jerry Rawlings basically destroyed corruption, Muhammadu Buhari suppressed it, and Nuhu Ribadu (though under controversial circumstances) intimidated it. Frustrations of Nigerians have over the years are continually aimed at political leaders who have failed to make good on promises that they would improve the general standard of living. Such failures normally had one or more causes. In many cases, some of our leaders were incompetent, saw their own power base as threatened by needed changes, or simply were overwhelmed by the magnitude of their problems and their lack of resources.A scholar once commented that Nigeria had suffered various acts of indiscipline, which had their roots in socio-cultural patterns in the; political process, economic system, psychological orientation, family background, leadership behaviour, value system, legal/ judicial system, modernisation process, majorly due to management slacks, lack of motivation and lack of commitment to religious tenets. Consequently, the inability of governments to address these issues has made the attainment of national development goals difficult and equally resulted in poor performance of organisations in Nigeria despite attempts by various Nigerian governments since 1976 to introduce one form of legislative measure or the other to curtail this menace.Nigerians must start asking themselves questions as to the suitability of a leader (be it a President, Governor, Local Government Chairman, Senator, Minister, etc.) to lead them and get the right things done properly and at the right time; leaders that are patriotic enough to put their lives or careers on the line. Dora Akunyili, Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir el Rufai, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Lamido Sanusi, Ken Nnamani, etc are not without their shortcomings but they have at least demonstrated that they possess ingredients for effective leadership with a resolve to step on toes. Today for example, most Abuja residents (including those affected by demolisions) have been blunt enough to admit that Rufai's era in the FCT has been more revolutionary than that of all other FCT Ministers combined in terms of transport, infrastructure, Geographic Information System (the first for a municipality in Nigeria) within his first 12 months, sanitation, and recreation, etc. Apart from these, he halted the pace at which Abuja was gradually turning into a pre-Fashola Lagos.It is not by force to rule, and so Nigerians shouldn't expect anything less from those who have decided to give a shot at leadership. A suitable leader must have a combination of not one, two, but three factors: capability, ability, and will, in order to make revolutionary changes just like Margaret Thatcher did for Britain between1979-1990. Thatcher the 'Iron Lady' ruled firmly because the conditions in Britain at the time warranted it. Her impact was felt amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery brought a resurgence of support resulting in her re-election in 1983. But the irony is that some of the above mentioned Nigerians who have left a lasting legacy during their tenures in power are those that have been hunted the most while those who have performed woefully during their tenures are those who have been left alone. Nigerians must see through this deceit as largely another attempt by some 'big figures' to settle old scores and therefore we must refuse to be dragged into such controversies. Perhaps if our leaders can channel their hunting energies towards fixing the countries decaying infrastructure and in providing jobs instead of dwelling on lands confiscated within the FCT, colleagues and businesses attacked by the EFCC, or money entitled or not entitled to them, then Nigeria will work better. The Buhari/Idiagbon leadership was unique in being the first regime to aggressively echo the need to combat indiscipline and corruption. Many Nigerians were not ready for these measures at the time because they failed to see the effects of their unchecked unethical acts. Today, the effects have manifested in ways of unimaginable proportions and continue to take its toll on Nigeria to the extent that the common man on the street is now demanding for a strict sanction of unethical practices in the society. Some might want to argue that the regime was only able to enforce strict compliance because it was a military regime. But Lagos State has proven that there are actually many aspects of these decrees that can work in a democratic setting. In Nigeria, integrity in leadership means little in comparism to power and wealth. The lust for wealth/power being the main reason why Nigerian leaders and government officials refuse to resign (even fighting to death to hold on) when found wanting in contrast to many other countries where leaders and government officials freely resign once they feel their integrity is being threatened. In Japan, suicide (Hara-Kiri) among top members of society has historically been considered an option for failure or disgrace for the sake of personal honour. The point is that selfless service puts the welfare of the nation and the accomplishment of the assigned mission before individual welfare. All who serve the nation must resist the temptation to pursue self-gain, personal advantage, and self-interest ahead of the collective good. Integrity is the basis for trust and confidence that must exist between the leaders and the led. Furthermore, integrity is demonstrated by propriety in one's personal life.For us to effectively overcome impediments to patriotic leadership in Nigeria, we must not just echo change in attitudes, ethics and values etc, but we must also go deeper in re-evaluating the conflict of interest that exists within the framework of the country's national interest. This conflict of interest relates to public officials, because it deals with the conflict between advancing public interest, which a public official is charged to do, and advancing one's self-interest. Lenin said that the state is an instrument of the ruling class in domestic politics. State organisations represent that instrument. Because the ruling class controls the state, its interest and that of the ruling class coincide. A state interest is often contrary to groups other than the ruling class.Thus the duty here as Nigerians is to insist without compromise that public interest comes first, and that one does not advance his own personal interest at the expense of the public. In other words, our leaders must be willing (without option) to forsake all for national interest, that is, the common material and spiritual needs of all the people of a nation-state. In material terms, a nation needs security and development. In spiritual terms, a nation needs respect and recognition from the international community.'Audu. Abuja-based Defence and Security Analyst, wrote in via budu2010@yahoo.com
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