PLATEAU: 2023 YOUR BEST CHANCE
It was John F Kennedy, former President of the
United States of America (USA) who averted, "Each time a man stands up for
an ideal, or acts to improve a lot of others, or strikes out against injustice,
he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring those ripples to build a current which
can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. It takes a
leader whose charisma, pragmatic disposition, and/or a high sense of duty and
patriotism to inspire fresh hope and motivate positive actions in a people.
The place of leadership cannot be underestimated in
the life of an organic state which is susceptible to changes arising from
the interplay of dynamic forces both within and
without. Each time nation progress, there is a
meritorious leadership pull or push behind it. The reverse is the case
when a nation is retrogressing: There is a mediocre leader behind it. In other
words, national progress or retrogression is largely the function of leadership
capability!
Let me, draw our attention to a profound hypothesis
which is attributed to Boller (1981) who says, "All nations generate
self-serving myths that show the people and the country in a favorable moral
light. Quite often, these myths focus upon an individual hero who
simultaneously embodies or expresses the national character." Plateau
stands for something: One state under God and the anchor of Nigeria's unity and
progress. This claim is geographically convincing, politically correct, and
culturally defensible!
Plateau State has no short of heroes who have
generated myths of greatness. For example, the state had had the popular
emancipator, Late Chief Solomon Daushep Lar of blessed memory who governed the
state from 1979 to 1983, and others that follow both in the political arena and
other fields of human endeavor and duly acknowledged but in my modest
estimation, former military administrator, Late Joseph Dechi Gomwalk has
generated more myth-making than any other leader in Plateau history. And
ironically, he served in a military environment.
The benefit of Collective Memories(CM) as a
historical phenomenon which Schuman and Scott (1989) defined as "widely
shared knowledge of past social events" deeply bore witness to this
factual claim. The establishment of the first color television, construction of
JD Gomwalk Secretariat, Plateau Publishing Company, Jos campus of the
University of Ibadan which subsequently becomes the great University of Jos,
road network quality road network across the former Benue State which occupies
more than 50% of the present North Central Nigeria, etc, on my mind!
What about it then, does it matter? Seriously, it
does: In this crucial time of our chequered history, plateau needs a man who
embodies the myths that gladden our hearts and swells our collective pride.
Plateau deserves a new visionary leader, somebody
courageous, emotionally and morally balanced, and determined to make a clear
difference in governance. The state needs a catalytic and transgenerational but
incorruptible leader that the spoils of office cannot corrupt and the
tendencies of anti-progressive forces cannot distract.
Plateau needs a brand of tested leader in the order
of our legendary JDG. We need a man with JD Gomwalk's vibes to govern Plateau
the beautiful. We, and myself, personally, do not care where this expected
leader might come from; the concern is the noble things such 'messiah' can do
to make this endowed but weak state, not only great but a trailblazer in the
comity of states and a manner befitting of a 21st-century standard.
It is high time Plateau State breaks away from its
civil service orientation; strategically harness its tourism and agricultural
potentials, maximize its proximity to the nation's seat of power, the Federal
Capital Territory, and, more importantly, restore genuine and lasting peace to
the state. A mediocre who does not have the stamina and requisite leadership
capabilities to deliver on these critical areas will not be good enough.
When former President Lee Kuan Yu who brought
Singapore "From the Third world to the First World" was about to exit
power on the eve of the National Day Rally, he warned Singaporeans as follows:
"One key requirement (for getting it right) "is: let's avoid
hypocrisy. And let's do things honestly... There is no use, it is futile
kidding ourselves... If a thing is going to get better, if you leave it alone,
then leave it. May it'll get better. But if you know it's going to get worse,
it is irresponsible to leave it."
He continued: "The recognition that there is a
problem at the beginning of the solution. Get our ablest and our best into
politics. If you believe you are going to get good governance, whatever you do,
then you are going to risk it all away. Your vote in jokers, cranks, weak men,
charlatans with some gift of the gab, you run a very serious risk of losing
everything you have... Your future depends on what you make of it. The
government can give you that framework, it can give expression to the will of
the people but the people must have that will. If you don't have then there is
nothing government can do." This message is aptly ours today.
Yu's moving speech is for us because there are
outstanding contradictions in our polity which require conscious and deliberate
attention to reverse in. It is also a message for us because there is
lukewarmness in our citizens when it comes to matters of going out to vote. It
is for us because mundane considerations are still common factors in our voting
decisions. It is for us because there is a vital merit factor we need to
emphasize and pay close attention to if we want to break through. It is for us
because an opportunity has come for us to make leadership choices at various
levels of governance and we do not want to take chances.
A golden opportunity has come for us to make a
difference. Frank Fanon will put it this way: "Each generation must out of
relative obscurity discover its purpose and fulfill it or betray it." What
does this charge suggest to you? Very simple: The choice is entirely ours to
make in this voting year. A people reap what they collectively sow. You cannot
sow objectivity and reap tyranny, or sow subjectivity and escape dictatorship!
Vote tribal instincts, cultural biases, and or
religious sentiments and we will be sorry for ourselves. Let us objectively pay
attention to our inner convictions and prayerfully vote the dictates of our
conscience and Plateau shall be better for it.
If this charge does not make sense to you today; it
will sometimes in the nearest future when the chips are down. When the reality
of the problems we subjectively invest our votes in began to manifest, no
tribal sentiment, religious bias, or cultural deception could help; only
objectivity can. Conversely, when the fruits of the votes we objectively
invested in began to yield results, not even our tribal, cultural, and
religious differences will diminish our collective sense of Joy.
If Greek gifts or mundane considerations or
political spoils like salt, wrappers, motorcycles, phones and even cars, etc.
for votes still attract or motivate our voting instincts, then we are part of
the deep-seated problems militating against our collective progress. Sheer
lukewarmness or indifference in matters of public interest cannot fix
deep-seated contradictions or leadership crises in any system be it mechanical,
digital, or human system.
A vote for objectivity is a deadly missile against
mediocrity, corruption and impunity but a cheering booster to good governance
and that is what we want. Active participation in politics is a necessary
condition but objective voting is even more important and a sufficient
condition for the enthronement of a good governance structure. In other words,
only objectivity can change our narrative. God bless Plateau State and her
people.
(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, March 26,
2022; SMS: 08116181263)
References
Schuman, H. & Scott, J. (1989). Generations and
Collective memory. American Sociological Review, 54, 359 - 381.
Boller, F. P. (1981). Presidential anecdotes. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Lee, K. Y. (1990). National day rally speech.
YouTube video.
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