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Lessons from Kerry’s Parting Lines
Lekan Fatodu
Everything that has a beginning has an end, even if it is a political assignment or public service.
Of course many will argue that there are peculiar cases in Africa where political leaders try to hold on to power ‘forever’ or till they are kicked out via violent, and often fatal, public protests.
That said, the honourable manner in which the former President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria handed power over after his electoral loss, and, recently in Ghana, the graciousness of the defeated incumbent President John Mahamain accepting the decision of the people of Ghana should inspire change in the attitude of other African leaders who love to cling to power perpetually.
Not even the ‘bad egg’ case of the defeated President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia who has refused to relinquish power to Adama Barrow, the winner of the last presidential election in Gambia, should alter the trailblazing examples cited in Nigeria and Ghana towards improving democratic processes in Africa.
And as America undergoes a period of political transition, there are valuable lessons we can learn as we seek to better our lots on this continent. This piece draws particularly from the out-going Secretary of State of the U.S., John Kerry’s memo.
Having served as the U.S.’ topmost diplomat since 2013 during which he conducted highly laborious and delicate diplomatic negotiations around the world with considerable records of worthy accomplishments, Kerry will be bowing from the coveted position as the tenure of his principal, President Obama, ends on 20th of January 2017.
But the renowned diplomat is not leaving without sharing some powerful nuggets, which include home-truths, essential not only for the future of America but also that of the rest of the world.
In some lines from his exit memo to his boss, President Obama, and in effect to the American people, a close observer would easily deduce that Kerry was somewhat also talking on the reality that a government like the one currently in Nigeria needs to rise to the challenge before it instead of living in denial, and trading blames.
“American greatness is a fact but not an entitlement. It cannot be taken for granted. It must be demonstrated and earned by every generation. It demands the best from us, and the best within us.
“The world will be watching to see whether we – the American people – remain up to that challenge.
“There is not a scintilla of doubt in my mind that the answer is yes, but we will have to work at it, together, and make the investments that leaders have a responsibility to make,” he said.
Just imagine America that has shown, and continue to demonstrate greatness in virtually all areas of human development is still conducting serious self-assessment and not resting on its oars. Are you not wondering what the matter is with the self-acclaimed “Giant of Africa”, Nigeria, whose gaits are rarely felt on the continent in terms of sound development?
The bottomline is that Nigeria revels more on superficiality than reality. And this is where Kerry’s admonition becomes even more imperative for Nigeria, and other countries whose efforts on governance and socio-economic necessities cannot be seen to be enduring.
As such the government of Nigeria must take a detour from its fixation on worthless trademarks. Isn’t it a shame to keep mouthing the largest economy in Africa while most of our consumables are products of different foreign countries? Expectedly, the human development indexes from the continent’s biggest remains a big embarrassment to the outside world. And our standing on the ease of doing business ratio remains nothing to write home about.
Similarly, the state of our infrastructure remains as appalling as ever with little or no effort towards aggressive rejuvenation of the condition.
Seriously, a nation that is deeply concerned about greatness should understand that the stability of its aviation infrastructure is critical to government’s earnings and effective trade and investment transactions in the country.
Therefore the shabby manner of handling the decision on the closure of a major international travel route, like the Abuja airport in Nigeria, is just an example of how deplorable governance is within that sector of the economy.
Thus, the international airlines that have been reported to have frowned at the temporary alternative route are very well within their senses. They know that such improvement is a continuous action where they come from and such is never taken for granted as it seems to be a culture of negligence in Nigeria. And also, they are aware of the dire security challenge in the country especially within the part of Nigeria that has been flagged as flash points of violence by most foreign countries.
Truthfully, Nigeria has got so much to do to attain greater heights, and to reiterate Kerry’s words “It demands the best from us, and the best within us”.
And this greatness cannot be achieved while we continue to shy away from critical responsibility of the state, which tends to prolong the evil days.
As, for instance, there is nothing ingenious in the resolution of the country’s oil corporation to seek alternative sources of crude oil supply for its refinery in the North because pipelines that supply it crude from the Niger Delta region are often destroyed by the spate of militancy in the region.
What Kerry suggests in this circumstance, and as expected of any visionary government, is clear demonstration of commitment to tackle these challenges. And that’s the kind of leadership Nigeria needs.
