“The worth of a nation, in the long run, is the worth
of the individuals composing it.” – John Stuart Mill
TOMORROW is Nigeria’s 54th Independence Day
Anniversary. The primaries in the various political
parties will be taking off soon. And early next year
we will be voting again in the general elections
2015. As we are preparing for the primaries and the
general elections, What kind of leader do we want as
our president? Are we waiting for a great leader to
emerge and save Nigeria from all her many problems
and help us build the Great New Nigeria of our
dreams?
When the student is ready, a teacher walks into his
life. Likewise when we as Nigerian citizens are ready,
a great leader will walk into our lives and take us to
the promised land of greatness! The KEY word is
ready! “Are we ready for a great Nigerian leader?”
What are we doing to get ready? What are you doing
now to create the conditions for that great leader to
emerge? What are you doing now that is making a
difference right where you are? What can you do now
to make a difference in your circle of influence (in
your community, in your mosque, in your church, in
your school, in your place of work etc)? What are
you doing now?
Clayborne Carson edited Dr Martin Luther King’s
autobiography and he said “If we want social change
to take place, rather than waiting for a leader to
emerge, we have to first look in the mirror and see it
as our responsibility to create the conditions for a
leader to emerge. When Rosa Parks was sitting on
that bus and was faced with the choice of whether or
not to give up her seat, she didn’t get on a cell
phone and call Martin Luther King and say ‘What
should I do?’ She did what she had to do, and that
provided a context in which Martin Luther King could
then do what he could do, and the rest is history.”
As Nigerians, many of us complain endlessly about
our leaders; feeling that Nigeria’s bane is bad
leadership. But our leaders are not Chinese, they are
not Japanese, they are not Americans. They are all
full blooded Nigerians. If we have a leadership
problem, we should take a second look at ourselves
as Nigerian citizens because it also means we have
a followership problem! A law of nature (a spiritual
law) says “Everything produces after its own kind”. If
you plant orange seeds you will reap orange fruits, if
you plant apple seeds you will reap apple fruits.
However in Nigeria we want to reap the fruit of good
leadership before we plant the seeds of good
citizenship, it doesn’t work that way! The seeds
called ‘Nigerian citizens’ produce the fruits called
‘Nigerian leaders’, period!
We have sown ‘pepper’ (by commission or
omission) and we are reaping ‘pepper’ and we are
wondering why?
To use the manufacturing process as an analogy for
producing leaders, If a defective bottle of Coca cola
comes off the production line, the manufacturers of
Coke will first check the raw materials for what went
wrong and fix it, then they will check and fix
whatever went wrong with the manufacturing
process. They will then re-start production and will
come up with a good finished product – a good
bottle of Coca cola. Nigerians are the raw materials
that produce the finished product called ‘Nigerian
leaders’.
If you want responsible leaders, you must become a
responsible citizen. If you want accountable leaders,
you must become a citizen that is accountable. If we
want good leaders, we must become good citizens.
Everything produces after its own kind!
Obvious examples of this law in world politics and
history are Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill. They
were both World War 2 leaders. Germans at a point
in time in their history produced a leader like Hitler.
Hitler simply appealed to the German pride and he
consistently talked about their supposed racial
superiority.
Unfortunately, many Germans at the time shared in
Hitler’s vision. What Hitler simply did was to tap into
something that was already there (waiting for
expression) in the hearts of his people. A number of
Germans then believed that they were racially
superior to other races and they produced a leader
that believed in the superior Aryan race. Everything
produces after its own kind!
The support Hitler got from the Germans made his
job so much easier. He used the resources of the
most advanced economy and the second most
populated nation in Europe (i.e. Germany) to pursue
his devious vision. And the outcome of his
leadership was World War 2. The whole world
(especially the Jews) paid dearly for his kind of
leadership. About six million Jews died in that war
and millions of others.
However the British produced a leader like Winston
Churchill during the same period of time in history
that the Germans produced Hitler. “Churchill is
celebrated for his leadership during World War II
(1939-1945). His courage, decisiveness, political
experience, and enormous vitality enabled him to
lead his country through the war, one of the most
desperate struggles in British history.” (Microsoft
Encarta 2009). Great Britain needed to stop Hitler at
all cost. And that’s how the British produced a great
leader in the person of Winston Churchill.
Churchill also tapped into something that was
already in the British people – the British pride of the
British Empire that the sun never sets on. In his own
words “You ask, What is our aim? I can answer in
one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in
spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the
road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Let that be realized; no survival for the British
Empire; no survival for all that the British Empire has
stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the
ages, that mankind will move forward towards its
goal.” (Excerpts from Churchill’s speech: Blood,
Toil, Tears and Sweat)
At the time the British people had an empire
mentality and World War 2 was a great threat to the
British Empire and Britain’s status as a world power.
Inevitably the British people produced a leader with
an empire mentality to protect the British Empire
(and the world) from Hitler.
Rosa Parks had worked on herself before that
eventful day that shot her into limelight of the Civil
Rights movement. She became a new kind of African
American. She became the change she desired to
see. And when the opportunity presented itself what
she had become manifested itself by the decision
she made that day not to give up her seat. She was
also ready to pay the price and go to prison for the
choice she made to be treated right, with dignity and
respect. Rosa Parks and many other new African
Americans (and many other new white Americans)
produced the great leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The New Americans (both black and white) wanted a
great new America where all will be treated with
dignity and respect.
If we as Nigerian want a New Nigeria, we must stop
acting like old Nigerians! If we want New Nigerian
Leaders we must become New Nigerian Citizens! If
we want a Great New Nigerian Leader to emerge we
must become Great New Nigerian Citizens!
Everything produces after its own kind!
