It is remarkable that 17 years after the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, enunciated his views on the key attributes of a genuine national leader, I would be compelled to draw on those perceptions to discuss the disorganised state of the nation, poor governance, the lack of political leadership, growing insecurity, and general economic collapse that has pauperized many people in Nigeria.
Atiku expressed his views on September 16, 2005, at the second anniversary of The Week magazine’s leadership award. In his address, Atiku said: “Of course, we have had political leaders all these years but, for most of our history, we have not had good leadership…When a country has abundant human and natural resources but still wobbles, it is clear that it has not had good leadership. A country is developed by people, and people need someone to organise them, to train them, and to motivate them…They need someone to listen to them, to love and care for them…when the leader is committed, the rest tend to follow. If the leader is honest and even-handed in his dealings with people, the people believe in him or her. But when the head is rotten, the rest of the body tends to rot as well.”
In Nigeria’s current predicament, these traits are apt. We are missing those crucial elements in a national leader at a time when the country is experiencing numerous challenges, including the potential to be consigned to the bin reserved for countries that once existed. The country is cascading down a deep gully. Sadly, there is nothing to halt that speedy descent into self-destruction. As a country, we are experiencing a terrifying incubus.
Nigeria is in a state of coma. We are not moving forward or backward. President Muhammadu Buhari’s body language has not helped. It does not inspire anyone. It all looks like he is marking time, waiting for May 2023 to hand over power to an elected President who would succeed him. A country led by a weak President is a country without direction. The situation has never been this grave and desperate.
The characteristics of a political leader identified by Atiku Abubakar might be illusory, given that Nigeria has looked unsuccessfully for that magic leader for more than 61 years. Perhaps the forthcoming presidential election might provide an opportunity for someone with those credentials to emerge as President.
Drawing on those elements identified by Atiku, it is easy to see why Buhari does not match those qualities. Some weeks ago, Buhari ordered the Federal Education Minister to resolve within two weeks the unbearable strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). This was to be accomplished as a matter of urgency. Buhari’s instructions to his minister showed the President was under pressure to end the strike and to reopen public universities.
Unfortunately, more than three weeks after Buhari issued the directive, there has been no progress in negotiations between the government and ASUU leaders. Public universities remain empty, idle and lifeless.
Against this background, the question must be asked: Do Nigerians still believe in and support Buhari as a respected leader who has the power, authority, force, and goodwill to manage the most populous country in Africa?
The failure of the education minister to achieve results within the two weeks prescribed by Buhari shows how complex the issues underpinning the industrial action might be, the minister’s obvious lack of negotiation skills and dispute settlement expertise, the hot-headedness of ASUU leaders and their determination to drag the issues until they have achieved all their objectives, and the possibility that the government has been boxed into an uncomfortable corner from which it is desperately seeking a safe and honourable exit.
Regardless of what happens next, it is apparent the endless strike has drained the energy and academic interest of undergraduate students, the enthusiasm of university teachers and the strength of parents who have had to amend their daily routines to look after their children.
It is difficult to envision how the logjam would be resolved soon. Pride and reputation are at stake. No side wants to lose face by conceding any ground. ASUU does not want to be seen to have compromised its practical and philosophical reasons for going on the strike. In the end, between the government and ASUU, there will be losers (the government) and clear winners (ASUU). There will be consequences too, whenever the strike is called off. Obstinacy is not a virtue. It has its shortcomings.
The fact that the ASUU strike has not been resolved nearly seven months after it started in February 2022 says a lot about the mindset of Buhari, the education minister, and the Minister of Labour and Employment. The unresolved strike has blemished the credibility of the government.
It is ironic that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Buhari that are campaigning for the party to win next year’s presidential election could carry on doing business as usual without minding the impact the ASUU strike would have on the fortunes of the party, particularly the possibility that the strike could cost the APC its hold on government. The arrogance of power, the idea that the government is always right and university teachers are decidedly wrong will be tested at next year’s elections.
Nigerians have suffered for too long. Everyone now understands what is right, what is appropriate, what they deserve and how they have been abused because of their demands for improvements in their socioeconomic conditions.
The nation’s experiences over the past eight years of Buhari’s government provide an open and effective platform for everyone to scrutinise the character, credentials, manifesto, health status, and achievement record of the political candidates who are lining up to be elected as Buhari’s successor. No one should be subdued, intimidated, threatened, harassed or restrained from asking critical questions ahead of the elections. Voters must not be persuaded or misled by flowery speeches and decorated campaign slogans that are grandiloquent but meaningless.
We all want to elect and empower a President who is credible, hardworking, accountable, transparent and responsible. That President must be respected at home and overseas. The President should be able to inspire people, command the respect of all Nigerians and have the capacity to attract investors to the country.
Nearly eight years of Buhari’s government have shown us everything we do not want to see in the person to succeed Buhari. That President must not be openly and shamelessly parochial, narrow-minded and bigoted. The person must not be grappling with health challenges and must not spend a better part of their tenure shuttling to overseas health facilities to repair their failing health.
Nigerians must aim to elect a President who will respect press freedom and the fundamental rights of citizens. The person must be prepared to account for the failures and achievements of the government and must find ways to ease the current economic burdens on citizens. The President must be prepared to travel across the country to see things with their eyes. This means they must rely less on tinted views conveyed to them by their prejudiced assistants.
The greatest attribute of the new President must be the ability to listen. In September 2005, Atiku Abubakar said Nigeria needed a listening President. The challenge in 2023 is to identify and elect that President who will listen to Nigerians.