The point is that a visionary leadership would have galvanised the Nigerian populace immediately after independence into nation building, national ethics, patriotic acts, etc., so that today, we would be talking of a different national character built on patriotism and love of fatherland.Reader, here is the news. There are complaints that the Nigerian youth are emigrating to, or being stolen by, Canada. The political ministers have been given their portfolios and as usual, no one is happy with the arrangements, well, except the people who are happy. Got that' Kidnapping is still thriving as a business for the practitioners who people think are herdsmen, bandits, unemployed people or just plain, bad, evil people. Also, development is still scarce around here. Transformers are still supplying light to single compounds while entire communities have no single transformer leg to stand on.Nigerians are still burying their dead in Hummer jeeps or BMWs while some of their countrymen, women and children cannot afford to buy food to eat. They catapult those who have served as governors to the senate to become senators, or failing that, to become ministers. The country is so poor that it perennially comes in among the last in the world index of poor states, yet its governors, representatives and senators are the highest paid in the world. Their government houses use generators; their houses of worship are built on human remains or human skulls. They steal billions just to show off to neighbours or to go into politics. Some of their state certified kidnappers are so generous their communities give them titles and rescue them when they are arrested. Yep, things are still normal around here, thanks for asking.So, all these we know, but what we just cant agree on is what is responsible for this discordance, this contrariness, this backward movement when the rest of the world is forward looking. Many think that leadership failure is the problem; some think it is followership. Some, like this column, blame the colonial power for laying the foundation of crookedness in addition to the first two. The answer I think you will agree is all of the above.There is the story that broke of one Mr. Obinwanne Okeke, an under-30 Nigerian entrepreneur who was said to have been arrested by the FBI sometime last week for an alleged $12m fraud in the USA. The question that has been nagging me ever since that story broke is what in the world propelled this young man to crawl these ten miles on broken bottles of danger in order to stand out or make it' In short, who led this young man astray' As the movies say, who dunnit: the leaders or the followers'Stories abound of how the churches are filled with worshippers who are preoccupied with the quest to make it mysteriously and supernaturally. You know what that means, dont you' To me, I think it means you come into sudden wealth one way or another so that you can slap your neighbours and the police will smile at you, really. Now, you know why everyone wants to make it. The quest to make it is so gripping on nearly every Nigerian now that it has led them into doing things in the dead of night and in the dead of day too. Yet, I suspect many have not seriously asked themselves just what they will do when they make it beyond being the envy of their neighbours. Some need it to build houses that are out of this world which their children will auction off without any respect, and some to buy cars their neighbours can only dream of. So, hows that for an ambition'!Anyway, this epistemological search is what is making many occupy seats in the worship houses now to listen to sermons that encourage them to reach out and grab it. It has even led many clerics of all religions to unspeakable acts of sacrifices in order to also make it. So, when people are not in the worship houses, they are kidnapping; oh yes, for the same end. When that fails, they go into politics: another arena of the get-rich quick. That too has led many to do unspeakable things. When they succeed, they become leaders. Now, you know why the leadership is not what it should be. In short, many people have done everything to make it but what they ought to do, which is to work hard. Ha, ha!The point is that Nigerian leadership right now is compromised. They appear to have lost the moral compass which should have helped them to lead people towards hard work and nation building, rather than ego building, or building strange looking houses. The leadership is not modelling the route towards happiness, contentment and good living right now. Instead, the leadership is modelling for the people the route to profligacy, licentious living, reckless power display and complete disrespect for others pains. These are the lessons people are learning, and believe me, there are no greater learners than the young ones.Oh yes, we are trying to understand what could have compelled Mr. Obinwanne to do what he did, if he did. The truth is that this countrys leadership has taught its citizens to laugh at hard work; indeed, we are even laughing at those who are hard at work because we regard them as the lame of the earth, who will also end up being the wretched of the corporate world. Mr. Obinwanne is not alone in that laughter. I understand the FBI has a long list of them in their files.Many people have asked me why Nigerias story should be so distorted and different from the story of other nations that also went through the same experiences like India, Malaysia, Singapore, America, etc. I answer them in two words: visionless leadership. There are other two words we can use, of course, such as uncontrolled heterogeneity; inherited suspicions; untapped illiteracy, unused literacy, dysfunctional elitism, etc.The point is that a visionary leadership would have galvanised the Nigerian populace immediately after independence into nation building, national ethics, patriotic acts, etc., so that today, we would be talking of a different national character built on patriotism and love of fatherland. Our reality is that neither the PDP nor the APC has any inkling on how to help the country retrace its steps. The PDP was too busy literally living it up while the APC is presently more preoccupied with settling herdsmen into already occupied and built villages, thus displacing more people. So, what we have is everyone trying to build himself up as a fatherland.As of now, the rate that the young ones are emigrating from the country is not flattering to the image of Nigeria. It is like people fleeing from a war zone, yet hopefully, the country is not at war. It is so bad, one youth wrote in the social media to this effect: please, Canada, come and steal me; Im wearing a red shirt for easy recognition and standing in front of my house. Well, Im now giving notice that if something is not done quickly, I will also tell Canada: please come and steal me though Im not a youth. Im wearing a boubou and standing on my car for easy helicopter lifting.If this country does not want to see more of the likes of Mr. Obinwanne, if the allegations are true, then some serious nation building had better start. Right now, the APC, being the party on the throne, has the opportunity to really do some social engineering by bursting the myth of making it. The party must shake itself of its parochial tendencies and wake up. It must begin to initiate how the Nigerian society can be so constructed that every Nigerian can find his place to pursue his happiness without getting on the FBI list.
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