It’s 3:30am, I’m getting used to these late night escapades. But tell me, when but now are things quiet enough for one to be truely inspired to write? I don’t know if night is the correct time, I can only say that I feel truely at peace at these times, and feel free to write from my heart.
Yesterday Night around 10pm, some friends and I went to have a meeting with one of the aspirants for the presidential position in Nigeria for 2007 – Professor Pat Utomi!
He is a man I have come to respect and believe in. Like most of us, I started from the cynical position of, is Nigeria ready for a leader like this? In the past 3 months, my answer to this question has migrated from a sure no, to a compelling yes!
I don’t know about you, but I believe that we have grown over time as a country. The current president and crop of leaders have done some good things. The case of Nigeria is like a man that falls down from a tall building, the first thing you want to do is not suture is head wounds. The first thing you want to do is check his pulse, verify if he is alive or try to resussicate him before anything else. The pulse of a nation is it’s economic indices, the voice of it’s people and it’s general response to the world. We have not witnessed monumental change, but our pulse has to a good extent been restored! To this I say a good kudo’s to President Obasanjo.
Haven developed a pulse however, the calibre of aid needed to get the person up and running again becomes different. That is the stage we are in as a country now! We are in a time when we need competent, committed, charismatic and compassionate leaders! We need leaders that are real and can steer Nigeria into the enviable future that we all desire. Leaders that when we mention their names, people care less about where they come from. Leaders that have the common man in mind, leaders that are accessible. Servant Leaders!
The only thing that good people need to do for evil to prevail is keep quiet! That is why the first lie you and I will battle with is one that makes us believe that votes do not count in this country! Who says? Who forms the rules? If we say votes don’t count and we refuse to vote, does your prophecy not become self fulfilling? Let the picture of the future that we see, propel us to make decisions that we can beat our chest about in the future!
In the words of Prof Pat last night (paraphrased) -“I must encourage you, a lot of senior citizens in this nation usually say, “they are young people what can they do?” These were the same people who the governance of this country was handed over to when they were in their early twenties. Then they were not as prepared as you are today, but they had the privilege of being in charge of things in this nation. I encourage you to go on!
20yrs from now, Nigeria will be a living wonder, a choice place for the world to visit, Nigerians will be treated like kings in other nations. Nations will queue for hours to get our visas! That future will come, what part will you have played to make it real?
“My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group. There is much less competition.”- Indira Gandhi