Epidemic Storms Nigeria: “More Deadly than Hurricane Katrina”

JOSHUA NICHOLAS

Our country is being attacked with an epidemic. It is more deadly than Hurricane Katrina, Irma, Andrew, Harvey and any other category 5 Hurricane that has ever occurred. 

It is more dangerous than the Seismic wave and the Multiple Vortex Tornado. It is called “leaderpiepotamia”. A word coined by Joshua Nicholas meaning – leadership incompetency.

As at the end of May 2018, Nigeria had about 87 million people living in extreme poverty. Poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute. Africans account for about two-third of the world’s most extreme poor, and that if the current trends persist, Africa will account for nine-tenth by 2030. Nigeria has now taken over from India as the Nation with the highest number of extremely poor people.

A report by Bookings Institution May, 2018.

Despite being endowed with extremely rich mineral resources, our problem and the disease that is responsible for this ‘below poverty’ standard of living is traced to incompetent leadership.

Our leaders should start becoming real leaders.

A leader is a person of honesty and integrity. In other words, true leaders work in honesty. They live their lives understanding that people are watching them. What you are when you are alone is what you really are in the midst of the people.

Integrity would speak for your leadership; it would stand in the day of crisis. There is no other time than now when we need competent leadership in our nation, schools, churches, businesses, etc.

On Wednesday 29th May, 2019, new leaders were chosen to pilot the affairs in different spheres of the nation; ranging from the national, state, federal constituencies, etc.

The hopes are high, the trust is unwavering and the faith is surpassing.

The average citizen of the country is expecting a turn around and a positive shift from the present algorithm of evil figures to an uncompromised standard of living.

Will our leaders fail us? Will they just revolve around the past mistakes? Or will they give the world a global surprise and sail to a safe shore? The next couple of months will help answer these questions

There is a major problem of leadership in our government system in Africa.

Recently, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations had to dictate to the African government that no more loans for them, and there will be no cancellation of their bad debts.

I read a document written by a special consultant to the World Bank who put in the document that $5bn was loaned to Nigeria for Ajaokuta rolling steel and not one steel has rolled out and the man claimed in the document, that $2bn went to individual pockets.

“They have all the natural resources in abundance to make them the most important and sought after countries in the world…give me just a year and I will transform these two countries into first class countries that will attract businesses all over the world.”

These statements were made by Kim Jong Un, North Korean President earlier this month, referring to Nigeria and Ghana.

This has been our problem, it remains our problem and it will still be our problem except we decide to change.

Who is the Government?  It is not a group of people living in isolation, or a set of persons that came from Pluto or Mars; that Senator, Governor, Minister, House of Representatives member, President, etc all came out from the society. They lived in the society and are still living in the society, they were raised in a family, they attended the schools, churches and even the social club gatherings too.

They are your classmates, your teachers, friends, relatives, and if anything at all is wrong then we all are part of it. The governments are individuals from the society. We all make the government.

To the hair stylist, banker, principal, dean, landlord etc we all are the government.

You claim you are just a student, forgetting that in the coming years, you are the ones to occupy those vacant seats; if we get better, everything gets better.

If you travel to South Africa, and you arrive in Johannesburg, you will have reasons to doubt you are in Africa. Immediately you arrive at the international airport you move straight to the local airport. The local airport is more standard than some international airports in America – Is this not Africa, is it not the same soil?

What Africa lacks is quality leadership. Bad leadership has eaten deeply into our economic lives and is responsible for all the underdevelopment and poverty in this part of the globe.

We need responsible leadership, a system that is accountable. We want to start seeing changes, where resignation from office for failing to keep a promise won’t be a crime. We don’t want magic in your manifesto. We need something that is workable.

Where are the opinion polls? The masses are meant to be stakeholders in the governing process, not passive holders.

Leaders please step up your game and leave your footprints on the sands of time.

The world awaits your manifestation as an exceptional leader.

To an end note, I urge the citizenry, the society and the entire populace to join hands together to create a Nigeria with Competent leadership; the rest will fall in place.

Thank you!

Congratulations to all returning and newly elected leaders.

I wish you success in your administration.

#GodblessNigeria