IF ONLY THE PRESIDENT BUHARI-LED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD LISTENED, AND ADHERED TO THE WORDS OF WISDOM FROM MAITAMA SULE – NIGERIA WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A BETTER STATE THAN IT IS PRESENTLY
June 8, 2021 | News
It is rather unfortunate, how, over the years, the Nigerian citizenry often end up with political leaders across all levels, who have no iota of idea of what it truly means to lead a people, manage the enormous collective resources/wealth under their offices for the benefit of all, and eventually leave great legacies behind for generations to come.
-By Zik Gbemre
IF ONLY THE PRESIDENT BUHARI-LED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD LISTENED, AND ADHERED TO THE WORDS OF WISDOM FROM MAITAMA SULE – NIGERIA WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A BETTER STATE THAN IT IS PRESENTLY
There is need for Nigerian political leaders of this present administration to listen and adhere to the words of wisdom and advice rendered by Maitama Sule…
We have allowed the oil money to become more of a curse than a blessing, with the culture of extravagance and waste…
People take a cue from their leaders…
The gross absence of Justice and Fair play, particularly in the President Buhari-led administration, has left us with a more divided and crisis-ridden Nigerian society…
It is rather unfortunate, how, over the years, the Nigerian citizenry often end up with political leaders across all levels, who have no iota of idea of what it truly means to lead a people, manage the enormous collective resources/wealth under their offices for the benefit of all, and eventually leave great legacies behind for generations to come. This has been the lacuna, the missing link/gap in Nigeria’s political governance. But what beats my imagination is that even when these political leaders are given good advice on leadership, especially from respected elder statesmen, they still act like persons that are without thinking faculties and reason, when it comes to managing the affairs of their State and the nation.
A good example is the words of wisdom that had come severally from the Maitama Sule. Yusuf Maitama Sule (1st October 1929 – 3rd July 2017), was indeed an exceptional Nigerian politician, diplomat and elder statesman, who was a great and fearless leader of his time. I recently saw one of his old videos where he was, as usual, dishing out words of wisdom to Nigerian politicians sitted, which I strongly believe if only the present crop of Nigerian politicians had listened and adhered to, the Nigerian economy and its people will be far better off.
Surprisingly, most of the words and advice Maitama gave to the Nigerian politicians in the said old video, which showed former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Others in an event where this was recorded, were the same words of wisdom and advice that he repeated when he led the Northern Leaders Forum for a courtesy visit to Muhammadu Buhari just after he became the President-elect in 2015. The same words of wisdom and advice the President Buhari-led administration has jettisoned and disregarded to carry out their self-centered agenda, which has been tearing the country apart.
In the said old video, Maitama noted: “Today, there is meaningless in philosophy, insecurity in the polity, immorality in the society, corruption in the economy, frustration in the arts and even lack of creativity in literature. Things are fallen apart. Why? Bad leadership! People take a cue from their leaders. We have all sorts of names: Nigeria is a very rich country, we have oil. But oil has become both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we have gotten a lot of money with which we can develop the country, if we have the will. But a curse, because IT HAS BROUGHT A VERY NEGATIVE CULTURE IN US. THE CULTURE OF EXTRAVAGANCE.
“Unfortunately, we have now formed the habit of sending our girlfriends to do their hair in Paris, to do their shopping in London, and to spend their holidays in New York. We compete in buying V-boot cars for our girlfriends. We buy the greatest, longest and most expensive luxurious American Limousines, only to drive them on the rust-dusty roads of Nigeria. ... all with money stolen from crude oil money. Negative culture. People take cue from their leaders. As far back as 1962 I can remember, when I went to Ibadan University to give a convocation lecture, I foresaw two things. I said THE TROUBLE WITH AFRICA IS JUST TWO: LEADERSHIP PROBLEM, AND THE POLITICAL SYSTEMS THAT ARE IN OPERATION IN AFRICA. Unless the leaders are good, decent; unless the leaders are honest, have the fear of God, have concern for the common man, and have vision; the future will be bad. Nigeria is a great country, potentially. We need to work hard to realize the potential greatness of the country. And we need to have good leaders, leaders with these qualities.
“For this reason, I would like to see people, borrowing or emulating our founding fathers, and even going further than that. During the subtle caliphate when Sultan Mohammed Bello was the ruler, Dr. Bau, a German explorer came to Nigeria, and he toured extensively. And on his return home he wrote: I have been to a domain and republic, where the people enjoy the benefits of the Justice of their leader. In that republic, were you to get an old woman and give her a golden pot, filled with gold bars, and ask her to take the pot from one end of the caliphate to the other? No matter how the distance in between, without an accomplice on somebody to escort her; she will deliver the pot to its destination without being stopped on the way to be robbed. Because of the Justice of Mohammed Bello.
