Time to ‘harass’ our leaders more has come

British politicians are amongst the most
heck led, harassed in the world. Their
constituencies, the voters and other citizens
don’t give them breathing space. Every action
they take is minutely examined, analysed and
criticized when necessary. Take for instance,
what happened recently when the Prime
Minister, David Cameron made a trip from
London to Edinburgh by train. Nigerians not
used to their way of life might wonder why the
leader of one of the most powerful and richest
nations on earth will be travelling by train
instead of presidential jet. This is afterall, the
country that conquered about a quarter of the
world (including Nigeria) and still has a firm
grip on a large part of the earth’s landmass
and resources.
Well, that is their style; their leaders make use
of the same public utilities that the ordinary
citizens use. They don’t live separate from the
common people or fly around in private jets,
helicopters or other means of elitist transport
our leaders here use regularly.
Anyway, on the trip, perhaps tired from the
rigours of state affairs or the harassment from
the citizens, he decided to take a nap. Nothing
wrong with that for afterall body no be wood;
the body needs to be refreshed with sleep
from time to time. Someone, maybe a fellow
passenger, took a snap of the sleeping PM and
within a short time, the picture went viral on
the Internet.
Trust the Brits. Some commentators began
hackling him, calling him names such as ‘Dozy
Cam’ with one stating that the PM sleeps ‘even
when he is awake!’ What annoyed another
citizen was not the fact that he was sleeping
‘on duty’ but that he travelled by ‘First class!
To her, the PM should have been in the Third
class compartment so that he will have a taste
of what ordinary Britons experience daily.
Na wa for these oyibos, you might say. A PM
travelling by train is not enough for them; he
should have been in the 3rd class section of
the train before they will be happy. If you
have ever taken a train in the UK, especially
the Tube (or Underground), you will know that
there’s not much difference between the 1st
class or 3rd class sections apart the privacy
the former gives.
Anyway, you might think the British citizens’
demands and expectations from their leaders
are a bit excessive and harsh. But the fact is
that it’s such attitude from the people that has
turned their societies into what it is today, one
that we somewhat admire and want to emulate.
Whatever issues you might have with the
oyibos, one thing you can’t take away from
them is the way they have been able to ‘tame’
their environment to make life better for their
people.
And they didn’t get there by chance; it took
years of struggles, sacrifice and sweat to get
there. And active citizen participation was
crucial in their journey of emancipation.
Something which unfortunately we lack here in
this part of the world. Our leaders here are the
least harassed in the world. We let them do
whatever they like, taking solace in the saying,
‘God will judge them!’ No wonder they treat us
with such impunity and disdain and get away
with all kinds of atrocities they commit.
Some observers have blamed this phenomenon
on the African leadership culture which could
be referred to as the ‘Oba syndrome’. You
know, the thinking that the Oba can do no
wrong, is always right and should be respected
whether he’s doing well or not. Well, nothing
wrong in respecting the leaders as African
culture demands that. But I believe such
respect should be deserved, based on the
leader’s personal qualities. There’s something
wrong and even stupid in giving respect to a
local government Chairman, for instance who
steals public funds meant to develop the
community and uses it to build private estates
both locally and abroad, besides other
investments. Such a person, to put it bluntly is
a thief and should be treated as such.
By next week, Nigeria will clock 53 years of
independence. It’s been a very long, hard
journey to this point and the way ahead looks
even bleaker. Some have written the country
off, calling it a ‘basket case.’ Since even
baskets can be mended, Nigeria can also be
fixed. But let’s not look up to the present crop
of leaders (both elected and otherwise) to do
that as they have too much to lose if the
country is well structured and organised. What
we need is more robust civil society
institutions and eagle-eyed citizens that can
demand accountability from their leaders so
that Nigerians can get a fairer deal from their
collective patrimony.