Exemplary Leaders versus Authoritarian Rulers

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Exemplary leaders are persons of great virtues. They lead by examples. Their lives are worthy of emulation. They are rare to come by in this perverse and wicked generation.

We need exemplary leaders over nations for humane and good governance. They are needed in establishments, and other positions of authority, for accountability and fairness to all. Unfortunately, a lot of rulers and others in authority, don’t obey instructions they issue to people. Neither do they implement their policies. That is to say, they don’t lead by example.

Today, there are crisis, conflicts, wars, and instability over many countries, due to activities of authoritarian or bad rulers. Their misrule plunge the citizens into poverty and penury, among others.
There are lack of sincerity and transparency among our rulers. The foundation of their government is built on deceit and crookedness. Nigeria is among the countries of the world that have bad rulers over the decades. They have ruined the economy, and have brought the country into perpetual backwardness and armed banditry.

Take for instance, a situation where a group of Federal Government pensioners is owed for upward of 14 years pensions. A protracted verification and auditing were carried out on thousands of dying pensioners for over two years. Yet, their pension arrears are still owed them. It has happened to Delta Steel Company, Aladja pensioners. There are many other similar cases. Nigerian Government officials are always devising means of deferring payment, short changing, and defrauding the helpless people. They embark on endless and complicated verification exercises; in order to deny the senior citizens their entitlements. There is always a suitable explanation, for every of their deceit.

Take a look at the minimum wage increase negotiation going on between the Federal Government and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). It has dragged on for over two years now. Although the minimum wage bill was signed into law recently, another round of negotiations is about to go on for the spread of the money on salary grade levels, before implementation will commence. The sincerity of purpose to pay up workers promptly. to alleviate their suffering is not there. They continue to deny the ordinary workers their dues. Any Government that withholds wages of workers and pensioners, or ‘borrows’ from pension fund is a very wicked Government. They actually steal from the pension fund to squander among themselves, to the detriment of abandoned senior citizens. God Almighty will judge the wicked and the rogues.

They are quick to dish out outrageous amounts of money, running into billions to their very corrupt predecessors; who stole the country blind. As well, they build expensive houses and buy exotic cars for former Presidents, Governors, and other parasites. But, they find it very reluctant and difficult, to pay the meager salaries and pensions to poor people. And by so doing, they make the rich richer, and the poor poorer. Any Government that is built on falsehood, will always be at loggerheads with the masses they misrule. Is it the NYSC stipend that was earlier raised from #19,000 to #49,000, and was later abandoned; and never implemented? The deceit was explained away.

Legislators in Nigeria should be paid only their basic salaries. Their outrageous allowances should be cancelled, as they work on part-time basis. Pensions and gratuities for past Presidents, Governors, legislators, and other political office holders should stop. Let all these direct and indirect looting of the treasury come to an end. Let them pay up the ordinary workers and senior citizens regularly.

True leaders are not crooked or deceptive; neither do they exploit the downtrodden. They don’t amass ill-gotten wealth, to the detriment of the people. God said, “As the partridge sits on eggs, and hatches them not; so he that gets riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool”, Jeremiah 17:11

Muammah Gaddafi was a good leader to his people; despite having an issue with the West. He had a superlative welfare package for Libyans. Standard of living there was very high. The country’s oil wealth was judiciously managed. Prices of fuel consumed in the country were among the lowest in OPEC countries. The contrary is the case in Nigeria. The wealth is being squandered by privileged few.

Dictators and their likes are ungodly and heartless rulers, despite their participation in religious activities. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. And by the fear of LORD, men depart from evil. God-fearing leaders obey the rule of law; obey court order; even when it isn’t in favour of the Government or President. Their conscience will lead them to do what is right; and avoid oppressing people. Bad rulers intimidate, suppress, subjugate, and blackmail people into submission.

Exemplary leaders embark on good welfare packages for their people like: stipend for unemployed, free electricity, building houses for indigents, and granting credit facilities for business ventures. They believe in redistribution of wealth; not the rich getting richer; and the poor getting poorer. Hence, they are operating above owing workers and pensioners. Bad and wicked rulers divert wages of the masses to their private bottomless pockets.

A good leader presiding over a whole country, should be intelligent and educated up to a certain level. HND or B.Sc in his field of endeavour is okay. Sound education is interwoven with good governance and respect for human rights. The dark era of illiterate and fetish rulers holding their subjects to ransoms, is fast fading away, especially in Africa. We welcome the removal of long-standing dictatorial regime in Sudan recently. All hands should be on deck to wipe out evil from the society.