“Above all, a leader must be fair and just. Justice and fair play. Good leaders must be just and fair, for it is said, power can remain in the hands of an infidel, if he is just and fair. But it will not remain in the hands of a believer, if he is unfair and unjust. Justice, behind any crises in Nigeria, and in indeed anywhere in the world; is injustice. AND IT MUST BE REMEMBERED, THAT THE WORLD CAN NEVER BE GOVERNED BY FORCE. LET ANYBODY WHO THINKS THAT HE CAN RULE BY FORCE, THINK AGAIN! The world can never be governed by force. Never by fear, even, never by power. In the end, what governed is the mind, what conquers is the spirit. And the weapons of governing the mind and conquering the spirit are justice and fair play…
“Leaders must be just, fair and have concern for their people. They must have the fear of God. Leaders must be people that will accept in public, what they have accepted in secret. They must be people who look at the common men with the eyes of compatriots, not with the eyes of privileged few. Leaders, not rulers. And in this, I would like to recommend, or tell you the qualities of leaders which the real leaders, the prophets and messengers of God had. All the messengers of God had sheep or cattle. They were herdsmen… the ones in Nigeria, when you look at them, they are always in front of their herds, not behind them. Leading them as a leader should. If he stops, they stop. If he jumps into water, they jump into water. If he makes a sign, or blows his whistle or flute, and if he wants them to disperse or gather, they all obey the sign. He even names some of them… These cattle, also protect their leaders, they are following him. Why are they doing that? Because, EVEN AS ANIMALS, THEY REALIZE THAT THEIR LEADER HAS SACRIFICED HIS LIFE FOR THEM. He has sacrificed his comfort for them. He has sacrificed his health for them. For the herdsmen sleep where his cattle sleeps. He does not take shelter in the town and leave his cattle in the forest…”
This is in complete contrast to Nigerian politicians who treat their Nigerian subjects that are citizens, as if they are slaves, while they are the Masters and Emperors. Our Nigerian politicians do not sacrifice anything for the benefit of the Nigerian people. Rather, it is the Nigerian people that are daily and yearly sacrificing their all, just so our leaders will continue living their ‘extravagant’ lives of waste. Our Nigerian politicians, starting with Mr. President, prefer to patronize foreign well-developed state-of-the-art standard hospitals abroad just to address minor health issues, while they leave the Nigerian poor masses to manage the poorly-funded, outdated and poorly-maintained health infrastructure and poor healthcare services.
Similar to what he said in the above stated old video, Maitama repeated same when he led the Northern leaders Forum to visit Buhari just after his ascension to office in 2015. In his words: “Justice is the key. If you do justice to all and sundry, and I mean all and sundry …. If you are going to judge between people, do justice, irrespective of their tribe, religion or even political inclinations. Justice must be done to whosoever deserves it…I have always known you to be a man of justice. I ask you (Buhari) to please continue. Don’t change, don’t compromise justice with anything. May Allah help you. Mr. President Sir, you know what we have gone through. I AM NOT ASKING YOU, AND I KNOW YOU’LL NOT; TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY PART OF NIGERIA. BUT I AM ASKING YOU TO DO JUSTICE TO ALL PARTS OF NIGERIA. JUSTICE WILL BRING ABOUT PEACE. PEACE AND STABILITY ARE THE PREREQUISITES OF DEVELOPMENT. DEVELOPMENT, WILL BRING GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT. WITH EMPLOYMENT YOU WILL NOT HAVE IDLE PEOPLE. AN IDLE MAN IS THE DEVILS WORKSHOP. An idle man thinks nothing but evil. He plans nothing but evil, and wants to do nothing but evil. Justice to all, will do away with all these. I know you can do it. Do justice to us. Do justice to them, do justice to everybody. Allah will reward you for that.”
Looking at how thus far that President Buhari has fared, from 2015 to date, it is apparent that President Buhari completely jettisoned and disregarded the good advice and words of wisdom given to him by his own fellow kinsmen and Northern Elders when he ascended the Presidency. In fact, I am sure most of the said Northern Elders, who were part of the delegation that visited Buhari then and gave him good advice and wished him success then, would be greatly disappointed at the moment with President Buhari and his administration.
This is because, rather than us having Justice and Fairness from the Buhari APC-led Government since 2015 to date, what the majority of Nigerians have been witnessing from this Government is nothing but injustice and unfairness. In fact, almost every action of this Buhari Government tends to suggest parochialism, and a penchant for ethnic chauvinism. All of this has left us with a more disunited, divided and crises-ridden Nigerian society, under the President Buhari-led administration.
