By Tunde Olayode
The core essence of leadership,is making a decision.So essentially in his job description,upon been hired,the apogee of his function that encapsulate all other thing,is making decision for the common good of all and the consequence of which,he face the music alone,as result of his decision.
There comes a moment in time, in the history of nations and people of the earth, when you decide, on whose side you want to be.
On the famous side of history or infamous side of history. There is no sitting on the fence here, its simply matter of a single choice.
Driving down to work this morning, i was listening to front page news on my favorite radio station, Classic FM97.3 and a story was mentioned that got me thinking.
It was a story about a Cleaner who found N12 million ($27,000) in a toilet and handed it over to the security till the owner of the bag came forward to claim it.
And a question rose within me, which interestingly, Jimi Disu, one of the anchors also raised, that people should swear, what they would do if they had found that money. And what struck me in particular was the fact that she earns N7,800 monthly ($37) which is far below the monthly minimum wage approved which is N18,000 ($85). (At the current exchange rate).
Have you ever sat down to ask yourself this question? Ok, lets pause for a moment if you are reading this and you have been hunting for a job for a while now. How unemployable are you?
Am sure you have never given it much serious thought right? That’s one of the reasons why you are not unemployable. Now don’t get me wrong or conclude that am following the norms and newspaper reports. Be it far from it. Follow me on this “short” journey.
We have different people in the job hunting market. University Graduates, Doctorate graduates, different school drop-outs, “Job drop-outs”, “wrong job drop outs” and etc. And the singular question all these people ask is “Why me?”
Now, am not going to bore you with all the statistical details of unemployment and why youths are not employed. The information is on the open market for all and with Election coming up next month, promise galore on the job opportunities to be provided. But we ar yet to see the actionable plans to that effect save from one candidate and it’s yet to be explicitly clear.
It manifests itself, like a hydra headed monster each time without fail. It’s no respecter of persons and has refused to be tamed nor corralled.
To what do we owe this evil resident on our roads, that is blood sucking, hair-raising and bone chilling in approach and delivery.
How did it become so entrenched in the fibre of our being that we are now inured to it and seem unperturbed about it.
The Nigeria situation has reached such an alarming proportion even to the point of sheer frustration and near helplessness. Nigeria continues to feature in the bottom half of World Health Organisation country rankings of road traffic accidents. The country’s 149th ranking in 2009 out of 178 member states indicates the hazards associated with road transportation in a country that is largely dependent on its road network for economic, social and physical activities (Sumaila, AbdulGaniyu Femi, Road crashes trends and safety management in Nigeria). Pressing on his research, (Sumaila, 2013) stated that; Indeed news of road traffic accidents in Nigeria no longer stirs any surprise. What may be shocking, however, is the magnitude of the fatality.
Poverty has risen in Nigeria, with almost 100 million people living on less than a $1 (£0.63) a day, despite economic growth, statistics have shown. The National Bureau of Statistics said 60.9% of Nigerians in 2010 were living in “absolute poverty” – this figure had risen from 54.7% in 2004. BBC News – Nigerians living in poverty rise to nearly 61%
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, absolute poverty is measured by the number of people who can afford only the bare essentials of shelter, food and clothing. The NBS said that relative poverty was most apparent in the north of the country, with Sokoto state’s poverty rate the highest at 86.4%.
In the north-west and north-east of the country poverty rates were recorded at 77.7% and 76.3% respectively, compared to the south-west at 59.1%.
BBC Africa analyst Richard Hamilton says it is perhaps no surprise that extremist groups, such as Boko Haram, continue to have an appeal in northern parts of the country, where poverty and underdevelopment are at their most severe. The report also revealed that Nigerians consider themselves to be getting poorer. In 2010, 93.9% of respondents felt themselves to be poor compared to 75.5% six years earlier.
And Corruption is on the increase steadily in the nation. Its so entrench in the fabric of our nation that its now a second skin. Its so brazenly done now that it’s the norm, its business as usual. Interestingly, Nigeria is not quite the most corrupt country on earth. But according to Transparency International, which monitors international financial corruption, it is not far off — coming a shameful 172nd worst among the 215 nations surveyed. Legislators earn the highest salaries in the world, with a basic wage of £122,000, nearly double what British MPs earn and many hundreds of times that of the country’s ordinary citizens. (www.dailymail.co.uk).
