Basically, traditional leadership in Nigeria is a down to earth, realistic and communal oriented leadership. It is a moral and ethical leadership, an outcome of their religious world-view that is anchored in such moral values like truth, sincerity, justice, fairness, selflessness, openness to communal and spiritual indictments and so on.
Modern Nigerian leadership is essentially propped by borrowed political theories with little or no relevance to Nigerian contemporary needs … It is further based on a scientific secular world view … Values exhibited by such leadership tend to neglect traditional values on the same issues. Thus under this modern system, diplomacy and hypocrisy becloud the traditional virtues of sincerity and truth. Other negative vices include some human vices like pride and prejudices, injustices covered by propaganda, bribery and corruption, naked destruction of imagined and real enemies, rigging of elections in order to perpetuate one’s stay in power … Under-girding these negative moral human vices in Nigerian present leadership system is the attitude of self centeredness rooted in self interest that is radically opposed to the common good of the society.
It is important to note that the almost perfect traditional Nigerian leadership style was sustained by the values resident in the traditional Nigerian culture and these values sustained the people throughout the ages. It is rather worrisome to see modern Nigerian leaders look else where rather than into their traditional context and traditions for solution to the leadership problems in the country. Modernists believe that there is nothing in African culture that can deliver the people from the present crises, for it appears as if Africans are the only people who do not draw from their cultural heritage. The argument continues that the success of Asia can be attributed to its adherence to her cultural values, but in Africa, the educated, the elite have despised their own traditional values and regard them as signs of backwardness. It is from this premise that I suggest that Nigerians should draw inspiration and lessons from her richly endowed traditional values towards proper leadership and the much desired development.
Development is a vital issue in all societies. For the much attention given to it as a concept has generated a lot of controversies. A careful look at this concept shows it to be a situation where an individual and the society interact with the physical, biological and inter human environment, transforming them for their good and that of the entire humanity and being transformed in the process. The lessons and experiences acquired in the process are transmitted unto future generations enabling them to better their capacities to make further valuable changes in their inter-human relations and their ability to transform nature.
Development can also be seen as a change from one state to another in such a way that the new state is different from the former in terms of characteristics. Development covers from social, cultural, moral and religious to political and economic aspects of human life. In other words development consists of all activities which ensure positive improvement in the society. Positive improvement should not be interpreted mainly in material terms because a nation can have much of the material wealth while among its citizens are millions of people languishing not only in abject poverty but also in moral decadence as presently found in Nigeria.
Development in Nigeria should cover more than mere temporal care of individuals. It should reach down to the formation of man in a manner that the Nigeria society enjoys true goodness. The development of a particular society is first and foremost the building of the people that make up the society which in effect boils down to the building of individuals themselves.
Written by Jomo Iroha.
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irohajomo@gmail.com
