Our Leaders Do Not Care!

 By Sunny Ikhioya

They did not care in the past. They do not care now, and most likely, they will never care in the future. According to Vilfredo Pareto, Italian sociologist, they “are the small number of individuals who, in each sphere of activity, have succeeded and have arrived at a higher echelon in the professional hierarchy”. 

*Tinubu and Akpabio

These ones are termed elites, which is “a class of the people who have the highest indices in their branch of activity”. They are the ones controlling our businesses, politics, and indeed every aspect of our lives. They are our perpetual rulers. Once in a while, somebody from the lower rung of the ladder finds his way upward and remains there with them, cultivating their habits and idiosyncrasies. Their interest is their self-protection first. 

Occasionally, when the people are able to come out of their complacency, through revolutions and otherwise, another set of elites are propped up to control the new order, like it happened in some African countries  such as Uganda, Congo, Zimbabwe and the rest. In Nigeria, we have seen it demonstrated with our military and civilian regimes. We look up to new regimes with hope, only to have these hopes dashed within a short span. The most impactful revolution happened in the old Soviet Union. 

Even though this revolution shook the entire elite of the world, it produced another new set as enunciated in Pareto’s theory. Fortunately, these revolutions sometimes bring these elites to their senses. It is in order to avoid the Soviet treatment that countries like the United Kingdom decided to introduce sweeping reform measures that turned the UK government into a welfarist state. Before then, there had been the French Revolution that impacted the world, with new sets of elites emerging. 

In that sense, these elites or rulers can be compelled to do the right thing if the people are united on a cause. As much as they are selfish, greedy, and wicked, they are still humans who are subject to fear. It is this fear factor that compels them to loosen their grips on the strangulating masses. Such situations occur when the people are pushed to the brink of a revolt. That is why things do not seem to change except the rulers are pushed by the force of the masses. 

Sometimes, we receive regime changes with great expectations, but after a while, we all return to the familiar lull of motions without movements. The rulers do not care; that is why in Nigeria, for example, the children of the elites are being shipped abroad for studies, while the children of the non-elites remain here to study with attendant difficulties. They do not care. According to reports, “Ministers Nyesom Wike, FCT, Dave Umahi, Works, Olubunmi Ojo, Interior and others are scheduled to travel to the UK to showcase President Bola Tinubu’s ‘legacy projects’ at an international media briefing, coordinated by Bola Adeyemi, Project internal coordinator of the President Bola Tinubu midterm legacy project review Committee “. What a waste! This is a classic example of a leadership that is far removed from the people they are governing. 

I agree with the HURIWA national co-ordinator who described the proposed trip as an “extravagant jamboree.” He further maintained thus: “The people deserve leaders who stay at home and work – not those who chase foreign applause while their citizens suffer.” In a period where the country is severely threatened by the activities of bandits, insurgents, terrorists and great suffering in the land, what is uppermost in the minds of our leaders is going abroad to defend performance. The people here do not matter. 

Our leaders must dance as puppets to the tunes of their foreign masters. How long will this dance last? It is clear that the average Nigerian is one of the most long-suffering individual in the world. It is said that long-suffering is a virtue in our religious context; the ability to suffer for now and enjoy heavenly rewards when you die. Our religious doctrines have really turned us into different species from other progressive societies in the world. We can bear this to the point of death. While countries like Saudi Arabia are fine-tuning their religious doctrines, our leaders here are going deeply into fundamentalism. The same thing with the other faiths, no exception. 

Our people can tolerate a lot, even at the point of death. And the religious leaders, who incidentally are part of the elites, do not care. They prefer to keep the vicious cycle moving. It is said that religion thrives mostly in extremely poor environments. That has been our lot. The killings, kidnappings, kakistocratic rulership do not seem to move them, as the religious brainwashing is total. Our government do not seem to see anything wrong with the situation; it serves their purpose and fosters the hegemony. That is why they budget billions of scarce resources to sponsor religious pilgrimages. 

The government is announcing economic successes, but at what cost to the common man? If they really care, they will not be embarking on such jamborees. If they care, the welfare of the ordinary citizen will be their top priority and not theirs. If they really care, they will be the first example of making Nigeria first. All official vehicles must be made in Nigeria. If they care, constituency projects would be felt generally across the land. What is to be done? There is always a tilting point; even the goat when pushed to the wall, turns round and confronts you squarely.

As I was putting this piece to bed, news filtered in that the Federal Government has denied the foreign news briefing. “Addressing the issue during the eighth edition of the Ministerial Press Briefing at the National Press Centre in Abuja, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made it clear that no such event was planned outside Nigeria. This briefing is your answer to the falsehood making the rounds,” Idris stated.  “We are not taking any media engagement abroad. Our duty is first and foremost to Nigerians, which is why we host these sessions right here in Abuja.” 

Somebody said something like putting maximum pressure on the National Assembly; I believe it should be on the entire leadership. The Senate has also denied that none of its members receive N2 billion allocation. That is not the point. They should  make sure the people benefit from the constituency projects allocated to them. It is time for citizens to wake up from their slumber and challenge the excesses of our leaders; we cannot continue in this manner.

*Ikhioya is a commentator on public issues