THE NIGERIAN LEADERSHIP DEBACLE

We are in the second half of the year 2012 and it is very clear that one of Africa's leading Nation is experiencing one of the most unprecedented levels of political imbroglios, economic quagmire, social pandemic and institutional crisis.

In all the sectors of the economy Nigeria is bleeding even as it comes to terms with the profound reality of a high level corruption a hydra-headed being that walks round like a beast devouring and crushing all facets of life.

It has eaten deep into the moral fibres of millions of Nigerians as every citizen is in the business of the 'Hustling game to survive the heat' from the billionaire to the common man it is all about how can i and my family live a sustainable life.

Leadership and every opportunity to become involved in government or providing a form of service in the nation has been viewed as a 'conduit for amassing wealth'. It is so demeaning that men will stoop so low to divert the pension funds of men and women that have served the nation with their blood and sweat, without any sense of compassion.

Eventhough it is one of the leading producers of petroleum in the world, the nation still looks like a mendicant begging and seeking for loans that are not necessary on recycled projects that should have been completed if there was proper monitoring and implementation process.

Aspiring to be among the leading economies in the world by 20:20 is a beautiful goal like other ones we've seen in the past but no clear cut strategy to how this will be achieved, only makes us look more like a dreamer who has no clue of how to translate visuality to reality.

From the Fuel Subsidy panorama, Pension scheme thriller, Aviation diversion matrix, Capital market furore ,Boko Haram and the Budget Implementation imbroglio between the Legislature and the Executive series it is unfortunate that there is no leadership that can take responsibility to safeguard the interest of the Nation.

President Barack Obama once said that 'Leaders should think more of national interest than political party interest when key decisions are to be taken'. In Nigeria the Leadership class put their party interest first before the national interest not minding the consequence of their actions on posterity.

They connive with some multinationals serving as 'clienteles' to aid the excesses and malpractices of this corporations not minding if it undermine the potentials of the nation. It is amazing that the nation's petroleum corporation has a foreign account operated by a world-class bank that top economic officials claim to be oblivious of.

Nigeria's perceived economic growth at the moment looks more theoretical because real growth must relate with human capital development, innovation, technology and research, improved status of small business enterprises and increased level of infrastructural development.

When an Oil merchant claims to have offered a Distinguished National legislator bribe on a very sensitive issue it is expected that both of them should have been quizzed and interrogated, but only the legislator was quizzed why the merchant walks free sending audios of a conversation he had with the legislator on the bribe scandal.

In the United Kingdom Rupert Murdoch the News Corporation an American billionaire was in a bribery scandal case on the bid for the B Sky B corporation by his company the News Corporation. His billions did not exempt him from being interrogation.

The Institutional crisis in the nation today is a major factor for the systemic corruption that has ravaged and robbed the polity of the valuable potentials of becoming a strategic nation in the globe.

Insecurity situation in the country has affected the Foreign Direct Investment flows index so far in 2012 compared to the previous year and as a potential key player in the global economy , this sector needs to be tackled effectively if there is going to be remarkable change .

According to John C. Maxwell “The Measure of a Leader is not the number of people who serve the Leader but the number of people served by the Leader” which invariably means that for Nigeria to move from the doldrum of hopelessness to the pavilion of development and transformation, there will be a radical leadership paradigm shift.

The concept of 'servant leadership' ever since the death of former President Umaru Yaradua seems to have fizzled as we watch the wastage and pillage of state resources by government officials and politicians .

At this point the generation nexters (young ones) seem to be the hope of reclaiming the Nigerian dream of 'service and loyalty' but that will take a lot of determination and conviction because the kind of leadership people are exposed to influences their behaviour and perception of issues, it is expected that the emerging generation will arise and bring an end to this debacle.

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Articles by Ottoabasi Abasiekong