By Osazua IVBAZE
If you have health challenges which require that you need diagnosis, the purpose is to find out what is wrong. If after diagnosis and it is discovered that there is a tumor somewhere in your body, the doctor would advise on what to do: If his advice is surgery to remove the tumor so as to enable you overcome the challenges, the choice is yours, If you reject surgery, you will continue to waste money on symptoms while dying gradually.
Have we been bold and honest enough to take Nigeria to a diagnostic centre to find out the cause of the country’s problems?If we do, the report we are going to get is easily predictable.
Contrary to those who blame the system , ours is more of character failure than system failure, Character failure– not only on the part of our leaders but also on the part of followers .
The tumors that are holding the country down and stagnating growth are loaded in our character, So , the surgery that is needed must be at our character, not system.
The characters driving the system are sick and therefore that is where the treatment must take place if we are to have a better country.
We can make any system work if we have the right character and attitudes. But when there is deficit in these areas, no progress will ever be made.
At independence, we inherited the Parliamentary system of government which collapsed in 1966 following military intervention in the political life of the nation.
We switched to the American brand of Presidential democracy in 1979. What has changed?
The US and China are the two greatest countries on earth and are driven by different if not almost diametrically opposed systems.
What drives the Chinese Communist system is discipline and patriotism of it’s leaders and people.
No system is ever perfect. But with strength of character, we can manage imperfect systems to fruit good governance.
Let’s answer this question.
If you were in the shoes of those you criticize, are you sure you would not be doing what they are doing?
While we crave for good and effective leadership, let us be sure that we are doing things right in our own little ways.
The truth is that corruption is everywhere and destroying institutions– the media, judiciary, legislature, political leadership, University system, law enforcement agencies There is decay everywhere because of decay in character.
