Any government that wants to save Nigeria must create an entire value system that will effectively address the moral failings of our society. This is the biggest problem as a country. From this we have all other problems including leadership failure. The point I am trying to make is that leadership is not the biggest problem in Nigeria. The biggest problem is a broken value system. In the past few years, I have committed myself to developing a set of values for the Nigerian nation. I ended up with 20 people. We have a National orientation agency in Nigeria, we have a National Institute for policy and strategic studies in Nigeria, this national organization and others should be tasked to create a fully developed value system to give the right orientation to every Nigerian.
National values are a set of core principles embedded in the mental and social fabric of society, which help dictate the actions and behavior of citizens. These are the qualities, principles and behaviors that every nation values as it strives to achieve its ultimate goals.
Let’s get this straight. There is no point in waiting for a miracle from president Tinubu if he and his team do not put the program together. Miracles do not happen despite the best efforts of this APC Mohammadu Buhari government, there is no need to wait for a miracle from the Tinubu government if the right thing is not done. Let me prove this to you through an illustration. Any nation can be seen as a pot from which the most active, energetic or talented representative of a given society emerges as a leader. If the pot becomes broken, only corrupt leaders will come out of the pot. If the pot is clean and fair and everyone in the country lives with the right value system, surely the leaders who will emerge from the pot will reflect the nature and environment of the pot. They will be clean, they will be reliable and they will be right. This is why you, my dear reader, probably cannot name ten current heads of state in Europe. Because it is not necessary to have a super leader, because the society is on average upright, so it does not matter who is the leader, whoever is elected will act according to the honest standards of the country.
If most of our people are corrupted in these values, then this will be reflected in all areas of our society. Bad deeds will rear their ugly heads everywhere from the bottom to the top. There will be evil and corrupt citizens everywhere. In such a situation, even the president of Jesus Christ himself, the most corrupt citizens will sabotage the best efforts. As long as the masses of citizens lack the moral virtues necessary for progress and development, the best efforts of the leaders will amount to nothing. As long as our leaders at every level are produced from this society in which all moral values are broken, it means that only morally broken leaders can emerge. Society will always produce leaders who reflect the state of the society. If society is morally and ethically healthy, these are the types of leaders that will emerge. If the society is corrupt and the thoughts of ordinary citizens are selfish, egocentrism and instant gratification then this is the type of leader that will emerge to be in power.
There are occasional exceptions to this trend. That is when the remaining leaders can prove their ability to convince the citizens of their good intentions. In such a situation when the people accept an extraordinary leader, the most important task is to change the nature of the pot by changing the nation’s value system. Our leaders come from our community. The leadership of any nation is only a reflection of the value system that exists in that society. So if a country is corrupt, it will only produce corrupt leaders because the citizens generally live with corrupt values in their daily lives and efforts. An impure pot will continue to produce impure contents. If Nigeria and Nigerian value systems do not change, we will continue to recycle and produce only the kind of leaders we see today. Miracles will not happen, leaders are not angels or spirits. They live and grow from among them; its existence is given expression and influenced by the happenings in its environment. Expecting a leader who lives in a society with a lot of corruption and immoral morals to live on top of the board while shying away from the urgent task of changing and orienting the people will only amount to putting the cart before the horse.
The biggest challenge for Nigerians who want to see a changed society is to focus on their value system as a people. If the people’s value system is correct, they will not elect corrupt or bad leaders. For example, in a society where there are good moral values, people will not vote for corrupt politicians or collect money to get the wrong people into office. Even if a corrupt politician finds his way into government by hook or by crook, because the moral values of the society are in conflict with the corrupt values of the politician, he will be exposed and easily removed.
Therefore, what we need in Nigeria and Africa in general is not only a good messianic leader, but also a good set of virtues and a good value system in the masses that will make them hate and reject the manifestations of corruption in leaders and would be leaders. Thus, we should not hope, and we will not have the kind of improvement or leadership that we are looking for as a nation if we do not work on our value system. For example, under the administration of the late Umaru Musa Yar Adua, there was a bold move to change the negative perception of Nigeria locally and internationally through the Rebranding Project. Unfortunately, this brilliant program failed to achieve its stated goals because it was not the first attempt to establish and promote good national values in the citizens of the country. Rebranding is not the problem, the problem is to change the content of the character of our citizens, when we become moral people, we will automatically change the brand around the world.
The Bible clearly states the secret of a nation’s greatness in Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to others.”
This passage is not only a warning to the nation of Israel, but also a guide and instruction to all the nations of the earth, without distinction, and without distinction. It is a universal principle. So, when the Bible says that righteousness exalts a nation, it means that righteousness makes that nation loved by God who then exalts the nation. Disobeying God and rebelling against God brings God’s curse on a nation. God withdrew his blessing and protection from a sinful nation, and the consequences were unimaginable. The universal testimony of history proves the truth of the principle that the true greatness of a nation and that determines progress, peace and prosperity in the future is not in the quality of a civilized population, or intellectual or technological progress, or neither. but in political sagacity and tolerance; but in the quality of moral righteousness in all actions, in private, public and international as dictated by the national set of state values.
Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, transformational strategist, pastor and innovator. He is based in Kiev, Ukraine.
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