EVERYTHING is wrong with Nigeria. In fact, as Ayo Sogunro argued, “everything in Nigeria is going to kill you”. The way leadership is demonstrated in this country is compelling enough for one  to think that the asylum has been taken over by lunatics or how else does one explain a situation where public office holders are either not accountable for activities under their supervision or are often times not responsible for their actions and inactions.

If a senior executive of brewery walks into a bar,  orders for a drink and he is told by the attendant that his brand is out of stock but he could jolly well make do with a competitor’s brand. What do you think happens next?   The executive will put a call through to the area manager, who puts a call through to the sales executive covering that area to demand explanation why their brand is out of stock in a local outlet while their competitor’s brand is available. In most cases, somebody ends up with a query. It is such responsibility and accountability that builds great businesses and great nations.

In the last couple of days, meningitis has been responsible for the death of hundreds of Nigerians across a few northern states but this is how a Governor under whose watch over 200 people died responds to the tragedy: “What we used to know as far as meningitis is concerned is the Type A virus. However, because people refused to stop their nefarious activities (fornication particularly), God decided to send the Type C virus which has no vaccination “. These were the words of Governor Abubakar Yari of Zamfara, a man who presides over the affairs of a state with the cardinal responsibility to ensure the prosperity and welfare of his people.

Yet, he blames God. Let us even assume for a second that we are actually incurring the wrath of the Almighty, how is it then that only the poor die for sins the rich also commits brazenly. Zamfara has a poverty rate of over 80% and is one of the poorest states in the country, but who cares; after all it is God that maketh some rich and others poor.

When news broke out about the death of two students in Queens College Lagos, a couple of videos were circulated online showing the water tank in the school and the water that came out of it. What I saw in that tank was as good as sewage waste and in another case a dead cat was found in the tank. The Punch reported that not less than 50 students have been admitted across various hospitals receiving treatments for food poisoning and diarrhoea.

Rather than accept responsibility for this monumental disaster and avoidable tragedy, the school authorities have shown no remorse for their laxity and little respect for the bereaved. They have continued to insist that there was no epidemic and the outrage is only a smear campaign. How epically stupid can people get. Three students reported dead and over 50 hospitalised, yet the authorities under whose watch this calamity occurred are seated comfortably on their executive offices.

Will you blame them? Here is a country where over 300 members of Shi’ites muslims were killed and buried in mass graves and no one was held to account. Over a hundred unarmed young Easterners were reported to have been gruesomely murdered by security agencies (according to an Amnesty International report) and not a single eyebrow was raised. Bombs are dropped on Innocent Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, with over 200 killed; sadly no one is talking about it anymore. A certain governor gives an outgoing Commissioner of Police five million naira to “fuel his car”, with landed property reported in Vanguard to be worth about 25 million naira and not even the members of the State House of Assembly could demand an explanation.

How could they have, when a colleague of theirs in Benue who demanded accountability from the governor of his state was made to kneel before His Excellency and tendered an apology?

In Nigeria, there are hardly any leaders but too many ogas.

Perhaps, we should take a cue from the corporate world where there is always someone to praise for results and someone to blame for a lapse. More often than not when you are blamed, you are shown the exit door. No excuses!!!

Mr. Ayodele  Adio, a social critic, wrote from Lagos.