With just about two years left in office, President Buhari can actually still make some amendments and adjustments in his governance style, by ensuring that true Justice and Fair play becomes the order of the day. We can only hope and pray that this would become the case.
Zik Gbemre.
June 8, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
IF ONLY THE PRESIDENT BUHARI-LED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD LISTENED, AND ADHERED TO THE WORDS OF WISDOM FROM MAITAMA SULE – NIGERIA WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A BETTER STATE THAN IT IS PRESENTLY
There is need for Nigerian political leaders of this present administration to listen and adhere to the words of wisdom and advice rendered by Maitama Sule…
We have allowed the oil money to become more of a curse than a blessing, with the culture of extravagance and waste…
People take a cue from their leaders…
The gross absence of Justice and Fair play, particularly in the President Buhari-led administration, has left us with a more divided and crisis-ridden Nigerian society…
It is rather unfortunate, how, over the years, the Nigerian citizenry often end up with political leaders across all levels, who have no iota of idea of what it truly means to lead a people, manage the enormous collective resources/wealth under their offices for the benefit of all, and eventually leave great legacies behind for generations to come. This has been the lacuna, the missing link/gap in Nigeria’s political governance. But what beats my imagination is that even when these political leaders are given good advice on leadership, especially from respected elder statesmen, they still act like persons that are without thinking faculties and reason, when it comes to managing the affairs of their State and the nation.
A good example is the words of wisdom that had come severally from the Maitama Sule. Yusuf Maitama Sule (1st October 1929 – 3rd July 2017), was indeed an exceptional Nigerian politician, diplomat and elder statesman, who was a great and fearless leader of his time. I recently saw one of his old videos where he was, as usual, dishing out words of wisdom to Nigerian politicians sitted, which I strongly believe if only the present crop of Nigerian politicians had listened and adhered to, the Nigerian economy and its people will be far better off.
Surprisingly, most of the words and advice Maitama gave to the Nigerian politicians in the said old video, which showed former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Others in an event where this was recorded, were the same words of wisdom and advice that he repeated when he led the Northern Leaders Forum for a courtesy visit to Muhammadu Buhari just after he became the President-elect in 2015. The same words of wisdom and advice the President Buhari-led administration has jettisoned and disregarded to carry out their self-centered agenda, which has been tearing the country apart.
In the said old video, Maitama noted: “Today, there is meaningless in philosophy, insecurity in the polity, immorality in the society, corruption in the economy, frustration in the arts and even lack of creativity in literature. Things are fallen apart. Why? Bad leadership! People take a cue from their leaders. We have all sorts of names: Nigeria is a very rich country, we have oil. But oil has become both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we have gotten a lot of money with which we can develop the country, if we have the will. But a curse, because IT HAS BROUGHT A VERY NEGATIVE CULTURE IN US. THE CULTURE OF EXTRAVAGANCE.
“Unfortunately, we have now formed the habit of sending our girlfriends to do their hair in Paris, to do their shopping in London, and to spend their holidays in New York. We compete in buying V-boot cars for our girlfriends. We buy the greatest, longest and most expensive luxurious American Limousines, only to drive them on the rust-dusty roads of Nigeria. ... all with money stolen from crude oil money. Negative culture. People take cue from their leaders. As far back as 1962 I can remember, when I went to Ibadan University to give a convocation lecture, I foresaw two things. I said THE TROUBLE WITH AFRICA IS JUST TWO: LEADERSHIP PROBLEM, AND THE POLITICAL SYSTEMS THAT ARE IN OPERATION IN AFRICA. Unless the leaders are good, decent; unless the leaders are honest, have the fear of God, have concern for the common man, and have vision; the future will be bad. Nigeria is a great country, potentially. We need to work hard to realize the potential greatness of the country. And we need to have good leaders, leaders with these qualities.
“For this reason, I would like to see people, borrowing or emulating our founding fathers, and even going further than that. During the subtle caliphate when Sultan Mohammed Bello was the ruler, Dr. Bau, a German explorer came to Nigeria, and he toured extensively. And on his return home he wrote: I have been to a domain and republic, where the people enjoy the benefits of the Justice of their leader. In that republic, were you to get an old woman and give her a golden pot, filled with gold bars, and ask her to take the pot from one end of the caliphate to the other? No matter how the distance in between, without an accomplice on somebody to escort her; she will deliver the pot to its destination without being stopped on the way to be robbed. Because of the Justice of Mohammed Bello.
