Leadership Question, Nigeria in focus!

There has been and still an ongoing agitation by the youths of Nigeria that the older generation should take the backseat and give them a chance to lead.

My honest opinion is that there shouldn't be an upper limit on age to determine the eligibility or otherwise of leaders. Leadership should be about capacity, competence, drive, vision, character and maybe experience. If a young man embodies a good measure of these, why not? If at 70, a candidate can pass the test of mental and physical strength, in addition to the qualities listed here, why use his age to discriminate against him?

In the final analysis, what matters is result. The United States of America has had very youthful Presidents. The just concluded contest was between two septuagenarians in a country with an abundance of vibrant youth. Does that mean that country isn't making progress? I don't think so.

Nigeria's leadership problems have little or nothing to do with the age of office holders. We have experienced both the young and the old in offices. Many of us may disagree. But I insist that we take a critical look at our culture and value system as a nation if we are desirous of addressing the leadership question. What we blame on leadership, for me, is substantially a bye product of the totality of our values as a people.

Start from customary demands on marriages, burials etc. What kind of society is revealed? For me, greedy, rapacious, exploitative and materialistic. Sadly, it's getting worse every day.

What is the single most important determinant of electoral outcomes in Nigeria? Is it the financial war chest of the candidates? Their track records of sound character and selfless service? Or is it the contents of their manifestoes and their ability to articulate a clear, practical and impressive vision?

If we have concluded that Nigeria has a perennial problem of bad leadership and poor governance, we must be honest enough to look at the people who constitute the nation. When you see bad fruits, look at the tree which bear them and forget the fruits. Once the tree is wholesome, the fruits have no choice than to turn out well. It is the society that gives birth to leaders.

Now, as a society, what do we say to a Local Government Chairman who serves well and comes back without transforming into a millionaire? We label him "foolish". What is our reaction if members of his family are still poor despite having a relation as Chairman? We brand him "wicked". Is it surprising that even the wealthy in his family expects his own piece of the national cake? For us, he is dispensing a largesse and nobody wants to miss out.

How many office holders are willing to continue in the same accommodation they inhabited before assumption of office? How many of us won't consider such decision absurd if any of them dared? How many of us can send our children to normal schools as office holders? If someone does, how many of such schools will allow the kids exist normally like their peers?

How many of us won't mock an office holder who buries a loved one in a modest, quiet event?

This post is by no means a justification of failed leadership. Rather, it's a call for a review of our priorities, cultures, values, choices and lifestyles as a people.

Leadership is not an exclusive right of any age bracket.