THE NIGERIAN LEADERSHIP QUESTION AND THE CONCEPT OF 'IBERIBE-RISM'

THE NIGERIAN LEADERSHIP QUESTION & THE CONCEPT OF 'IBERIBE-RISM'

It started like a bedtime story, "uncle Emeka, pls tell me a story about Nigeria's history. i failed a test  on social studies today" said chij, my little niece. Her persistence on me telling her some story about Nigeria was abnormal for a child her age, prompting me to ask, "did your teacher flog you for failing her test?" She shook her head in disapproval, and then said, "it woud have been better if she had flogged me cos her scolding was more than that," I felt for her as the tone of her voice suddenly changed, and she moved from her seating position to mine to hold my right palm.

"Chij the story of Nigeria started from the amalgamation in 1914 to independence in 1960..." i reeled out as i didnt want t to bore her with pre-amalgamation stories. The story continued with intermittent breaks as Chij fires one question after the other while i answers her patiently in order to carry her along.

"Wait, wait, uncle, did you just say that a leader of Nigeria in the early 60's said that the country has so much money that she doesnt know how to spend it..." Chij asked with a contemptuous grin on her face.

"Yes my dear..." i answered, "Uncle chei! That leader 'bu onye IBERIBE' cos even me as a child i know what i can do with money, infact any amount. yesss, uncle remember the money you said you'll give me on..."

Just then i realized that i've put my self in 'trouble' with my HISTORY STORY!

According to Ibo dictionary, Iberibe means foolishness or lack of wisdom as the context demands. thus 'onye Iberibe' means a fool. There are several sayings in Iboland which portrays 'onye Iberibe' as A BIG FOOL. such as: "Onye Iberibe do not know that his sister is a quest in his fathers house", "Onye Iberibe do not know when he passes his father's compound," "onye Iberibe do not know what to do with his father's wealth" etc, and the latter seem to refer to the leadership that has bequeathed Nigeria since Independence in 1960. (And If i am to borrow some slangs from popular comedian Chinwetalu Agu, such a person could be called "NDI PAKUCHU!)

The journey started with promises of a better future and  responsive leadership by the new leaders of the newly independent Nigeria. They promised to build a nation where peace, unity, equity and justice will be the order of the day. A nation where tribalism, nepotism, bribery and corruption will never dominate, etc.

But 54 years on what do we have? a country where all the factors listed have taken certificate of occupancy and built mansions with very strong foundations. And the questions concerned citizens like me have been asking is: what really went wrong? where did we miss it?

This question has always been on my mind untill that evening's utterance by a 6 year old that made me to sober reflect on the statement and came to agree with her that may be the people that ruled Nigeria in the last few years were very 'IBERIBED'.

Yes, my niece was right, if not how do you classify a country that is abundantly blessed with valuable natural resources, yet it is still been rated as one of the poorest in the world?

And she may be right, if not, how do you classify a country that has made hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue since discovering oil in commercial quantity yet there is not much on ground to show for it.

And these -  Very few of her citizens has access to portable drinking water, she doesn't have reliable electric power supply, her road networks are the worst in Africa, her justice system is one of the sluggish and easily biased in the world etc.

It is pertinent to state that this post is not meant to 'personally insult' any of our past leaders, but to buttress the fact that the leadership they gave the country failed to meet its responsibilities in the social contract which is the basis for government in any modern society.

It is also necessary to state that this post is my personal opinion as guaranteed under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and can only be countered by the provision of quality leadership.

Despite all these it will amount to 'cruelty' and sheer ingratitude on my part, if i do not state the fact that Nigeria has also been blessed with credible leaders most of whom were cut short by death or coup de'tat during the course of their service to the country (some are still here with us). But the fact still remains that the country needs strong institutions which would mould great leaders, and the time for this is now.