“Above all, a leader must be fair and just. Justice and fair play. Good leaders must be just and fair, for it is said, power can remain in the hands of an infidel, if he is just and fair. But it will not remain in the hands of a believer, if he is unfair and unjust. Justice, behind any crises in Nigeria, and in indeed anywhere in the world; is injustice. AND IT MUST BE REMEMBERED, THAT THE WORLD CAN NEVER BE GOVERNED BY FORCE. LET ANYBODY WHO THINKS THAT HE CAN RULE BY FORCE, THINK AGAIN! The world can never be governed by force. Never by fear, even, never by power. In the end, what governed is the mind, what conquers is the spirit. And the weapons of governing the mind and conquering the spirit are justice and fair play…
“Leaders must be just, fair and have concern for their people. They must have the fear of God. Leaders must be people that will accept in public, what they have accepted in secret. They must be people who look at the common men with the eyes of compatriots, not with the eyes of privileged few. Leaders, not rulers. And in this, I would like to recommend, or tell you the qualities of leaders which the real leaders, the prophets and messengers of God had. All the messengers of God had sheep or cattle. They were herdsmen… the ones in Nigeria, when you look at them, they are always in front of their herds, not behind them. Leading them as a leader should. If he stops, they stop. If he jumps into water, they jump into water. If he makes a sign, or blows his whistle or flute, and if he wants them to disperse or gather, they all obey the sign. He even names some of them… These cattle, also protect their leaders, they are following him. Why are they doing that? Because, EVEN AS ANIMALS, THEY REALIZE THAT THEIR LEADER HAS SACRIFICED HIS LIFE FOR THEM. He has sacrificed his comfort for them. He has sacrificed his health for them. For the herdsmen sleep where his cattle sleeps. He does not take shelter in the town and leave his cattle in the forest…”
This is in complete contrast to Nigerian politicians who treat their Nigerian subjects that are citizens, as if they are slaves, while they are the Masters and Emperors. Our Nigerian politicians do not sacrifice anything for the benefit of the Nigerian people. Rather, it is the Nigerian people that are daily and yearly sacrificing their all, just so our leaders will continue living their ‘extravagant’ lives of waste. Our Nigerian politicians, starting with Mr. President, prefer to patronize foreign well-developed state-of-the-art standard hospitals abroad just to address minor health issues, while they leave the Nigerian poor masses to manage the poorly-funded, outdated and poorly-maintained health infrastructure and poor healthcare services.
Similar to what he said in the above stated old video, Maitama repeated same when he led the Northern leaders Forum to visit Buhari just after his ascension to office in 2015. In his words: “Justice is the key. If you do justice to all and sundry, and I mean all and sundry …. If you are going to judge between people, do justice, irrespective of their tribe, religion or even political inclinations. Justice must be done to whosoever deserves it…I have always known you to be a man of justice. I ask you (Buhari) to please continue. Don’t change, don’t compromise justice with anything. May Allah help you. Mr. President Sir, you know what we have gone through. I AM NOT ASKING YOU, AND I KNOW YOU’LL NOT; TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY PART OF NIGERIA. BUT I AM ASKING YOU TO DO JUSTICE TO ALL PARTS OF NIGERIA. JUSTICE WILL BRING ABOUT PEACE. PEACE AND STABILITY ARE THE PREREQUISITES OF DEVELOPMENT. DEVELOPMENT, WILL BRING GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT. WITH EMPLOYMENT YOU WILL NOT HAVE IDLE PEOPLE. AN IDLE MAN IS THE DEVILS WORKSHOP. An idle man thinks nothing but evil. He plans nothing but evil, and wants to do nothing but evil. Justice to all, will do away with all these. I know you can do it. Do justice to us. Do justice to them, do justice to everybody. Allah will reward you for that.”
Looking at how thus far that President Buhari has fared, from 2015 to date, it is apparent that President Buhari completely jettisoned and disregarded the good advice and words of wisdom given to him by his own fellow kinsmen and Northern Elders when he ascended the Presidency. In fact, I am sure most of the said Northern Elders, who were part of the delegation that visited Buhari then and gave him good advice and wished him success then, would be greatly disappointed at the moment with President Buhari and his administration.
This is because, rather than us having Justice and Fairness from the Buhari APC-led Government since 2015 to date, what the majority of Nigerians have been witnessing from this Government is nothing but injustice and unfairness. In fact, almost every action of this Buhari Government tends to suggest parochialism, and a penchant for ethnic chauvinism. All of this has left us with a more disunited, divided and crises-ridden Nigerian society, under the President Buhari-led administration.
With just about two years left in office, President Buhari can actually still make some amendments and adjustments in his governance style, by ensuring that true Justice and Fair play becomes the order of the day. We can only hope and pray that this would become the case.
Zik Gbemre.
June 8, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes