By Kayode Emola
In the world we live in today, many leaders cling to power as though it is their birthright. In turn, this affects their sense of judgment, thereby undoing years of hard work and personal sacrifice. In the end, it is the masses and several others who will suffer the consequences of that action.
Last week, the UK had local elections in England and parliamentary elections to the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales. If the results were anything to go by, it was a complete disaster for the central Labour government that lost over 1,500 council seats in England and the Welsh Labour government in Wales.
As a matter of fact, the First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, lost her own seat and the ability to return to the Welsh Senedd. The first of its kind in any government in the United Kingdom. Yet, all these events did not faze the Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer, into action, other than a mere press conference.
Even though he consistently said he took responsibility for the bad turn of events, he has fallen short of reading the handwriting on the wall. Even in Biblical times, we were told that the great King Nebuchadnezzar read the handwriting on the wall and couldn’t sleep until it was interpreted and remedial actions taken.
It seems that this is not the case for many modern leaders of our time. They cling to power as though it is their birthright, and power revolves around them. I know many good councillors in England who lost their seats and many good people who lost their seats in Wales for no fault of their own.
However, when political leaders don’t learn to do the right thing when it’s time for them to leave the stage, then disaster is bound to strike one way or another. Sir Kier Starmer had even tried to postpone some council elections before he was threatened with court action and made a U-turn. This must show desperation in leaders who believe they have a point to prove and still haven’t completed their political assignments.
Which brings me to what the Yoruba nation would have looked like if we had taken our independence out of Nigeria when Ghana took theirs in 1957. The Yoruba government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo scored first in many areas of development, such that we even had a TV station before France.
The Yoruba government of Western Nigeria gave every child free education that even benefited those who were not originally from Yorubaland. The Yoruba government had an agricultural program that encouraged farmers and made sure every cocoa brought to the Cocoa House was duly accounted for and adequately paid for.
All these great achievements of the 1950s were thrown away for a greater project of building the Nigerian dream. One which will continue to bite the Yoruba people hard into the future unless we decide to sever all ties with anything that has to do with Nigeria.
For all intents and purposes, most Yoruba people do not know that the pain and suffering we are currently experiencing in Nigeria is artificial. Many young Yoruba who live in the homeland have never experienced good governance in their lifetime; therefore, they wouldn’t know one if they saw it.
Fela sang about bad governance a lot in his songs, but his greatest frustration wasn’t with the government, some of the time, but with the people. Even though his song titled “My People Are Useless” was aimed at the government that had previously referred to Nigerians as undisciplined and useless people. Fela knew he was a lone voice fighting for the good of his people, who would not raise a finger when he was in harm’s way.
It would be good for leaders to know when to call it a day. This will save their country and its people from unnecessary hardship that may befall them because of their action. If Sir Kier had seen the handwriting on the wall before the election and knew what was coming, I’m sure he would have chosen a more honourable path.
His claim that the British people gave him a clear mandate of 5 years is just a ruse to continue to perpetuate himself in office. As it stands, if he has any goodwill for his political party, this is the best time to quit the stage and let another person take the reins; if not, the Labour Party as we know it in Britain will become one of the minority parties and nothing to reckon with in the near future.
I pray and hope that when our Yoruba nation eventually comes, God will raise for us leaders who will do their best for the country. They would be ready to call it a day when the time is ripe and not behave like many African heads of government, where the only place they are taking themselves and their country to the grave. My prayer is for God to raise men like Nelson Madiba Mandela who will see power as a privilege and not a birthright.
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