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Territory of the authoritative or wicked ruler is full of crisis: bloodshed, killings, and gross violation of human rights. His religious bigotry, is betrayed by the wanton destruction of lives and property within his territory. On the contrary, the domain of the upright leader is in relative peace. There is law and order there.

Bad rulers engender instability, rebel activities, civil wars, banditry, name them. The longer they hold on to power, the more they hold the masses to ransom; plunging them into more sufferings and deaths. And the more his political opponents are being rounded up, and detained for trumped up charges.
Wicked rulers have acute sense of insecurity around them, even when they are heavily guarded. They hardly trust people; even close relatives and friends. They don’t have lasting friends; friends today, enemies tomorrow. These tyrants are always apprehensive of the unknown. They are apprehensive of their secret dealings being exposed: massive diversion of the countries’ wealth; secret killings of political opponents, and so on.

Therefore, they put in place all forms of security networks around them, and their immediate families. Yet, their minds are not at rest. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, said my God, to the wicked”—Isaiah 57:20-21.

A former Nigerian Military ruler, was returning from a tour while still in power His plane landed in the airport. He disembarked, and was moving toward his waiting car. He was always looking back and sideways, as he rushed to enter his vehicle, despite the heavy security in the airport. One could read the apprehension on this face. He continued to look back like a frightened dog, until he entered his motor and the driver zoomed off. This man shed much blood when in power. While he was killing people, he was afraid to die. The wicked runs when no one is pursuing. Today, he is incapacitated.

There is virtue in uprightness, sincerity, and fairness, in one’s dealings with fellow humans. When he satisfies his conscience, that he is governing or operating with the fear of God, he is at peace with himself. He feels free to move around. Sometimes, he goes out unaccompanied by his security men. He doesn’t pretend to be humble. It is part and parcel of his life. He knows that one day, he will leave that position.

Suicide rate is very high, under regimes of dictators; apart from multitude dying of killings and hunger related ailments. Many kill themselves out of frustration of man-made harsh situation in the country. For instance, somebody graduated from University with excellent result. But, he can’t secure a job for many years, due to tribalism and nepotism in his country.

He has no god-father in position of authority, including in the Government to help him out. Some of his colleagues he is far better them have secured plumb jobs, due to tribal considerations. He comes from a very poor family background, no stipend, or any assistance from Government, or elsewhere. He weighs the options, and decides to take his life.

A lot of people are facing frustrations from despot rulers. It may be in the area of non-payment of wages, and other entitlements. Is it in rising cost of living due to bad governance? He has family to cater for, including the school fees and feeding of the children. When the situation becomes unbearable, such person will contemplate committing suicide. Before dying, he will first curse those in authority, who have made life unbearable for persons like him.
God said, “Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cry: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter”_ James 5: 4-5

Some young people are taking away their lives after several failed attempts to gain admission into Institutions of Higher Learning in Nigeria. One of the reasons is the discriminatory cut-off marks, placed on candidates taking the JAMB, and other entrance examinations.

The cut-off marks are meant to favour candidates from Northern Nigeria, at the expense of Southerners. Sometimes; to cut them off from admission into higher institutions of learning that year. A candidate from South will score up to twice the marks scored by his Northern counterpart. Yet, he will not be admitted in a University; while the colleague from North will gain admission.

God Almighty will judge Britain, that imperialist nation, that brought about the evil amalgamation of Southern and Northern Nigeria. They have brought untold hardship to our people. Their evil machinations will find them out. The way out is the independence of Biafra. And it is now overdue.

Wealthy evil rulers are being given elaborate celebrations in the world nowadays, especially in African continent. Little or no consideration is given to their tyranny, or source of wealth.

Somebody uses his prominent position in Government to steal millions or billions. Then, he uses part of the stolen money to buy recognition for himself. He buys chieftaincy titles, honourary doctorate degrees, one merit award or the other from sycophants. He is accorded elaborate and lavish reception by chiefs and people in his community, which expenses he paid for in advance. He is addressed as illustrious son, even while he is a well known rogue; who embezzles workers salaries, and place them in serious predicament.
But, when a petty thief steals a goat in the land; the goat is hung around his neck when caught. He is forced to dance round the village with it, amid flogging and other degradation by mob of villagers.

Bad leaders surround themselves with mistresses, surrogates, and other charlatans; who loot the treasury with impunity. The mentality of average top public office holder in Nigeria, is to be richer than the establishment he is heading. He follows the bad examples of those who placed him there. They are parasites in the society.

