What your Philosophy says about you
May 16 2016 By Abiodun Giwa
President Muhammed Buhari, second from the left, in White and glasses, and some of his co-travelers in the ruling
Leadership comes with tough responsibilities that require wisdom and a level of thought processes that are beyond the the primary level of learning and knowledge acquisition.
It is one thing for a leader to know what he or she wants to do for his or her people, it is another thing for a leader to know how to go about achieving his or her objectives.
President Muhammed Buhari is the indisputable leader of Nigeria. And whatever he says or does is bound to come under scrutiny, such as trying to see if he has a philosophy that guides his ideas or whether his ideas are rooted in a particular philosophy or whether they are just statements without substance.
The same is applicable to all leaders around the world and it is why collaboration in government has become more important than just becoming a leader and doing things like someone in a maze of confusion and hardly knows the direction he or she is taking his or her country. It is also the reason many countries have placed a particular level of education achievement for their aspiring leaders.
One major objective of the current Nigerian leadership is to fight corruption and reduce its impact on the country's politics and economy, believing like most people in the country and outside the country, that Nigeria is corrupt. And when you say that Nigeria is corrupt, you are invariably saying that Nigerians are corrupt. The argument over the status of Nigeria and Nigerians about corruption came up recently, when the British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Nigeria and Afghanistan are fantastically corrupt.
There are times one question the mode of the fight against corruption in Nigeria, louder than any other country in the world as if Nigeria is the only corrupt country in the world. The reason for can this be traced to demand by civilized countries for the country's leaders to make reduction of corruption an essential objective for they (civilized countries) to continue dealing with Nigeria. Aside from this, the fight against corruption has been the first list military officers have always listed as their first issue of concern since the time they began seizing power from 1966.
But many Nigerians have come to believe that military officers themselves are not immune from corruption. And because after 56 years of independence, Nigerians have since virtually believe majority of their leaders, past and present are corrupt, the idea to banish corruption or completely eradicate it, knowing the damage it has done to the country has become more appealing to aspiring leaders and their followers. Therefore, President Buhari, who had also ruled as a military head of state cannot be seen as an exception from past leaders who have corruption and have failed..
The exception President Buhari has is that he is saying that he is the only Nigerian leader who is not corrupt, a reminder of Elijah's cry in the wilderness that he was the only prophet in Israel who did not follow Baal, and upon which he was told that there were more prophets in Israel who were not followers of Baal. One thing that has become glaring from President Buhari's fight against corruption and the mode he has chosen for the fight is the confusion of his choice of the way to go about it and his philosophy.
Buhari's philosophy about life and stealing can be gleaned in a Facebook presentation by Boyo Oladimeji Okolo, in which Buhari says that he has brought nothing into this world and when he is leaving, he would take nothing with him. And consequently asks about what would make him to steal. Buhari's statement, partly scriptural, apart from his question about what could make him steal, opens up a gap between his fight against corruption, understanding the level of corruption in his country and how to go about reducing the level of corruption.
Buhari's question which may have stemmed from his philosophy about life and the need to be self-sufficient in monetary and material acquisition is essential here, because the first answer to it is that no Nigerian may have been born as a thief and that the political and economic situation in that country since independence is more than responsible for turning many Nigerians against the morality that you don's take what does not belong to you. Secondly, the application of the rule of law as deterrence against stealing has failed, because leaders and and highly placed people in the society have made nonsense of the police and the courts. Every Nigerian know that the police and courts are corrupt.
Using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other bodies like the EFCC set up to fight corruption, in concert with the police and the courts that have failed as deterrents, safe in their dealings with poor Nigerians, is like resorting to failed philosophy against preferable answers to his question about what would make him steal, since he would not be taking anything with him, when he leaves this earth. Many Nigerians who are Church and Mosque goers would ask the same question, despite their being thieves.
Simply put, considering that the Nigerian situation is a fertile ground to make angels to be thieves requires a different mode of operation, to reduce corruption. President Buhari knows that as a former head of state who showed the willingness to fight corruption but was overthrown by corruption, should not have come in the same mode of fighting corruption and expects to win, this despite the fact that his fight current against corruption has already been compromised for political gains.
The case of corruption in Nigeria is big. It is not just making the offices of attorney generals apolitical, find angels to be police men and women, and court officials to be from another planet, that will solve the failing of the rule of law and sending thieves to jail that would serve as deterrence. The Nigerian political, economic and social situation in Nigeria are capable of angels into thieves.
Nigeria and Nigerians require a different philosophy in their fight against corruption, one that will be better than the current usage of the EFCC as an agent of government, the ruling party, the Police and the Courts that are populated with corrupt elements in majority. What are Nigerians to do in a situation of using a corrupt police, courts officials and ruling ruling members in fighting corruption? Can corrupt politicians, police and courts - all deemed as corrupt, successfully fight corruption and win?
Although, some Nigerians are incorruptible just like President Buhari. The question is whether it would not be better to say all Nigerians have failed the test and the need for the country to begin afresh. Beginning afresh will mean that all thieves, small and big, are forgiven and that whoever is found to still be in corruption after the amnesty be made to go to life jail. There are so many past leaders in the country who all cannot claim immunity from corruption, which the current fight against corruption is not addressing their source of wealth and so are many others in the ruling party.
