“Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.” –Theodore Roosevelt
Lack of strong leadership has become a bane in our country, Nigeria. Politically, economically, and socially, our country has continued to experience moral decay. This is manifested in political corruption, economic uncertainty, decline in family values, poverty, greed, crime, and so on. Sometimes, I shudder at some kind of people that are elected or appointed into political offices in Nigeria –people who talk anyhow, ill-tempered, ‘fantastically corrupt’, without foundation in leadership, without ideology, focus, goals, and direction. In other words, we’ve so many ‘characters’ in the Nigerian political drama that lack character!
This reminds me of ‘The 7 Blunders of the World’ postulated by the great Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Three of the ‘Blunders’ that are related to this article are: Knowledge without Character, Wealth without Work, and Politics without Principles. And because we now have politicians without principles, that’s why we’ve what’s best referred to as ‘Political Prostitution’–defecting from one party to another aimlessly!
Similarly, Dr. Myles Munroe also alluded to the fact that because political/governmental leadership now give priority to other qualities of leadership other than character, we’ve produced… “Charismatic Leaders without Character; Gifted Leaders without Convictions; Powerful Leaders without Principles; Intellectual Leaders without Morality; Visionary Leaders without Values…” This conforms to the saying that “the people get the kind of leaders they deserve.”
If my memory serves me right, since the inception of democracy in 1999, the government seems not to ‘disappoint’ Nigerians when it comes to ‘Character Deficiency’ in political leadership. Take the House of Representatives, for instance: former Speaker (1999), Hon. Salisu Buhari resigned as Speaker because of press allegations of ‘Toronto University forged certificate’. We’ll not forget in a hurry the alleged bribery of $620, 000 between Hon. Farouk Lawan and Mr. Femi Otedola on fuel subsidy probe. The issue of ghost workers and BVN verification and of course, the latest ‘released drama’ of allegation and counter allegation of ‘Budget Padding’ that have torn the House apart!
In my opinion, there’s a very wide difference between our politicians of today and the founding fathers. For instance, our founding fathers were after rendering selfless service to the nation; most of today’s politicians are after their selfish interest. Our founding fathers gave priority to character-building; today’s politicians are after creating crises. In the time of our founding fathers, Nigeria was well-respected in the international community because we had leaders of character. They exerted influence in the world arena because their words were congruent with their actions. But most politicians of today, their words are in sharp contrast with their actions. A politician who’s in party A, for instance, will sing all the praises for his party and its leadership in the morning; but guess what? The same politician, by means of ‘Political Prostitution’ joins party B, will inflict verbal injuries to the same party (A); it’s appalling, the level of moral depravity exhibited by some of them. It seems most of them don’t have something they stand for. Little wonder, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die [stand] for, he isn’t fit to live.”
What does all this lead us to? Of course, we’re paying (and will continue to) for the dire consequences of character deficiency in our political leaders! Some of such negative effects of character deficiency in political leadership are: (1) It has created a psyche of high distrust among the general public –most Nigerians no longer trust the politicians and political appointees, no matter how good-intentioned they may be; (2) The character flaws of a politician often end up hurting the general public. For instance, the death of over 20 persons in the infamous Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment in 2014 was caused by sharp practices by the leadership. Yes, “A leader’s values may be personal”, said Myles Munroe, “But they are never private.” (3) It can tarnish the reputation of the government and the country. The current allegations of budget padding, physical assaults on one another on the floor of the National Assembly, for example, are brushes that paint the country black. (4) It causes backwardness and under-development of a state or a country. Of course, Nigeria as a country is where it is not because we lack resources or human capital, but because we lack political leaders of character who are resourceful with our abundant natural resources. Most Nigerians are living in abject poverty in the midst of plenty because of bad leadership over the years. Indeed, “character defects are like sleeping snakes that awaken and strike people…” wrote Myles Munroe.
However, in as much as our political leadership is mostly saturated with character-deficient politicians, we still have an infinitesimal number of politicians with strong character numerous to mention. However for Nigeria to attain the status of a great nation, we desperately need leaders of impeccable character like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Jerry Rawlings, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, Margaret Thatcher, Mrs. Funmilayo, Ransome-Kuti, Prof. Dora Akunyili, the amiable and inimitable Uche Anyadiegwu, Helen Johnson-Sirleaf, President Of Liberia, and Of course Prof. Stella Chinyere Okunna.
All these were/ are great leaders of character with rock-laden convictions stronger than their fears! They were great men and women who exerted influence and leadership is all about influence. “The essence of influence is the ability to motivate people to take action and effect change”, wrote Myles Munroe, “You can’t lead if you don’t influence…” And genuine followers are only influenced by leaders of character!
If only we have just 20 per cent of our present day politicians like the above, I bet that Nigeria would’ve been better than where we are now. When Theodore Roosevelt observed that character is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike; it tells us of the imperative of character in political leadership. All nations that have advanced economically, technologically and politically, are in my view, nations who have had political leaders with character at helm of affairs at different stages of the life of those nations.
Character is the foundation of all aspects of effective leadership. There’s no true leadership without character. In fact, there’s no substitute for character in leadership! It is indispensable! Therefore, if we must make progress in Nigeria, our political leaders have no option but to build strong character. Because, according to Myles Munroe, ‘Leaders influence the mind-set of the followers; they influence the morality of the followers; they influence the commitment of the followers; and they influence the destiny of the followers’.
It is my hope, prayer and earnest desire that our political leaders would wake up to the realization of the fact that Character Deficit is the main source of our sore troubles in Nigeria. To this end, we must give priority to character development in political leadership. In other words, there can be no effective (political) leadership without CHARACTER!
- Chijioke, writes from the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