• Simoyan wrote from Yaba, Lagos.
of the individuals composing it.” – John Stuart Mill
TOMORROW is Nigeria’s 54th Independence Day
Anniversary. The primaries in the various political
parties will be taking off soon. And early next year
we will be voting again in the general elections
2015. As we are preparing for the primaries and the
general elections, What kind of leader do we want as
our president? Are we waiting for a great leader to
emerge and save Nigeria from all her many problems
and help us build the Great New Nigeria of our
dreams?
When the student is ready, a teacher walks into his
life. Likewise when we as Nigerian citizens are ready,
a great leader will walk into our lives and take us to
the promised land of greatness! The KEY word is
ready! “Are we ready for a great Nigerian leader?”
What are we doing to get ready? What are you doing
now to create the conditions for that great leader to
emerge? What are you doing now that is making a
difference right where you are? What can you do now
to make a difference in your circle of influence (in
your community, in your mosque, in your church, in
your school, in your place of work etc)? What are
you doing now?
Clayborne Carson edited Dr Martin Luther King’s
autobiography and he said “If we want social change
to take place, rather than waiting for a leader to
emerge, we have to first look in the mirror and see it
as our responsibility to create the conditions for a
leader to emerge. When Rosa Parks was sitting on
that bus and was faced with the choice of whether or
not to give up her seat, she didn’t get on a cell
phone and call Martin Luther King and say ‘What
should I do?’ She did what she had to do, and that
provided a context in which Martin Luther King could
then do what he could do, and the rest is history.”
As Nigerians, many of us complain endlessly about
our leaders; feeling that Nigeria’s bane is bad
leadership. But our leaders are not Chinese, they are
not Japanese, they are not Americans. They are all
full blooded Nigerians. If we have a leadership
problem, we should take a second look at ourselves
as Nigerian citizens because it also means we have
a followership problem! A law of nature (a spiritual
law) says “Everything produces after its own kind”. If
you plant orange seeds you will reap orange fruits, if
you plant apple seeds you will reap apple fruits.
However in Nigeria we want to reap the fruit of good
leadership before we plant the seeds of good
citizenship, it doesn’t work that way! The seeds
called ‘Nigerian citizens’ produce the fruits called
‘Nigerian leaders’, period!
We have sown ‘pepper’ (by commission or
omission) and we are reaping ‘pepper’ and we are
wondering why?
To use the manufacturing process as an analogy for
producing leaders, If a defective bottle of Coca cola
comes off the production line, the manufacturers of
Coke will first check the raw materials for what went
wrong and fix it, then they will check and fix
whatever went wrong with the manufacturing
process. They will then re-start production and will
come up with a good finished product – a good
bottle of Coca cola. Nigerians are the raw materials
that produce the finished product called ‘Nigerian
leaders’.
If you want responsible leaders, you must become a
responsible citizen. If you want accountable leaders,
you must become a citizen that is accountable. If we
want good leaders, we must become good citizens.
Everything produces after its own kind!
Obvious examples of this law in world politics and
history are Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill. They
were both World War 2 leaders. Germans at a point
in time in their history produced a leader like Hitler.
Hitler simply appealed to the German pride and he
consistently talked about their supposed racial
superiority.
Unfortunately, many Germans at the time shared in
Hitler’s vision. What Hitler simply did was to tap into
something that was already there (waiting for
expression) in the hearts of his people. A number of
Germans then believed that they were racially
superior to other races and they produced a leader
that believed in the superior Aryan race. Everything
produces after its own kind!
The support Hitler got from the Germans made his
job so much easier. He used the resources of the
most advanced economy and the second most
populated nation in Europe (i.e. Germany) to pursue
his devious vision. And the outcome of his
leadership was World War 2. The whole world
(especially the Jews) paid dearly for his kind of
leadership. About six million Jews died in that war
and millions of others.
However the British produced a leader like Winston
Churchill during the same period of time in history
that the Germans produced Hitler. “Churchill is
celebrated for his leadership during World War II
(1939-1945). His courage, decisiveness, political
experience, and enormous vitality enabled him to
lead his country through the war, one of the most
desperate struggles in British history.” (Microsoft
Encarta 2009). Great Britain needed to stop Hitler at
all cost. And that’s how the British produced a great
leader in the person of Winston Churchill.
Churchill also tapped into something that was
already in the British people – the British pride of the
British Empire that the sun never sets on. In his own
words “You ask, What is our aim? I can answer in
one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in
spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the
road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Let that be realized; no survival for the British
Empire; no survival for all that the British Empire has
stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the
ages, that mankind will move forward towards its
goal.” (Excerpts from Churchill’s speech: Blood,
Toil, Tears and Sweat)
At the time the British people had an empire
mentality and World War 2 was a great threat to the
British Empire and Britain’s status as a world power.
Inevitably the British people produced a leader with
an empire mentality to protect the British Empire
(and the world) from Hitler.
Rosa Parks had worked on herself before that
eventful day that shot her into limelight of the Civil
Rights movement. She became a new kind of African
American. She became the change she desired to
see. And when the opportunity presented itself what
she had become manifested itself by the decision
she made that day not to give up her seat. She was
also ready to pay the price and go to prison for the
choice she made to be treated right, with dignity and
respect. Rosa Parks and many other new African
Americans (and many other new white Americans)
produced the great leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The New Americans (both black and white) wanted a
great new America where all will be treated with
dignity and respect.
If we as Nigerian want a New Nigeria, we must stop
acting like old Nigerians! If we want New Nigerian
Leaders we must become New Nigerian Citizens! If
we want a Great New Nigerian Leader to emerge we
must become Great New Nigerian Citizens!
Everything produces after its own kind!
• Simoyan wrote from Yaba, Lagos.
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