 Published
January, 31st, 2010
Late American newspaper commentator Walter Lippmann defined
leaders as “the custodians of nation’s ideals, of the beliefs it cherishes, of
its permanent hopes, of the faith which makes a nation out of a mere aggregation
of individuals.”
The word that captivated me most in the foregoing definition is: Custodian. For
me to have a proper grasp of the meaning of the word I clicked my mouse on
www.dictionary.reference.com. The result I got was that custodian is “a person
who has custody; keeper; guardian. The second meaning reveals that a custodian
is “a person entrusted with guarding or maintaining a property; janitor.
The question now is can we see members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as
custodians of Nigeria’s ideals, her beliefs, her permanent hopes, or the faith
which makes Nigeria out of a mere aggregation of Nigerians.
The truth is that all members of the federal executive council have no iota of
love for Nigeria. If they have why did they “certify” President Yar’ Adua fit to
govern Nigeria, even when the reality on ground shows that the President has
been hospitalized since November 23, 2009. Commonsense tells me that majority of
the FEC members know it may not be well when a new president takes over power.
We all know all the ministers are appointed, not elected. Is it not then logical
to think that our ministers refused to “certify” President Yar’ Adua unfit in
order not to be sacked during Vice-President Jonathan’s tenure, or not having
the favour they were obtaining from the ailing president? Permit me to say that
the FEC “certification” on President Yar’ Adua fitness was borne out
self-interest. They only considered their job before taking decision, instead of
considering Nigeria and Nigerians before taking decision.
Another angle to self-interest that made the President Yar’ Adua not to handover
to Vice-President Jonathan is the People’s Democratic Party’s tradition of power
rotation between the north and south. Why must such tradition exist in a
political party? Is PDP greater than Nigeria? It is high time we began to think
more of the Nigeria than ourselves. We shall all die, but Nigeria will ever
remain.
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