Political Sound Bites of a Concerned Nigerian: Reflections on value-based leadership and citizenship (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9789789892020)

As far back as the Guardian of Tuesday July 16, 2013 page 11, Isaac Taiwo had reported that, 'former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has expressed worry and fear over the state of the Nigerian nation. To him, the country is facing crisis "while our leaders and elites are living in denial of those facts"'. This presupposes that the way forward is not denial but facing up to the problems so as to fix them.

The state of the Nigerian nation, truth be told, is troubling but the good news is that it is not beyond repairs. This is because, fortunately for us, Nigeria's problems are man-made and can therefore be undone by man, in this case, Nigerians - me and you.

The 200 sound bites contained in this book are nuggets, questions and observations I made and updated over an extended period which are still pertinent and can be framed for debates to get more insightful outlooks. Soundbite number 43 made this reference to its inspiration, quote: "This nugget was informed by the write up of a popular newspaper columnist with a popular Nigerian newspaper who referred to (then) Vice President Namadi Sambo as a northern politician, "who refused to provide a rallying point for an agitated north". The columnist found himself on the wrong foot when I reached out to him and asked him "what ails the northern part of Nigeria that doesn't ail the south and why Vice President Namadi Sambo should provide a rallying point for an agitated north instead of providing a rallying point for an agitated nation?"

They are arranged in chapters according to the issues they address in politics and society. The chapter titles which represent positive expectations are 1. Integrity in Leadership 2. Leadership Excellence 3. Institutional Integrity 4. Quality Citizenship 5. Embrace Positive values 6. Right Orientation 7. Common Sense Issues 8. Economic Matters, and 9. The Nigeria of my Dream.

The book identifies poor leadership, positive values deficiency, wrong orientation, greed, sentiments, impunity and most especially official corruption and indiscipline among the leadership and the led - with the leadership getting most of the knocks - as the cause of most of our woes. This is against the notion in some quarters (which are reasonable arguments in their own rights) that Nigeria's problem is its governance structure and that if we go back to regional arrangements, fiscal federalism, parliamentary system of government and a cocktail of other prescriptions, Nigeria will be restored.

In spite of the system we have or the one we choose to adopt, I am convinced that strict adherence to rules, regulations and discipline is non-negotiable and will always be the way forward.

My views presented here are based on common sense. A government, whether parliamentary or presidential should enforce its laws and uphold discipline. I also believe that if we imbibe the virtues of Section 23 of the 1999 constitution as amended which states that, "The national ethics shall be Discipline, Integrity, Dignity of Labor, Social Justice, Religious Tolerance, Self-reliance and Patriotism", we will turn the corner.

GRAB A COPY, Relax, read, comprehend and act right. God bless Nigeria, Long live Africa