There are speakers you just cannot get tired of listening to, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah and the Chairperson of First bank of Nigeria, Ibukun Awosika. They have the energy, the language and the depth of information to carry through their messages at any forum and their audience usually appreciate them a lot.
The two were among those who spoke to newly elected and re-elected governors in Nigeria in a forum organised by the Governors’ Forum (in a country where pressure groups are a million and one). So, the two sincerely talked to the politicians about self-discovery, about integrity and governance. As usual, they were blunt, factual and exact. The two are not politicians so they do not speak from both sides of the mouth. They have no one to coerce or persuade, so they say the functional truth.
They looked them in the face and told them that the country needs their commitment and devotion to duty. They told them that they have a huge responsibility as participants in nation building who must be alert to their duties. The two should know they have grown to the pinnacles of their chosen careers, one in the ecclesiastical realm and the other in the financial world.
I loved that they found time in their busy schedules to look politicians in the face and tell them the truth. However, I am yet to fathom why the two made the list of speakers at the forum. They are two people the average Nigerian politician would not listen to, sincerely. Bishop Kukah might be subtly told to go face his congregation. Some of the elected governors might even see his speech with some religious lens. This is difficult to believe but is the sad truth in a nation that is divided by politicians along religious lines.
Mrs Awosika is a woman in a very patriarchal society and would be seen as not qualified to give ‘instructions’ to men (note that there is no female governor!). In their minds, she should and ought to be in the kitchen, better seen than heard. The Nigerian political class has contempt for women. Forget the very minute number of women in the political space. They shrewdly scheme women out by all means but ironically depend on the votes of women to win in cases where votes count, most times violence and financial muscle do the battle. Most of the governors are from states with less than 10% literacy rate for women. The women are so disempowered and vulnerable that the chain effect is crushing any development efforts.
This writer still cannot understand the idea of the speakers advising the governors to read books and look in the mirror to see who is there. One is tempted to say that these two might just be a bit delusional about the contempt a huge percentage of Nigerian politicians have for reading the very reason their minds are so closed to the realities of development in a globalised world.
One would rather say they direct their energy to the emergence of a different kind of leadership selection process and that being well educated and knowledgeable would be some of the qualifying criteria for seeking political offices. One of the major problems of the country is putting the cart before the horse. Grooming starts from a tender age and a reading culture is not acquired at old age in a country where governors are almost imperial.
One doesn’t know any country where titles and sobriquets are so treasured by politicians. So a bishop Kukah and a Mrs. Awosika want ‘THEIR EXCELLENCIES’ to read? They already subconsciously assume the title has something to do with excellence as a word, so they are on a jolly ride. They behave like emperors and they appropriate the governed with arrogance.
In the first instance, most of the governors do not emerge based on any defined leadership evaluation process. Most are products of flawed party primaries where party chieftains, financiers and influential political investors influence the electoral processes, reason most of the post-election period is spent from election tribunals to the Supreme Court. A huge part of the post-election period is spent trying to defend the election, part used to negotiate and lobby for political appointments and the remaining period used for next campaigns. So, all the speeches about integrity and patriotism and looking in the mirror and trying to help drive the policies of the federal government seem a mirage. The governors are normally too busy to read!
END
Be the first to comment