By Amiru Halilu
“Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honour, on sacredness of obligation, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it can’t live.” – Franklin Roosevelt
The above integral and essential components or ingredients of good and effective leadership mentioned in the statement once issued by the former American President Franklin Roosevelt, are what are real, actual and existing only on the lips of contemporary leaders particularly ours, and completely vanished in their own hearts. In the side of our own leaders, great responsibility had since been played down, obligation turned into a child play, commitment to deliver on their campaign promises has transmuted into an option, taking responsibility of their numerous failures is inessential, outpouring of compassionate words that can slightly console the led in times of severe pain cause by their bad leadership like “we have failed but we are sorry” is just a mere choice.
Fellow Nigerians, it’s in this jungle named Nigeria we just wake up in one black morning and suddenly had a sitting governor said, to quote him verbatim: “I am not the chief security officer of the state.” Can you recall the first governor that publicly opposed to thirty (30) thousand naira minimum wage and the first to cry publicly that his 10 million naira life monthly pension wasn’t paid to him.
Of course I am talking about the former Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari. But the funniest thing is that, the cold-hearted dude had the effrontery not to inform the federal government to withhold or stop releasing that fraudulent fund—security votes to Zamfara state under his leadership until the state produces the one that can bear the burden and accept the responsibility of his actions and inactions. This is how irresponsibility, coldheartedness and selfishness of our leaders reached its apogee in the world of Nigerian leadership.
Your excellency, Gov. Malam Nasiru Elrufai, I feel duty bound to remind you at this juncture that, our dear brother, social media personality, government critic and a lecturer at the federal university Dutsenma, Abubakar Idris a.k.a Dadiyata is still missing for more than four months now. He was taken away along with his BMW vehicle by unknown persons on Friday 2nd August, 2019, at about 1:00am at his residence in Barnawa Kaduna. Lack of detail information about his whereabouts has aroused series of veiled and oblique remarks; insinuation after insinuation, innuendos upon innuendos yet, no one is able give an accurate information about his whereabouts. This ugly scenario has blacken your reputation as the chief security officer of the state because it happened as a result of your failure to guarantee safety of lives and properties.
Sir, even a yet to be born child knows that you are fully in charge of the resources of our beloved state but interms of security of lives and properties which should have been the first item in the agenda of any sane and serious leader, it seems like you have absconded or you are in a long recess or perhaps you are in comatose. I thought you are elected Kaduna state governor to serve all — Muslims, Christians, Pagans, APCs, PDPs, your ardent fans and your critics, your admirers and your haters, your lovers and your enemies.
As a leader, I thought you will have a social conscience. And selflessness, humanitarianism and compassion will be your favorite virtues. Unfortunately you proved me wrong; your emotionlessness, unresponsiveness and indifference demonstrated towards the case of our dear brother, Dadiyata shows otherwise. What you seemed to have clearly forgotten is everyone in Kaduna state including animals have a right over you, and whatsoever happens to anyone either as a result of your numerous failures or not, you must give an account of it. Taking the oath of office or leadership in general has gone beyond controlling resources, awarding contracts and paying salaries.
A genuine leader who knows the arduous burden of leadership, who knows where his task begins and ends, who knows that the burden of responsibility for public safety fully rest on his shoulder, treat animals with more concern and compassion because he must have a compassionate instinct. Research by APS fellow Jean Decety, at the University of Chicago, showed that “even rats are driven to empathise with another suffering rats and go out of their way to help it out of its quandary.”
When this tragedy occurred there was no words of compassion or pity from you as we have not heard any official and consolation statement issued from your office—the chief security officer. you have not paid a visit to his family; you have not send a delegation to his family. Thus, if anyone advices you to ignore his ordeal and that of his family or tells you that it’s a waste of emotion to show concern for his ordeal just because of political difference, then he is your number one enemy.
Anybody who tells you that one day you will not stand and explain in details why these tragedies happened under your watch, then he is just deceiving you; whoever tells you not to worry about the persistence and reoccurring of tragedies like these, he is really working to destroy you, and whosoever tells you that you will not receive a severe punishment in the hereafter if animals suffer under your leadership then that person needs to see psychiatrist.
God forbid, be inclined to think that this ugly development happens to your biological son; how will you react to it? Definitely not the way you handle this! Everyone knows that you will act like a loose cannon; you will deploy all your arsenal to ensure that you reunite with him. Therefore, the same energy you will expend, the same resources you will inject, the same attention you will pay, the same pain you will feel and the same concern you will show, heaven forfend, should this happen to your own son is the same you will if it happens to anyone under your watch.
A short while ago, you suddenly appeared in Kogi state kneeling down before the good people of the state, begging them to forgive governor Yahaya Bello and give him their votes. That is laughable! You have your monumental sin and container of problems in your own state that is about to consume you, yet you chose to sidestepped them, turn back on them, disregard them and went to another state to seek for forgiveness on behalf of the worst governor in Nigeria. Haba Malam! If there are people whom you should have kneel down and beg for forgiveness are the families of the victims of unidentified assailants, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery etc who have been going through severe agony and trauma as a result of your failure to guarantee safety.
My dear governor, you will never be a true and genuine leader until you have a sense of responsibility and you have become so obsessed about the plight of the people. Dadiyata is still missing sir! Please do something before you go!!
Amiru Halilu writes from Kaduna. Follow me @AmiruHalilu
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Sky Daily
