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Themes

If I Were President of the FRN

Brampton, Ontario, Canada
yemiadegbite@nigeriahorizon.com
August 23, 2008

If I were the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, elected in a credible and acceptable election, I will certainly do a lot of things differently judging from the history of our dear country, I will not wait up to half of my tenure in office without having anything to show for the time being used. Our leaders have painfully and sadly refused to learn anything from history and experience. J.J. Rousseau, a great philosopher once said, “What a child can learn from history should not be learned from the book”. I got words of wisdom from many forums/fora within the Nigerian communities here in Canada and everywhere I have travelled. I can boldly say that, many Nigerians are very passionate about their country. Wherever they are gathered, all they discuss is Nigeria. Summer time is a period characterized by meetings, picnics, parties, and gets-together of many Nigerians, we do ruminate over Nigeria’s problems and try to proffer solutions, not that alone, we challenge one another to follow words with actions. Many times, people believe that, our problems defy any solution or solutions. I am always quick to say that, there are no problems without solutions, and that if problems are identified, they are half solved. One deduction I made though is that, many overseas Nigerians are disillusioned and disenchanted by the serial failure of Nigerian leaders as well as lack of vision, mission and passion by past and present Nigerian leaders. As Ghandi once said, we must be prepared to be the change we want to see in the world. I will be prepared to introduce the change I want to see in Nigeria with all the vigour and passion I can possibly muster.

My first mission would be to identify and assemble the best brains, honest, committed and visionary leaders from all walks of life, having done that, I will tell them my goals and my vision of Nigeria with the time lines for accomplishment (Many of our leaders, past and present wait till they get to office before they articulate their vision and mission, worst still, many get there without any vision or mission whatsoever, for leaders like that, anything goes!) You might say that, what the hell is this guy saying, how do you identify honest Nigerians? Some will even tell you that all Nigerians are corrupt, but I firmly believe that some honest Nigerians are out there. I know that it is quite difficult to fish them out, but I want to say loud and clear, trust me, it is possible to get them and engage them in whatever they do better than average Nigerians, everything depends on who you are yourself. The law of attraction stipulates that, people draw their own kind to themselves.

I will tell them the story of a Rooster and Soybean: Once upon a time, when there was a great famine on earth, the two of them were discussing on how to help the human beings to survive the famine they had brought upon themselves by their laziness and carefree attitudes. The Soybean then told the Rooster that, it wouldn’t mine to supply all the Soy milk that the human beings would need to get through the difficult times and that, the Rooster should try to supply eggs and the animal proteins that the people would need. The Rooster snapped and said that, it is easier said than done, he told the Soybean that, “yours is a mere contribution, but, mine is total commitment”.
Yes, total commitment. I will let them know that, I want a bunch of men and women who will make total commitment, be ready to sink or swim together with me, commit to my vision and mission statement, at the same time, all reasonable and responsible pieces of advice would be considered, but for sure, I would be in-charge.

After that, I would read the riot act to them; at that point, any of them would have the option to opt out if he or she does not share the dream. Those that are left would then have to sign their own “death warrant”. YES. Death warrant! There is no room for error, we have made enough errors in the history of Nigeria, and my mission is to succeed. Take it or leave it. Death warrant is a covenant that, you are ready to pay any price for non-performance, because no excuse will be accepted and no excuse is acceptable.
The next step for me would be to request for a special “enabling power” backed by an Act of Parliament” to do things with military alacrity and mathematical accuracy. Nigerian problems are unusual; we need an unconventional and unusual wisdom to deal with it. Nigeria in all honesty needs a benevolent dictator who is ready to make a total commitment, Nigeria needs an extremely business minded person, who is virtuous, honest, transparent, and possessed a little resources in charisma, highly knowledgeable, convinced about his own mission and vision of Nigeria, coupled with the Wisdom of Solomon to convince the followership necessary to turn his vision to reality.
If and when I have succeeded in doing all the above, I will now proceed to furnish all Nigerians with my vision of Nigeria. I will cover all the aspects of our national lives, ranging from our “national character” to the economy, the super structure and the general mode of governance.

My operational definition of our “national character” is the picture people around the world have in their minds when you say that, you are a Nigerian. The picture right now is not ideal and is not palatable. Those of us who are outside the shores of Nigeria know what I am talking about, introducing yourself as a Nigerian in many western countries now puts immediate constraint on your way. That is not acceptable and it must change under my leadership. Don’t say we cannot do it; it is within the realm of possibility.
What is takes is sincere leadership, committed lieutenants, a national re-orientation and share determination to succeed as a nation. Every law abiding citizen has nothing to worry about, but the lawless, cheats, corrupt and fraudulent ones would have me to contend with. I will fight corruption to a standstill, I consider corruption as the bane of our nation, and it has taken our country to the brink of collapse and bankruptcy. The greed of few opportunists who found themselves in the corridor of power is almost annihilating the rest of us. I will fight it with deadly venom and razor sharp hostility.
I will certainly consider the Chinese option in Nigeria; I will also reproduce the Rawlings’ feat in Nigeria. We need to deal with our problems decisively. Nigeria has been basterdized by the people we trusted so much, the country is struggling, and is drifting in the wrong direction, and we all need to work twice as hard to take Nigeria to the Promised Land. Make no mistakes; the solution to our problems would have to be nasty and “bloody”. Great countries take the task of nation building seriously. Laws are followed to the letters, and laws do not respect anybody.

Under my leadership, power would be devolved; heads of units would be accountable and would be responsible for all actions and inactions in their departments. We cannot continue down this path: 48 years after independence, we are moving backward, our roads are death traps, electricity is almost non-existent, hospitals are houses of horror, education system is a mere caricature, agriculture is a forgotten sector almost an urban legend! How can we move forward as a nation, how can we command the respect we deserve? How can Nigeria take her position among the comity of nations? We need a president who can make things happen, not a president who treats his position as a chieftaincy title, only for show. It is a post of heavy responsibility and sacrifice. As president, I will work as if my life depends on it and be the change that I would want to see in Nigeria and bring back the “feel good factor” that has eluded us for so long. Under my leadership, development would be incremental, consistent, visible and measurable. All the above is humanly possible and I know that together we can do it.

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