A onetime President, during his tenure was very drunk while aboard his presidential jet. In fact, he drank himself to stupor while airborne. He was so drunk; that the pilot had to hover the aircraft in the air for about two hours. That allowed the drunkenness to subside to a tolerable level, before landing. Had it been the plane landed straightaway in his pitiable drunken condition, it would have been a great disgrace to the nation. He might have been carried shoulder-high like a coffin into a waiting vehicle. He would have created a scene.

Any President or Governor, who is a drunkard and womanizer, will ruin the country or state he is ruling. He will position his concubines as aids, as well as surround himself with all sorts of people, who will run down his Government. He won’t have the moral stamina to caution or remove them from office. Nigeria is in a precarious situation.

Nigerian politicians use religious fanatism to sustain them in power, while looting public funds. Some state Governors from the far North established Sharia laws, which they themselves cannot obey. How can you establish a law to cut off hands of small thieves, who made away with some items like half-bag of rice, or basket of tomatoes? But, you who have been using your position to steal billions of naira and dollars, banking them abroad, and going scot-free. They are the jumbo-sized criminals and robbers in the land, who should be rounded up and have their hands cut off too. We have them in Zamfara and some other states. They are all hypocrites!

Implementation of the so-called Sharia laws, should start with the elite and affluent in the society. And not with poor and hungry people, who steal mainly food items. Former Governors of those Sharia states should be properly apprehended, charged and subsequently sentenced according to their Sharia laws. EFCC had to first recover those billions they siphoned. Then, hand them over to sharia court, they themselves put in place.

When corrupt rulers probe their predecessors, the recovered funds are re-stolen. And the evil circle continues. It is very rare for people convicted of looting the treasury to be jailed in the country. A boy was sentence to 14 years imprisonment for stealing a goat. The laws of the land are really meant for the common masses.

Many top politicians, including those in Sharia states, commit adultery. They sleep with other people’s wives, and defile infants. Have you ever seen any of them convicted of adultery, whether in sharia court or not? Such laws are meant for ordinary people.

Those pedophiles (who defile infants), are worse. They commit abomination before God and man. They should turn a new leaf before it is too late. God’s judgement awaits them. They should also know there is a law in the county, that carries maximum of life jail for child defilement. They engage little children as young as 7 years, who are not up to the age of child bearing, in intercourse. They do so in order to satisfy the animalistic sexual urge in them. Marrying little children is abominable like gay marriage. How can they claim to be God-fearing? Hypocrites!

Let the Government and legislators, enact laws with stiff penalties for lecturers in Higher Institutions, who demand sexual intercourse before passing female students in examinations. Those he-goat and morally decadent lecturers, should be shown the way out of the schools, in addition to serving prison terms.

Nigeria is yearning for a true leader who will show a shinning example for others to follow. Example is better than precept. The country has never produced a leader since the so-called independence. What we have on the ground are ravaging wolves. Unless a true leader emerges, the country may go the way of former Soviet Union, which disintegrated into several nations.

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Bad leaders indulge in false humility and hypocrisy. They pretend to be what they are not. These charlatans paint deceitful pictures of themselves, before the public. They are pretenders: wolves in sheep clothing. The scriptures said we shouldn’t be surprised that even angels of darkness, are transforming themselves as angels of light.

True leaders are unassuming. The way you see them is the way they are. They don’t have dual personality. But, that isn’t the case with dictators and rogues in governance.

Vast majority of Nigerian political office holders, engage in false humility especially during electioneering period. As elections draw near, you see them come out of their flamboyant and ostentatious lifestyle. They pack the jets they bought with stolen oil money. As well, they pack their limousines, navigators, and other exotic cars for a while. These pretenders try as much as possible to look like ordinary people, in order to win their votes. That is to say they give false impression they are down-to-earth.

They mingle freely with ordinary people. You can see them trekking along the streets under the hot sun, drinking sachet water (abandoning their prestigious bottled water). These pretenders buy hot “akara” (fried beans), from women who fry them by the roadside. They also purchase roasted corns, which they chew along the way, like casual workers rushing to work. They leave the money balance (change), for the lucky sellers.

You can see them sit on the bare floor, to eat pounded yam with ‘draw-draw’ (ogbono) soup. Some of them help the food vendors to prepare food, and carry their babies on their own backs, What remains now, is for them to start hawking on the street with their wares on their heads; to show off their false simplicity.

You need to see them struggling to enter “molue” or other public transport vehicles This reminds me of one of the Governorship candidates in Imo State, some years ago, during campaign. He used to stand in the midst of his campaign team in open moving tipper simply dressed. One would hardly know he was inside the vehicle moving along with the populace.

