A Convoy of SUVs and cars rolls out of the airport and heads for the city on a sunny day. All is smooth. The occupants of the vehicles are chatting. The guards among them are on their guard, watching out for any unusual movement. Suddenly, some security agents appear . In a commando manner, they block the convoy. A shootout. Commotion.
Other motorists, seized by fear, are watching – and praying – as bullets fly in the air. In minutes, it is all over. The smoke from the guns fired by both sides has cleared. On the ground are empty shells of bullets. Some bloody faces and broken heads. Men are moaning and groaning. Tears. A gun was missing.
An action-packed American movie? No
That was the scene last Saturday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital where Minister of Transportation Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi’s convoy and Governor Nyesom Wike’s clashed.
After the guns fell silent, the verbal war began. Each side tried to defend its position. Newspaper reports quoting the main actors became the subject of jokes, such as this: “I narrowly escaped assassination–Wike”.
“I narrowly escaped being shot–Amaechi”.
Everytime I hear “narrowly” from politicians, I narrowly believe them”.
The police have launched a probe.
But this is not about who fired the first shot or who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It is not about who had the right of way. Nor is it about the failure of intelligence that allowed the clash. Nor the foolishness of those fuelling such animosities that led to the street fight.
The incident symbolises the low level into which leadership has sunk. We keep crying about the fall in Naira value; how about the fall of all those core values which we used to cherish?
When leaders pull off their shirts and launch into a brawl right on the street in the full glare of ordinary folks, including the mentally challenged who will be wondering why some well dressed and apparently normal persons should be pummelling themselves, then we should go back to those basic lessons in leadership.
How did we lose it? Why are our leaders redefining leadership as a weapon to be acquired at all costs, deployed selfishly for self-preservation and other sinister motives? Why the song, self, self and self?
The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was an all-rounder who surrounded himself with intellectuals and people of ideas. He was studious and reserved. Many years after his departure, his signature remains bold in many areas of our lives, especially education. Most of our leaders today are surrounded by thugs and dubious intellectuals who have sold their souls to the devil.
Instead of books, we hand our youths okadas and Keke NAPEP, which are symbols of poverty and the failure of leadership to tackle the menace. Ironically, such tools, which are meant to break the cycle of poverty, ensure that the cycle remains open.
It was celebration time in Kano the other day. Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje bought N208m noodles, eggs, tea bags, sugar and others to empower mai shai (tea vendors). For how long can this endure? Will tea making now become a state industry and symbol of a hardworking people?
A journalist once told of how he had a life time chance of meeting Nelson Mandela (of fond memories) for an interview. On the appointed date, he got to the old man’s home. No elaborate security. No metal detectors. No soldiers. No drummers singing the old man’s praise. He was at the door personally to welcome his guests. The reporter and his photographer joined Mandela in the living room.
“Where is the third person?” he asks the visitors. “I welcomed three persons.”
“Oh, my driver. He is in the car,” the reporter replied.
“Please, bring him in.”
And so it was that the driver had the unforgettable experience of being photographed with Mandela after lunch. He thanked his boss for that chance, which he was sure his family would cherish for ever.
The boss merely nodded his head. He had learned a great lesson in humility.
How many of our leaders are humble? How many have Mandela’s forgiving spirit (he was jailed for almost 30 years). Some even deride old age and mock men old enough to be their father. Some will even say unprintable things about their own mothers.
Do our leaders spare a thought for the common man? Their guards kick innocent people off the road for their convoys to move. Their sirens shatter the peace of the environment and create a fake atmosphere of an emergency. If you are unlucky that your vehicle breaks down while a big man is passing through, you are expected to carry the mass of steel on your head or simply disappear and watch your prized vehicle being pushed into the gutter to make way for the oga.
I always see pictures of many of our so-called leaders taken in offices with book-lined shelves in the background. Do they read? If they do, what do they learn? Do they read biographies and autobiographies of legendary figures? Have they ever heard of Mahatma Gandhi and his policy of satyagraha, or non-violence, his love for knowledge, his confidence and resilience?
What vision do they have for this society? Do they really care about what will be said of them after they must have quit the stage? Are leaders always right? At what point should a leader look back at his followers to see if his actions are truly in accord with the wishes of the people?
The other day, Imo State Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha dismissed contemptuously questions about the statue of South African leader Jacob Zuma which he caused to be erected at a fortune in Owerri.
“I have no apologies,” he was quoted as saying. Such arrogance and insensitivity to public feeling, even when he is right, is no hallmark of a good leader.
What was meant to immortalise a benefactor and beautify the landscape has turned into an object of ridicule, which many derisively refer to as Zuma’s “erection”.
How many of our leaders are compassionate? Pensioners are dying and workers are crying to be paid. The huge Paris Club refund and bailout from the Federal Government have not been enough to address the plight of workers who have gone on unpaid for several months.
Why would a governor divert part of his state’s share into the payment of his mortgage? Why will another throw part of the cash into building a hotel? All this, in a world where Bill Gates and several other men of character are spending their fortune on helping the poor.
China is a world power today – largely on account of the vision of its leader Mao Zedong. He rallied the people to challenge Japan during World War II. He planted the seed that has today become an industrial oak tree, feared by many and respected by all, including the United States.
Britain -and the world – will remember Winston Churchill for his determination, courage and boldness. He led Britain against the Nazi Germany during World War II, teaming up with allies to stop Hitler. That was when Britain truly deserved to be called “Great”.
Inspector – General of Police Ibrahim Idris has instituted a probe into the Port Harcourt incident. He should be getting ready for more of such futile exercises, especially as we approach the election year 2019.
What happens when Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s convoy and former Governor Rashidi Ladoja’s head for the same direction; when Ganduje’s and Musa Kwankwaso’s, Willie Obiano’s and Peter Obi’s, Ali Modu Sherriff’s and Kashim Shettima’s clash?
Mugabe: End of a shameful era
Many Zimbabweans and their friends must be mightily relieved that the Robert Mugabe burden has been lifted off their neck – at last. For 37 years, they endured it all – brigandage, rights abuses, corruption and sheer demagoguery .
The longest running show of impunity and tyranny stopped yesterday. Mugabe, 93, and his wife Grace to whom he planned to hand over power were taken into custody after a night of unrest, which was seen as a military coup. But the soldiers insisted it was a “bloodless correction”.
Mugabe is the typical African dictator – brash, brutal, cocky and arrogant. Famous for off-colour jokes, he is witty and a master of repartee.
Among the quotes attributed to him are:
“Dear ladies, if your boyfriend didn’t wish you happy mother’s day or sing Sweet Mother for you, stop breastfeeding him.”
“If you are ugly, you are ugly. Stop talking about inner beauty because men don’t walk around with X-rays to see inner beauty.”
“It’s hard to bewitch African girls these days. Every time you take a piece from her hair to the witch doctor, either a Brazilian innocent woman gets mad or a factory in China catches fire.”
Asked by a journalist when he planned to go, the old man replied brusquely: “Where?”
Now he knows where.
May the ranks of the Mugabes of this world continue to shrink.
