I have interviewed upwards of 1000 people for a social experiment I am conducting for my own satisfaction and knowledge, and also for our great nation Nigeria.
I have conducted the interviews one on one, on the phone, on the internet, BBM, Whatsapp, and via social media. I have discussed with the young ones, old ones, very old ones. I have chatted with the brilliant ones and the average ones. I have chatted with people who don’t understand what elections are and also those who don’t know which candidates are running.
I have talked and asked and talked and I have finally come to realize that the adage, “the people deserve the leaders they get” is true. Oh boy, is it true! I am not pro-Jonathan (I will vote for him) but I am anti-Buhari. I don’t like anything the general stands for, real and implied; more on that in another post.
When I ask people who they want to vote for, and they say the General, a lot of things come to mind:
- Have they already forgotten 2011, and how many young people- youth corpers serving their country- died because Buhari lost? May they rest in peace.
- Have they forgotten his first presidency? Do they even know? Do they care?
- Why do people want a man called General in a democracy?
- What does the man know about running a club or an organization, a business, much less running a country? Which ones has he run successfully? Name one.
- Is Jonathan really that bad? There is progress, no matter how slow. There is progress.
- Are people really that gullible to think that when one shouts change, it is for the better? Who is he changing Nigeria with? Bola Tinubu and Rotimi Amaechi? What does he want to change to? From corrupt to not corrupt?
You reading this, how do you run your life, family, business or the people you influence? Be honest with yourself, do you engage in corrupt activity daily? Is it the president’s fault? I urge everyone reading this to check the meaning of corruption. Almost everything we celebrate is corrupt; “African time”, “I am running late because of traffic, I am five minutes away”, (when you have not left your house, office or meeting), “I will get it to you on Monday” when you know it is not true.
We have changed the meaning of bribe to different, less offensive sounding things. “Give him PR”, “settle them”, “finder’s fee”, “consultation”, “
take do weekend”, “brown envelope”… All these things are not by the President, but by the individuals. How did it come to this?
Back to the matter: if we as a people don’t know who is running, what they stand for, why we should vote, regardless of the choices we have (a bad president and an ex-president that has done bad) we are leaving our future, that of our children and grandchildren in the hands of men that may not be competent, have our interests at heart or even very mad men and women as we have been seeing for the past 16 years of democracy. If you don’t believe that their policies affect us, ask any business owner or human resources person in a large organization about the calibre of workers that graduate from our schools. Most of them are way below average, to say the least. This is a result of policy from the past 40 years. If you look at those above 40 and those below 40, you will see a very distinct difference in work excellence and ethics. Ask around and see if this is true or not.
How do we get to compete as a people if we are not even in the race?
All this can be changed from now. In less than 3 weeks you cast your vote for the one you think has your best interest at heart; the one that that believes in proper education or the one that does not know where his certificate is.
From today, you start grooming the next leaders, encouraging those you know have ethics to think of running; encouraging those there already by not influencing them to give you contracts or what have you; changing your organization, club or business by encouraging excellence; social work; mentoring students. You can even start by obeying driving rules and regulations. (I must admit this is the one that is hardest for me to do.)
But if all of us, each one teach one and strive for excellence, and if everyone of us becomes interested in politics, not for the sake of talking and condemning others but to know who wants to lead us and why, and vote for the right people, I believe every one of us will be better off in the long run.
Why does everyone want to work in a company that has an excellent CEO? It’s simple; the company is run well. How do the CEOs get hired? Simply by being the best in their field that an organization can hire and afford. If we do the same in government, I believe that before people want to run for office, we will have seen their track record.
Shouting change does not qualify you to run a company. It is your past achievements that show that you are prepared and able to do the job.