But, immediately elections are over, after rigging and buying their way to power, they would no longer be accessible to the commoners. Then, they will go back to their lifestyle of impunity. They will go back to their tinted jeeps and other expensive cars. Of course, their telephone numbers will changed- out of reach to the multitude they interacted with during campaign, and promised heaven and earth. You would scarcely see them in the open again. They have gone back to their usual lifestyle of alienation and exploitation of the people.
You will no longer see them entering thatched or mud houses, to interact and eat with poor people. Some of them even lie on their bamboo beds; and pose for pictures for a memorial.

By the time they settle down to rule, they become highhanded and dictatorial. They demolish people’s property (including those of their political opponents), without any form of compensations. They demolish houses and markets, seize people’s lands, sell some and own the rest. Also, they embark on shutting down and selling publicly owned companies. As well they do mass retrenchment of workers. In fact, the devils they serve use them to commit all sorts of atrocities.

But, they seem to forget that one day they will stand before their creator, Almighty God to give account of their lives before Him. God said, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” –Revelation 22:12-12.

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Bad rulers are bereaved of ideas. That is why the economy continues to dwindle under their watch. Companies are being shut down with the attendant mass retrenchment of workers. There is breakdown of infrastructures like epileptic power supply, bad roads, lack of running water. And there is abject poverty in the land. In Nigeria, the crux of our problem is under-development and high-level of poverty.

Our rulers are a combination of ill-educated, illiterates and functional illiterates. The ill-educated and illiterates among them, get to high positions of trust they don’t merit, due to tribal politics and nepotism. They occupy positions that are above their scope and ability, thereby running down Government ministries, and companies under their care. The other category is functional illiterates. They have the high-sounding paper qualifications (paper tigers), but can’t perform. They grossly lack the competence,; are too self-centred and corrupt, that they ruin every establishment under their care. They are all mediocres on the job.

Take for instance, the number of refineries in Nigeria. There are countless number of PhD holders in sciences an engineering, including Petroleum Engineering; manning various sectors and departments of the refineries. The personnel are too corrupt and incompetent, to prevent importation of refined petroleum products into the country.

Most of the thousands of moribund industries and companies in Nigeria, are managed by citizens with high paper qualifications. They are in the top management cadre. But, they run the place down; and get it closed down. Closure of those companies has nothing to do with the workforce. It is a management problem.

When a company is sold or privatized; the new investor, will simply sack the entire management staff. Then, he will use the same workforce to achieve maximum output, after providing them with adequate working materials. Most of the top managers in Nigeria are more or less parasites. They suck life out of establishments under their care.

Virtually all Presidents of developed countries, including world leaders don’t possess PhD degrees. They basically have B.Sc, while few of them possess Masters Degrees, But, they are very experienced and vast in administration. As well, they are good leaders and resourceful. Their main ambition while at the top is to leave behind legacy that will be difficult to surpass by their successors. These persons want to project their names above material acquisition. Therefore, they put up superlative performance in developing their various countries.

The case is different in Africa, especially Nigeria. Our crooked rulers don’t care about legacy. Their mindset is to surround themselves with rogues, who will eventually become billionaires, by the time they are kicked out of office. While occupying the exulted positions, they will feign ignorance of massive looting by their surrogates. This is because part of the loot will still go to their proxy bank accounts.

The crux of the matter is that many of our rulers are deep into secret societies. They participate in their nocturnal meetings. There, they are given instructions in the covens by the devils they serve. When you see our rulers condoning evils in the land, you need not be surprised. We are in dire need of leaders who are truly God-fearing, to drastically reduce bloodshed in the country, including ritual killings.

The conscience of our rulers is seared with hot-iron. They hardly feel the suffering of the masses under them. You see one person stealing and hiding money that can take care of millions of people. The truth is that devils are ruling through them, to impoverish and place the people under bondage. Many of them patronize, or recruit the services of haggard and wretched-looking marabous. They turn potions of Government houses to shrines.
God said, “There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God drove them out from before you”_ Deuteronomy 18: 10-12.

Our rulers have a complex. They love titles. Therefore, they seek and buy honourary doctorate degrees, chieftaincy titles, and other mundane awards; to psyche up that inferiority complex. They are empty vessels that make the greatest noise. They are bereaved of ideas to better the lots of the people.

We therefore call for a change of attitude. Let them turn a new leaf. Let them pay up all the people they owe. God Almighty looks down in the kingdoms of men, to pay everyone according to his deeds.