In times of upheaval, it is comforting for people if their elected leaders display empathy and compassion. One remembers vividly that former President Goodluck Jonathan failed miserably in this regard.
However, Major General Buhari has so far achieved the unexpected: he is much worse. Indeed, our current President regularly acts as though he has no idea of the various disasters that hit Nigeria; hardly flinching a muscle after brutal terrorist attacks.
Remember that he flew back in for other festive social activities in Borno after a recent sad occurrence in that region. He ignored the disaster and went partying. Yes! That’s your man. After the meeting of ‘Progressive Governors’ in Abuja a few days ago, Lagos governor Sanwo-Olu sought audience with the President and proceeded to lay out photos on a table that showed the extensive carnage caused by a gas explosion in Abule-Ado in Lagos.
The President looked on as though he were being shown boring documents, while Sanwo-Olu struggled to engage and impress him. All done, Sanwo-Olu packed up his photos with Mr President not lifting a finger to help gather the photos that were spread wide on the large table. I kid you not; the governor looked no more dignified than a mere servant before an imperial master.
Even then, the governor himself, on a visit to the smoky site of the explosion spoke into a sound system, making a speech and promising ₦250 million as part of a ₦2 billion relief fund for the victims. He did not visit any survivors. He merely performed a perfunctory visit with an unnecessarily large retinue of hanger-on staff.
That’s not good enough, Sanwo-Olu. You’ve got to be more involved; physically or otherwise. We want to see 360-degree thinking from you and your government. We need to see quick action on the investigation into the gas blast too.
We need to recapture our old traditional values of care, compassion and brotherliness; we need to dress down and get stuck in work. Elected servants need to discard the misplaced mindset of self-importance; every servant from the President down to the Councillor.
We must reconsider the ostentatious manner in which we conduct state affairs and reconnect with the common man. As time ticks, we now find ourselves in a position where we have a lot to learn from our neighbours such as Ghana, who hitherto we felt a sense of superiority over.
