The Burden Of Leadership

A lot of things aren't right in our country. No one can feign deafness toward the cries about the rate of unemployment that moves in stride with that of inflation or blindness to the way people seem to daily discover new ways to commit old crimes. In the midst of all these lamentations is an incessant shuffle of feet as people try (some succeeding and some failing) to escape to other countries; after all, the grass is always greener on the other side. My question is this “Is it really?”

With some level of uniformity, we all seem to blame our government for all the ills of the nation; if not for the incidence, they get the blame for not curbing the situation.The feedbacks from the recently conducted American Midterm Election indicate that it’s not only in Nigerian that we think our government just sits on its f%t rear and watch things fall apart about our ears. The people seem to be crying foul about promises made but not kept by the Obama administration in a language that sounds so familiar.

It's all making me think maybe leadership really is a tough piece to bite into; maybe good intentions are just not enough when one slips into the shoes of a leader. Unlike our own leaders who from the onset have eyes that make different promises from those uttered from their mouths, …

Mouth: My government will provide you good roads and a revolution in electricity supply.

Eyes: Just get out of my way so I can get my hands on all that money. Road ko! Light ni!

…the Obama administration seemed to have a good game plan. Their promises sounded genuine and come to think of it, wouldn’t it have been reckless of them to have had any negative intentions about their assumption of office seeing as he is the first black president of the USA whose actions will influence the future of other ambitious people of colour? 

But despite the well itemized plans and promises, the people are worried that their country’s employment and economic situations have gotten away from the government and screaming “But you promised!” in a manner similar to the Nigerian situation.

So maybe leadership isn't a piece of cake or maybe I’m just being melancholic and unduly sympathetic towards Obama’s plight, but I think despite our similar governing woes, our leaders still have some ways to go before their failure can be considered justified in my books (as I fear is the case with Obama). A good starting point would be to keep their eyes from roving when they promise us light, roads and security. abi?

Picture source here