THE LEADERSHIP QUESTION: HOW PRESIDENT TINUBU CAN INSPIRE NIGERIANS.

By Ernest Osogbue

There is nothing more dishonorable than for a leader to lose touch with his followers to the extent that they no longer wish to listen to him. This is my summation after many years of listening to different presidential addresses. I took time to dissect the speeches put out by our presidents for motivational substances, and I was disappointed.

As a young man, I was captivated by studying the exploits of leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, and John F. Kennedy. Others like Fidel Castro, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcom X (El Shabbaz) also tickled my fancy. These leaders, through their public addresses and actions, almost had their followers eating out of their hands. When they said move, the people moved, and when they said stand, the people stood. In my naiveté, I have dreamt that Nigeria may one day have a leader akin to any one of these historical figures. After all, they did not descend from outer space. These were men born of women. What set them apart was that they were ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things.

From studies, I have discovered that attributes such as character, vision, empathy, resilience, and impact make for great leadership. Also, an ability to communicate verbally or nonverbally (body language) is also important. These attributes from my studies were present in different measures in the above leaders.

This brings me to the Nigerian leadership, where in the last 25 years of democracy, we have had leaders who were unable to meet the above standards. Our presidents have come across as rulers who dictate and lord over the people, rather than as leaders taking the people on a journey to a destination. Listening to our leaders speak is like listening to a soldier command the troops. From President Obasanjo to President Yar’adua, Jonathan to Buhari, and now to Tinubu. The story is the same; no link between the leader and the people.

Over the years, I listened to presidential addresses as a matter of duty; believing that a citizen must necessarily listen to his president. I became disillusioned after a time. Despite that, I continued to do my duty by listening to every presidential broadcast. It was not until President Buhari that I suddenly realized that I did not have to listen to any presidential broadcasts. After his first two presidential addresses, I became so disappointed that I suddenly had an epiphany, and I became liberated. I realized that I did not have to listen to the man. It is not an offense not to listen to a presidential broadcast. I had been punishing myself for years by listening to drab uninspiring messages from uninspiring leaders.

I recently skimmed through the text of President Tinubu’s last address to the nation, and I couldn’t find anything inspirational. Outside of personal adulations, the president simply tried to counter the opposition and made efforts to impress macroeconomists. There was nothing in the address to ginger or spur the average citizen to action. To me, presidential addresses must go beyond politics and the economy to address the fundamentals of a people. Their being, what they stand for, where they’re coming from, where they’re going, and how they’ll get there. A presidential address must engender hope and act as an elixir to spur the people to action. What our people require from the president are words and actions that would inspire them to face the challenges of nation-building with equanimity. Instead, what they hear are empty platitudes to be patient and make sacrifices, while the president junkets around the world enjoying the perks of office.

If, as the president said, that the GDP has improved, how has it affected the price of beans and garri, which remain high in the market? The president came across as being detached from reality. A leader must demonstrate by his words and his actions that he is in the trenches with the people. Rather than prune the size of government, President Tinubu has further bloated it by creating new ministries and new agencies. Furthermore, he bought a new presidential car, a new presidential jet, and a yacht while building a new vice presidential castle.

How can ordinary citizens be inspired to be patient and make sacrifices when the president and his ministers, as well as federal legislators, are collecting their full pay cheques and allowances? While they are prancing around with rosy cheeks, the citizens look haggard and despondent due to a low disposable income and a lack of purchasing power. What manner of leadership does President Tinubu wish to engender?

Nigerians are groaning under the heavy burden of the fuel subsidy removal and the consequent increase in the prices of goods and services. What they need is a leader by example from the front. Not a leader who hides behind one finger to make flowery speeches from behind.

As a matter of urgency and in order to make Nigerians believe in his vision, the president must make an executive order, placing himself, his aides, ministers, and possibly federal legislators on half pay for the foreseeable future. The effort to cut the cost of governance must be seen by the people, when the president puts a pause on his globetrotting, reduces rather than increase the number of MDA’s, slash his number of aides, and limits ministers and the heads of agencies to a specific number of aides.