I do not know how exactly to describe the Presidential chat by the Nigerian Leader, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan held on Sunday on national television. But, it came at a time most Nigerians were apprehensive about the state of the nation with seething anger over worsening security. A lot of Nigerians had perceived the President as too slow and perhaps, becoming insensitive to the raging senseless killings in the land.Why should one live in any part of his country and feel unwanted and insecure, many had asked. Where then is national unity' It was no surprise the president's media team came up with the idea of a presidential chat again. The programme, which under former President Olusegun Obasanjo was tagged, The President Explains, has unragubaly formed part of our usual fire brigade approaches of tackling crises, rather than attacking the causes. Consequently, we often end up with gyration and no actual movement.I agree with some commentators, who argue that part of the problems of the country is the culture of meetings upon meetings. There are no tangible results at the end of most of those meetings the media usully described as crucial 'talks.' The other snag in our life is the repetitive proclamation we are planning to do this or that even after spending a 'century' in power. And to para-phrase a local maxim, if a man spends three years rehashing the culture of madness, how long does he plan to be mad' I believe we should have passed the stage of scratching problems on the surface rather than tackling them from the root. Thus, a presidential chat should not be a lullaby or a monologue, where a lot is held back about the tangibility of our action or inaction at true nation-building. If the programme held last Sunday succeeded in achieving anything, it would be introducing more weird twists to the myriad of contentious issues to the crises confronting the country. As he once said, Jonathan may not be the problem of the country, but definitely he has an ample opportunity to contribute in charting the way forward. He had identified the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorate in 1914 by Nigeria's colonial masters as part of the challenges. I wished he had, through a preamble on Sunday, shed light on the issue in view of the general belief that besides the operators, the bane of the country is the Nigerian Constitution.At the moment, the President is forging ahead by passing through the same familiar jerky routes his predecessors took over the knotty issue contrary to the popular clamours for a national conference, where the genuine representatives of the more than 250 ethnic groups of the country with over 450 languages can determine their own terms of living together. That, to me, should be among the sincere ways at nation-building from the present ragtag setup. Let's stop pretending in our approaches of tackling all the critical issues that have continued to threatening the unity of the country.Is it not a farce to claim that we practise federalism when in actual fact what we have is a unitary arrangement, with its all manner of contradictions and contraptions' I had wished to ask Mr. President if what we consider as our core strengthens can flourish under a culture of one day one trouble designed by man and not providence. I wished the President had on his own, during the live programme, and without prompting by his interviewers provided more tenable explanation for the inability of Nigerians to exercise rights citizens outside their ethnic roots and geographical enclaves. People can only lay claim to their political rights and on property in their ethnic regions and feel secure.One of the posers I wished headdressed was the importance of leaders in building institutions, since leadership is akin to a fulcrum. Others things move around it. It breathes life into a system and inspires others. Leadership at all levels is about honesty and integrity and leaders are famous for their deed; they actually lead by deed. They are achievers and not deceivers. They could through their crystal ball work to consolidate the gains of yesterday and today, as well as, prepare ground for a greater tomorrow. Leaders are those individuals with convincing ability to inspire public confidence and tap into the abundant and innate resources of the nation's human capital. It takes men of great vision, mission and compassion to invent a nation. Nation-building is not about waiting for miracles to happen through angelic instrumentality. It has to come by sincere hard work and pragmatic actions of creating institutions and promoting cultures that can energise the process.How I had wished Mr. President used the opportunity to clarify insinuations by the National Assembly leadership recently that the Legislature only accounts for three per cent of our national budget, therefore, Nigerians should know who to blame for profligacy and unbridled corruption in the land. With the preponderance of claims that corruption had taken a frightening dimension, he should have clarified the insinuation from the National Assembly over the management of the remaining 97 per cent of federal appropriation. After all, we only heard of an intention by the Presidency to cut the allowances of public officers by 25 per cent, nothing has been heard of its implementation, or the machinery put in place by both the Presidency and the National Assembly to implement the policy.Feedback:Fellow Nigerians, let's Pray again: 'Ubangiji, Chukwu, Abasi, Mimi and Ogene have since closed their ears since we have refused to do what is expected of us. We need to confess our sins, ask for forgiveness and then seek for holiness. It is then God will listen to us and answer our supplication.' Deacon Salami Laito.'Your article of May 31, 2012 refers. ' You be thief, I no be thief.' Former President Olusegun Obasanjo informed the public that some members of the National Assembly are rogues. Many blamed him for saying the obvious. Now that we know the roles played some members of the National Assembly on fuel subsidy probe, we should apologise to him after all the words of our elders are words of wisdom.' 08034896342.
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