‘’The real test of a man is not when he plays the role that he wants for himself, but when he plays the role destiny has for him’’.
-Vaclav Havel
Having vanquished the NLC, rammed N97 per litre price of fuel down Nigerians’ throat, and at the same time opened the petroleum subsidy corruption cankerworm, students of Nigeria’s history the world over are holding their breath to see what President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will do next. A man so far noted for his penchant for courting controversy than pursuing ‘’the one thing’’ that matters, will GEJ follow the road less travelled and reinvent Nigeria, or will he settle for the average as his last ten predecessors?
With no clear discerning direction yet in place, a litany of woes assailing the nation, and barely two years to the end of his presidency, GEJ is staring failure square in the face. The signs that Mr. President is headed for total failure are all over the place and viscerally ominous, but as Bob Buford said in his Half Time, ‘’it is never too late to change your game plan.’’ Does Mr. President have what it takes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?
Mr. President, the ‘’Transformation Agenda’’ is not your job. Does anybody today remember your predecessor’s ‘’Seven Point Agenda’’? Does anybody remember ‘’War Against Indiscipline’’, or ‘’Operation Feed the Nation’’. Empires are not built on the basis of political slogans and agendas, but on deep rooted convictions, watered with tears, blood and sweat. Empires are built by changing minds, attitudes, and national psyche. Dig deep into history and you’ll discover how Peter the Great did it, transforming Russia from hundreds of backward warring serfdoms into an enormous empire. If that appears too remote and lost in antiquity to be of relevance, look no farther than Singapore where in one generation and in our own lifetime Lee Kwan Yew transformed the island nation, devoid of much natural resources, into a global powerhouse, with per capita income surpassing the USA. Mr. President, this is your job: Lee Kwan Yew Nigeria.
Saint Augustine said that asking yourself the question of your own legacy – What do I wish to be remembered for? – is the beginning of adulthood. Mr. President, this is your job: Your Legacy. Put aside your power must shift garb and hat, fold your shirt, relocate your office from Aso Rock to the Ministry of Power and give Nigeria 35,570 Mega Watts of electricity between now and the day you step out of Aso Rock and you’ll be known for the rest of human history as Jonathan the Great.
On top of solving the electricity problem, as bonus, construct three massive bullet train lines, one that will take Nigerians from Maiduguri to Calabar in just two hours, another that will make Sokoto to Port Harcourt in three and half hours, and a third that will fly through the middle corridor of Nigeria from Kano through Abuja to Lagos in a little less than two hours and you would have united the nation, destroyed ethnic bigotry and set Nigeria on the path to greatness. With that you’ll be ready to be ushered into the great hall to join the pantheons of the Great: Alexander the Great! Peter the Great!! Jonathan the Great!!! Is that too much to ask?
Daily, a million things will clamour for your attention – bomb blasts, police brutality, corruption in high and low places. Ignore them, you have ministers. Focus on ‘’the one thing’’. Your job is to rally Nigerians to the future. To be a leader is not a walk through the park – attending United Nations Conference, World Economic Forum, adding new jets to the presidential fleet, sidelining your enemies. On the last day no one will ask how many conferences did you attend, but what difference did you make?
Time is not on your side. Start today to quickly draw the road map for what will be your legacy. Be rock selfish with your time. Get rid of ‘’yes men’’ and quickly enlist in your service men that can deliver, remembering the inscription on Andrew Carnegie’s tombstone:
Here lies a man
Who knew how to enlist
In his service
Better men than himself
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s confidential adviser during World War II was Harry Hopkins. A dying, almost a dead man, he could work only a few hours every other day. This forced him to cut out everything but truly vital matters and he accomplished more in wartime Washington than anyone else, that Churchill called him once, according to Drucker, ‘’Lord Heart of the Matter’’. Adopt the Harry Hopkin’s stance Mr. President, and before your time is up, your job will be done.