It is one thing for a leader to know what he or she wants to do for his or her people, it is another thing for a leader to know how to go about achieving his or her objectives.
President Muhammed Buhari is the indisputable leader of Nigeria. And whatever he says or does is bound to come under scrutiny, such as trying to see if he has a philosophy that guides his ideas or whether his ideas are rooted in a particular philosophy or whether they are just statements without substance.
The same is applicable to all leaders around the world and it is why collaboration in government has become more important than just becoming a leader and doing things like someone in a maze of confusion and hardly knows the direction he or she is taking his or her country. It is also the reason many countries have placed a particular level of education achievement for their aspiring leaders.
One major objective of the current Nigerian leadership is to fight corruption and reduce its impact on the country's politics and economy, believing like most people in the country and outside the country, that Nigeria is corrupt. And when you say that Nigeria is corrupt, you are invariably saying that Nigerians are corrupt. The argument over the status of Nigeria and Nigerians about corruption came up recently, when the British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Nigeria and Afghanistan are fantastically corrupt.
There are times one question the mode of the fight against corruption in Nigeria, louder than any other country in the world as if Nigeria is the only corrupt country in the world. The reason for can this be traced to demand by civilized countries for the country's leaders to make reduction of corruption an essential objective for they (civilized countries) to continue dealing with Nigeria. Aside from this, the fight against corruption has been the first list military officers have always listed as their first issue of concern since the time they began seizing power from 1966.
But many Nigerians have come to believe that military officers themselves are not immune from corruption. And because after 56 years of independence, Nigerians have since virtually believe majority of their leaders, past and present are corrupt, the idea to banish corruption or completely eradicate it, knowing the damage it has done to the country has become more appealing to aspiring leaders and their followers. Therefore, President Buhari, who had also ruled as a military head of state cannot be seen as an exception from past leaders who have corruption and have failed..
The exception President Buhari has is that he is saying that he is the only Nigerian leader who is not corrupt, a reminder of Elijah's cry in the wilderness that he was the only prophet in Israel who did not follow Baal, and upon which he was told that there were more prophets in Israel who were not followers of Baal. One thing that has become glaring from President Buhari's fight against corruption and the mode he has chosen for the fight is the confusion of his choice of the way to go about it and his philosophy.
Buhari's philosophy about life and stealing can be gleaned in a Facebook presentation by Boyo Oladimeji Okolo, in which Buhari says that he has brought nothing into this world and when he is leaving, he would take nothing with him. And consequently asks about what would make him to steal. Buhari's statement, partly scriptural, apart from his question about what could make him steal, opens up a gap between his fight against corruption, understanding the level of corruption in his country and how to go about reducing the level of corruption.
Buhari's question which may have stemmed from his philosophy about life and the need to be self-sufficient in monetary and material acquisition is essential here, because the first answer to it is that no Nigerian may have been born as a thief and that the political and economic situation in that country since independence is more than responsible for turning many Nigerians against the morality that you don's take what does not belong to you. Secondly, the application of the rule of law as deterrence against stealing has failed, because leaders and and highly placed people in the society have made nonsense of the police and the courts. Every Nigerian know that the police and courts are corrupt.
Using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other bodies like the EFCC set up to fight corruption, in concert with the police and the courts that have failed as deterrents, safe in their dealings with poor Nigerians, is like resorting to failed philosophy against preferable answers to his question about what would make him steal, since he would not be taking anything with him, when he leaves this earth. Many Nigerians who are Church and Mosque goers would ask the same question, despite their being thieves.
Simply put, considering that the Nigerian situation is a fertile ground to make angels to be thieves requires a different mode of operation, to reduce corruption. President Buhari knows that as a former head of state who showed the willingness to fight corruption but was overthrown by corruption, should not have come in the same mode of fighting corruption and expects to win, this despite the fact that his fight current against corruption has already been compromised for political gains.
The case of corruption in Nigeria is big. It is not just making the offices of attorney generals apolitical, find angels to be police men and women, and court officials to be from another planet, that will solve the failing of the rule of law and sending thieves to jail that would serve as deterrence. The Nigerian political, economic and social situation in Nigeria are capable of angels into thieves.
Nigeria and Nigerians require a different philosophy in their fight against corruption, one that will be better than the current usage of the EFCC as an agent of government, the ruling party, the Police and the Courts that are populated with corrupt elements in majority. What are Nigerians to do in a situation of using a corrupt police, courts officials and ruling ruling members in fighting corruption? Can corrupt politicians, police and courts - all deemed as corrupt, successfully fight corruption and win?
Although, some Nigerians are incorruptible just like President Buhari. The question is whether it would not be better to say all Nigerians have failed the test and the need for the country to begin afresh. Beginning afresh will mean that all thieves, small and big, are forgiven and that whoever is found to still be in corruption after the amnesty be made to go to life jail. There are so many past leaders in the country who all cannot claim immunity from corruption, which the current fight against corruption is not addressing their source of wealth and so are many others in the ruling party.
