The ruler of Athenian in 507 BC, Cleisthenes, in his political reforms, introduced a system of governance that grants the people power to choose and change their leaders. He called the system demokratia. Demo equals ‘the people’ while Kratos means ‘power’. The system in totality is to project a governance setting that empowers the people to rule and decide the future of their society.
The people’s power in a democratic society features the power to choose, CRITICIZE and to demand accountability and transparency from their leader. It also grants citizens an inherent right to agitate, shake and replace a bad government with a good one. Democracy accommodates only service based leadership. Not Lordship leadership!
Leadership is rallying people in the field of common goals through an unquestionable influence for a better future. It is all about one’s sacrificial engagements for the benefits of those he leads. Anything outside leading for the benefits of the led is oppression, suppression and extortion, which will definitely lead to the extinction of the livelihood of the led. A good leader sees himself as a servant and a debtor to his followers.
Most African leaders practice AUTOCRATIC DEMOCRACY, which begets Lordship Leadership, oppressing every opposition, crippling every critic and crushing everyone, who crosses their so called red lines. Imagine a Nigerian First Lady, who ought to be a role model for tolerance, passion and good behavior, ‘illegally’ arresting and beating up a student for criticizing her. What a show of shame! An immortal faking God in the world of ephemeral displays. Her action is a good paradigm of Lordship Leadership, oppressing her subjects with the power given to her by the same subjects.
One may assume that her action emanated from power intoxication, fueled by insecurity and void of service leadership. In an autocratic democracy, all powers work in favour of the government that be. The King is never wrong. The Justice System, Armed Forces and the Constitution turn around the satisfaction of the desires of the people in power, which fuels corruption in all spheres in order to kotow all heads before the power that be.
Autocratic democracy is an oppressive system of governance that keeps power afar from the people’s reach. In a corrupt society, it requires money to secure the loyalty of those who work to protect the interests of the individuals in power, which encourages the ones in power to embezzle public funds in order to stay relevant in the ship of power. Authoritarianism is the cradle of corruption.
It takes financial influence to control the political power in a bad system. This is the reason most Nigerian politicians’ appetites for public wealth can never be satisfied, for it is greedily printed in their hearts that the wider their pockets, the more influence they control politically. While in a true democracy, political influence is gotten through bright ideas and good track records. The fit for the job is the river from which the populace draw their water of decision on whom to give their votes.
Until we render money powerless and let good ideas and noble track records rule over the sense of arbitration in our political boxing rings, we shall remain amateurs in the world of champions.
PLEASE NOTE THIS: If we must be great, good name must be better than silver and gold.
Amb. Ezewele Cyril Abionanojie is the author of the book ‘The Enemy Called Corruption’, an Award Winning Best Columnist Of The Year 2020/Giant In Security Support among other local and international awards. He is the Founder/President of Peace Ambassadors Global.