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…Gives conditions for national devt
By Henry Uche
Global Lead Pastor of The Elevation Church & Chairman of Pistis Empowerment Foundation (PEF), Godman Akinlabi, has bemoaned what he called ‘African leaders’ socio -economic, political configuration and mentality borrowed from their colonial masters, which have impoverished their citizens the more.
In his independence speech yesterday, the clergyman who spoke on ‘From Subjects to Citizens’, The Burden of Patriotism in Nigeria, outlined that for Nigeria, and by extension Africa, to truly develop, the first and most important step was that the mindset of leaders must shift from seeing the people as subjects to seeing them citizens(with full rights and responsibilities) and are actively involved in nation building.
“The way I see it: the average Nigerian does not completely comprehend their role in building the Nigeria of their dreams – a consequence of the “subjects” conceptualisation of their national identity. They expect development to be top-down, flowing from the rulers to the people instead of the more ideal bottom-up that emphasises self-leadership, accountability, integrity, and personal responsibility.
“Everybody expects their leaders to do something and nothing gets done if the leaders don’t act or enforce compliance. This has eventuated a culture of national apathy and unpatriotism where no one really cares about the national interest and people are more than happy to mismanage, destroy, sabotage, and steal public properties and resources.
“After all, they belong to everybody and nobody in particular. No sense of ownership, personal responsibility, and accountability as a citizen of Nigeria who ought to place national interest above personal concerns.
“Some of our people will build houses over drainages and block the flow of water, leading to flooding when it rains. Our cities are overflowing with dirt because everybody is dumping everything on the streets without care. That’s the attitude of subjects: they care less because they believe they have no part in the system” he decried.
The gospel preacher stressed that the Nigerian mind needs to be transformed to believe and act as citizens with stakes in the country and start thinking for the collective benefit of all.
Akinlabi who quoted Billy Graham, “If wealth is lost, nothing is lost; if health is lost, something is lost; but if character is lost, everything is lost” said Nigeria has lost decades of developmental opportunities due to the absence of the right mindset and character towards nation-building.
He affirmed that Nigeria was not going to develop if the people do not switch their minds from exploiting the system to building it for the good of all. “Colonialism left so many evils in Africa. One of its unfortunate legacies was how it created and enabled a ‘ruler-subject system of governance’ that twisted the mindset of Africans towards the conception of their political rights and civic responsibilities. The colonialists had absolute power and treated the natives as subjects, not as citizens.
“Colonialists were be-alls and end-alls and their subjects were all too grateful, in an unalloyed sense of everlasting peonage, to be blessed by their rulership. The crux, however, is that as we entered a post-colonial and post-modern Africa, successive African leaders carried over the colonial political and social configurations which have now left the continent perpetually in the 19th century. And the damage is more mental than physical.
“Although we have largely dismantled the colonial systems of governance, the collective African mindset is trapped in that era of servitude and deference to constituted authority with little sense of personal rights and responsibility.
“This conditioning has provided the perfect leeway for modern African rulers to do as they like without any protestations. That is why when they build a bridge or pave 1 kilometre of road at an immense cost of taxpayers money, the people roll out the orchestra to sing their praises. That is also why some people are online and offline defending their political rulers, over -rationalising their bad behaviours, and bullying others to be grateful for the bare minimum they unconscionably squeeze out. As for the rulers, they have come to expect to be served rather than to serve and are comfortable in their deep insouciance because the people are content with the bare minimum.
“So Corruption is unstoppable because there are people giving it life. But what if you stopped giving and accepting bribes, driving against traffic, littering the streets and highways with rubbish? What if you live with integrity and accountability daily as a Nigerian? Imagine how Nigeria would be transformed! Citizens must seek the good of their land. Be a good and patriotic citizen” he admonished.