80 per cent of the country’s substantial oil revenues go to the government, which disburses cash to individual governors and hundreds of their cronies, so effectively these huge sums remain in the hands of a mere 1 per cent of the Nigerian population. And we call ourselves a Nation….
I could go on about the economy but here is not the time to do that analysis. It will be for another time.
Unlucky the land whose king is a young pup,And whose princes party all night.Lucky the land whose king is mature,Where the princes behave themselvesAnd don’t drink themselves silly……..Eccc 10:16-17 (MSG)
Am sure Josiah Gilbert Holland must have had this scriptures in mind when he penned the poem, God Give Us Men!
In our nation Nigeria, ever since we returned to democracy in 1999, i would say, the last 3 years has been the most miserable, and heart-rending so far. Before you start to take pocket shots, lets sit back and do a reflection, from Obasanjo’s 8 years to Yar’Adua’s 2-3 year sojourn and to Ebele’s current dispensation.
Each time i had the opportunity to sit with my Brother to talk heart to heart, his one major line is this, “It has never been this bad, but it will get better”. His other line, “this country cannot go on like this, otherwise there will be a total catastrophe”. And i won’t agree less… Here is someone who runs his own business and provides jobs for People. But has been forced to tailor down his operations, lay off people and had to set up a satellite office due in an area with “better” electricity than where the main office is.
Let’s look at the economy, yes we re-based our economy this year to make us the biggest economy in Africa, but in terms of naira and kobo to the peasant on the streets, what has this translated to? To the young chap and lady just leaving school, what is the job prospects? To the entrepreneur, where is the market, the financing, the wherewithal to successfully establish and run a business.
According to the Economist, ” Of course, Nigerians are no richer than they were……. The majority of the country’s 170m people live on less than a dollar a day. What the revised GDP figures show is that its economy is far more than just an oil enclave, exporting crude to pay for imported goods from richer countries. The oil industry’s share of GDP is now put at just 14%, compared with 33% according to the old figures. Manufacturing is much larger than previously thought. Services are booming. It is still a tough place in which to do business. – See more at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/04/economist-explains-2#sthash.WqXrim3L.dpuf”
With Oil accounting for 75% of Budgetted revenue, it is becoming increasingly a stark reality that the country needs to change its source of revenue from predominantly oil to other alternate source. Oil revenues has been on a steady decline in the last couple of years with the resultant effect on government budgeting, weaker oil prices, fall in capital project funding, fall in revenue sharing and all the works.
To be continued….
GOD, give us men!
A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.
………………………. Josiah Gilbert Holland
Now, more than ever before, this prayer resounds in my mind for my nation Nigeria.
With the 2015 elections fast approaching and with Ekiti and Osun already in the kitty, the stage is set for upheavals and whatever it is that will come.
But above all, what we require most, is not the old crop of Politicians we have been recycling, but thought driven men, just as described above who will pivot this country out of this present abyss of abysmal failure and ineptitude.
In the coming days, will try to do an expository on this and what i believe we require and the men/women we need to be in this country.
Have a fantastic Week!
How often do we take responsibility for our actions. We live in a society and culture where the buck is passed and the blame traded off to someone else. Our failures, shortfalls and inabilities are as a result of someone or something somewhere responsible for it. Our success is ours, our failures is not ours, but theirs.
This is the bane of our nation as well. Because as individuals, we have failed to take responsibility for our actions and inaction. We are quick to blame the so called Political Leaders over the inept Leadership, corruption, and every evil befalling our nation. But have we taken responsibility over our immediate environment ……..Taking Responsibility
How often do we take responsibility for our actions.
We live in a society and culture where the buck is passed and the blame traded off to someone else.
Our failures, shortfalls and inabilities are as a result of someone or something somewhere responsible for it.
Our success is ours, our failures is not ours, but theirs.
samaderibigbe 