THE most critical problem facing Nigeria today is best described as a scarcity of good leaders. This is the reason why the country has suffered from bad leadership virtually ever since the colonialists left.

The first crop of leaders who took over from the colonialists after nationalistic struggle against foreign domination had started laying a strong foundation for a progressive nation before ambitious military officers chased them out. Nigeria has never recovered from that political tragedy.

This was pretty obvious even before the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who was celebrated as the first university graduate to become a Nigerian President. At the time he was nominated to succeed President Obasanjo, the leading contenders were a bunch of state governors who tried to outdo one another in licking OBJ’s slippers and campaigning with looted public funds.

In the circumstance, the emergence of Yar’Adua who distinguished himself by disinterest in his colleagues’ charade and an impressive record of performance in office, was a saving grace of sorts.

With 2011 elections staring us in the face we are once again confronted by the reality of aspirants without credible leadership credentials dominating the presidential race.

At the top of the heap is President Goodluck Jonathan himself who has no qualms about being the most politically inexperienced as he pushes himself with nothing more than the dubious “incumbency factor”.

Initially his greatest credential was a trivial twist to his name that, in reality, he played no part in having since it was actually a prayerful gesture of his parents.

But there was no cause for alarm as Jonathan, even as executive governor, was not about to lose his docility and he assured the kingmakers that their wishes were his command and continued living up to his reputation with greater zeal.

He so excelled in this that even OBJ penciled him down for his presidential permutations for 2007 which is why, from nowhere, he found himself in Aso Villa as VP.

Next we have Governor Bukola Saraki who does not have a nominal claim to good luck but is nevertheless intent on foisting his father’s feudal fiefdom in Kwara State on the rest of Nigeria. Prior to inheriting his father’s political empire in Kwara State, he was a nonentity in every sense of the word-known only as daddy’s boy.

He never had to work since daddy had acquired the wherewithal to spoil him that much and it was only out of political exasperation that daddy decided to appoint him governor. You see all previous appointees were cheeky enough to teach their godfather that in politics, power is thicker than the oil of anointment.

Having kowtowed to earn the top job, they used incumbency to tow the godfather into quarantine until the godfather was left with no choice but to place his son on the throne of the people as a guarantee against “betrayal”.

This is the most convincing background to Governor Bukola Saraki’s presidential bid because he glaringly lacked the experience, maturity and proven capacity to have been a governor in the first place !

Since we are talking about “leading contenders”, I will not veer from the highway into the dark alley ways where the likes of Ribadu, Shekarau and Tofa call the shots. Yet if indeed we are concerned about credible leadership, these three musketeers can muster more credibility than the combined chicanery of Babangida and Aliyu Gusau seeking the presidential ticket.

For most discerning analysts, nothing illustrates the barrenness of the leadership ranks in Nigeria more sharply than the nauseating presidential campaigns of these two bad examples of military leadership.

With Nigeria still reeling from the “decadent paralysis” of military rule, it is the height of preposterous provocation for its most despised denizens to even think of returning to power, even if no one is interested in the presidency.

But Nigeria does not lack credible political leaders who have demonstrated a commitment and capacity to provide focused leadership necessary for the country to scale the hurdles. Despite the rowdy jostling on the presidential turf of 2011 elections, it is not difficult to recognize the confident and dignified efforts of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to rescue the 2011 Presidency from the avalanche of unpopular and unsuitable opportunists.

Mr.  Yekini Alabi, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja.