“And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed”                                                – Kahlil Gibran

We are sadly watching the unfortunate unravelling of the Nigerian state as watching the train crash in slow motion. We are witnessing the gradual descent of Nigeria into a failed state unable to cater for the basic minimum requirements of its citizens. What is even more tragic is that as ordinary Nigerians we are hardly aware of our critical role in the unfolding melodrama.
It is quite common to associate the Nigerian state’s failure with a leadership failure. There is no doubt, that we have a monumental leadership failure in Nigeria. It has manifested itself in terms of systemic corruption, lack of functional institutions, rent-seeking and patronage, mismanagement of resources, poor infrastructural amenities, apathy and alienation of citizenry, growing poverty and dire living conditions, crass religious extremism and intolerance and an increasing breakdown of security of lives & properties in the country.

Consequently, it has triggered system-wide failures that are currently driving the impetus for much-needed social change in the country. We envision an eventual transformation of our cultural and social institutions that enables good governance, and rapid human and socio-economic development for all.

However, we must develop a deeper understanding of our increasingly desperate problems in order to be able to articulate viable solutions. It requires a deeper understanding of the fundamental conditions that enabled our colossal leadership failure since independence.
A closer look suggests that the Nigerian leadership failure has been exacerbated by our collective failure to rein in the excesses of the disastrous leadership that we have collectively tolerated over the years. Through our norms and values, actions and in-actions, we have enabled an environment where poor leadership flourishes and competency – is increasingly an elusive exception. As individuals, we tend to be blissfully ignorant of our complicit role in shaping the poor-quality leadership culture in the country.

Good leadership involves a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others to accomplish a common task. It often requires having a clear vision and the ability to sell that vision to subordinates.
As John Quincy Adams will contend “if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” Therefore, we can all agree with John Maxwell that leadership is influence. We must recognise that we are all potential leaders!

It is necessary that we realise the extent to which we embody and manifest all that is bad with our present poor leadership and increasingly deplorable living conditions in the country. We need to be constantly aware that our collective societal failures are often rooted in our individual failures.

A short story is instructive here:

Change the World by Changing Me

The Sufi Bayazid says this about himself:
“I was a revolutionary when I was young
and all my prayer to God was: “Lord give
me the energy to change the world.”

“As I approached middle age and realized
That half of my life was gone without my
changing a single soul, I changed my
prayers to: “Lord, give me the grace to
change all those who come in contact
with me. Just my family and friends,
and I shall be content.”

“Now that I am an old man and my days
are numbered, my one prayer is “Lord,
give me the grace to change myself.”
If I had prayed for this right from
the start I should not have wasted my life.”

The meaning of the above story is quite simple – we must be the change we want! It starts with me!
However, it is time-honoured wisdom that you cannot give what you don’t have – “Nemo dat non quod habet.” Therefore, the current struggle for social change in Nigeria should essentially reflect the challenge to improve ourselves as individuals and ultimately raise our individual standards as a person of influence in our families and homes, in our schools, our churches, communities, in our workplaces, our various local social groups, local communities, etc.
There is the need to be conscious of the immense capacity of an individual to orchestrate change. History and everyday life experiences are replete with extraordinary examples of ordinary individuals influencing significant changes at all levels, in various societies and countries. A good example was Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat on a segregated bus. It was clear that on that fateful day (December 1, 1955) when she rejected the order of the white bus driver in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks was not aiming to change the world or affect the course of the civil rights movement in America. After all, she was not the first person to refuse such an order. However, as fate and history will have it – that simple action triggered a series of events that changed the course of American history. Her decision on that day was based on the firm belief that segregated buses and the order of the white driver were simply unjust. Recounting that event in her autobiography – My Story.

“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

Often, changing the world does not always require massive actions. Sometimes, changes come through making concerted efforts to find solutions to personal problems and challenges and that of the people around us. This type of thinking is aptly captured by the beautiful poem below, attributed to Edward Everett Hale.

“I am only one,
But still, I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still, I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

As Robert Kennedy would eloquently assert, “few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.” The same sentiment is echoed in the famous Mother Teresa quote “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

As citizens, we must endeavour to take ownership and responsibility for the current poor state of affairs in the country. As individuals, we should not stand by, watch things go wrong and do nothing. Never underestimate your ability to make an impact by being and living the change you want. On the group level, when people band together and form organizations to focus their collective power, social change can happen. On the surface, revolutionary change may appear to be spontaneous bursts of energy, enabling outraged masses to rise up in demand of change. However, the truth is that social change movements flow from careful organizing, massive public education, sustained agitation, and, at times, inspired collaboration across the divides of race, ethnicity, gender and class. These movements are often driven by human energy, intelligence, courage, resilience, resolute commitment, and other complimentary virtues and qualities we bring to the table as individuals.

It is the individual actions that translate into collective action. It is the individual candles that will collectively burn a thousand flames to enlighten our path and guide us out of the present darkness. The sea change we pursue starts with our individual drops.

by

Dr. Okey Ndubueze