By: Deji Olanipekun
The slave master of Enugu. Gburugburu himself.
Leadership is the ability to direct a group of people and stir them towards a common goal which is beneficial to the group at any given time. Like never before, the entire populace of Enugu had enjoyed human and economic developments and that is the reason why the state is seen as one of the pride of the nation. As a newsman from the western part of the country, one of the first noticeable things was the peaceful atmosphere and great roads which is not a common thing for someone coming from my part of the country.
My inquisitive mind asked a lot of questions as I cruised on a very low speed taking in the beauty of the state. Interaction with different people strategically drawn from various strata made it clear that the past administration actually did a lot in terms of developmental projects and also invested massively in human capital development. As a trained journalist, I took in the details even though I already had a knowledge of the situation.
The Igbo nation may be having a dangerous romance with a monster if proper steps are not taken by putting right mercenaries in place. The current administration in the state has repeatedly demonstrated brazen disregard to the plight of the people which is a far cry from what the leadership of the state used to look like. There is no need telling blind man it is about to rain as we say. The political chess being played by the current administration will birth nothing but a great loss for the party and so the party stakeholders have to do something proactive by consolidating the youth movement and sensitizing them on the need for them all to bury their hatchets and support the great party for a successful outing come 2020. This became necessary following the disgraceful conducts of the current administration which according to political analysts is a ploy to soil the image of the party and allow for loopholes in order to sell the leadership to the other political divide.
Interactions on various levels has made it clear that the youth are the ones being used to perpetrate the calumny and disaffection ravaging the Enugu political terrain at various levels. There is an urgent need to nip this in the bud because aside from the pittance these bad eggs offer, they do not care about the future of the state (youth). In recent times the current leadership has come under spotlight both home and abroad and has always been found wanting in terms of development. Another sad development is the way Political stalwarts and Traditional fathers are being rubbished physically and on the social spaces. One begins to wonder if this is not becoming the State of Nature as xrayed by Thomas Hobbes.
Different sectors in the state have variously expressed their disappointment about the current administration on various platforms. Igbos in diaspora are not particularly pleased about the brazen disregard for Igbo elders stating the fact that it is nothing the culture of the Igbo people to do so. Many have pointed out that such acts are only portraying Enugu and Igbo nation in bad light home and abroad which may be injurious to the 2023 agenda if something is not done by sensitising the people about the evolution and core tenets of leadership.
The core essence of Leadership is traced back to the Stone Age where there was no organization of any sort and might was equal to right. Human existence became threatened and contractual agreements were broken with impunity. It became a case of “all man for himself, God for us all”. The people lived in morbid fear of being attacked or killed but at some points they got together to proffer a permanent solution to the lawlessness pervading the land. Later, the gathered to discuss way forward and they resolved to submit their powers to a single authority that became their leader and was called the Leviathan. The Leviathan was solely in charge of controlling the excesses of the people and meting out punitive measures to recalcitrant ones thereby fostering relative peace among the people.
As time wore on the Leviathan became too powerful that he transformed into a tyrant and his rule became worse compared to what the people used to have. It then became clear that “Power Corrupts, But absolute power Corrupts absolutely”. The people then decided to check the powers of their leader by some form of rules to govern his actions too which is similar to what we have in the Principles of separation of powers in modern times.
Looking at the evolution of the concept of leadership, we will observe that the people of this great state have gone through a lot to arrive at the structure the past administration left only to be shocked at the hopelessness staring the average dweller in the face- no thanks to the insensitivity of the power that be and the primitive selfish politics at play. In the wake of the year, the current administration under the guise of empowerment came up with shovels and wheelbarrows for the common men with a repayment plan calculated with a compound interest. Cries from different sector of the state especially the youth fell on deaf ears and instead of doing the bidding of the people the right thinking youths of the state are being used against themselves. This is quite sad and calls for urgent attention.
Aside from this slavery mentality which is fast becoming the new normal in the state, the current crop of leaders in the state are making global news for all the negative reasons again as a newly constructed road just got washed away throwing motorists into confusion. Opera News reported this unfortunate story in its issue of 2nd July 2020. This is a pointer to the type of projects the state now embarks on as against what used to be before this time.
As part to save the great party the youth and other political stakeholders have been enjoined to come together and do something to keep the state come 2023 by shunning violence. As it is, it is clear that the power intoxicated crop of leaders in the affairs of the state will not stop empowering their political allies and also engage in anti party activities capable of soiling the good name of the party. This cooperation will help preserve the ideologies of the political stalwarts who were part of the founding fathers of PDP.
Comments
Post a Comment