By Steve Aya
Chief Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN, has blamed the current poor state of affairs in the country on the failure of leadership.
Saying that Patriotism will necessarily be enthroned and development of the country assured if the leaders live up to their responsibilities, particularly by pursuing the observance and realisation of the ideals and provisions of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, as provided under Chapter II of the Constitution.
Chief Obi Okafor stated this last Thursday, while delivering the convocation lecture of Madonna University Nigeria, Elele Campus in Rivers State.
“Speaking on the topic: “Patriotism: An Indispensable Panacea for Nation Building and Development-Youths in Perspective” , Obi Okafor defined Nation building as the process through which the boundaries of the modern States and those of the national community become congruent, the desired outcome is to achieve national integration.
He said: “Nation building involves conscious efforts by the disparate ethnic groups in a country with diverse socio-cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds, to come together to create a Nation State.
Failure of Leadership
As far back as 1983, Chinua Achebe identified in his little book titled “The Trouble With Nigeria” that, the trouble with Nigeria is that of leadership. In the introductory paragraph of the book, Chinua Achebe has this to say:
“The trouble with Nigeria, is simply and squarely a failure of
leadership. There is nothing basically wrong, with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air, or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”
Nigerian leaders do not believe in responsibility of leadership, or in leadership by example. The level of impunity exhibited by the Nigerian political class, is mind-blowing. In Nigeria, there are two sets of laws: one for the political class, and the other for the populace. Only in Nigeria, would you see lawmakers breaking the very law that they made. Only in Nigeria, would you see Government officials drive brazenly against traffic.
