By Douglass Anele
Let us at this point begin to harvest our thoughts on the main thrust of our dis
course, that is, the desirability of a benevolent dictator, leviathan or strong transformational figure for Nigeria at this time.

To start with, Nigeria as presently constituted and run might collapse soon unless something drastic is done to address the hydra-headed problems of the country. It is sad that sybaritic Nigerian rulers are unperturbed by this worrisome situation.

Again, with a few exceptions, Nigerians, particularly the ruling and business elite, are so hideously corrupt and lacking in discipline that all aspects of our national life are compromised.

Thus, the present system cannot reform itself. The transformational benevolent dictator we envisage must be totally committed to the task at hand, that is, restoration of discipline in all its ramifications to governance in Nigeria. In addition, he must be intelligent and charismatic; he must have a magnetic personality that attracts people spontaneously to him.

Further, “the one who the cap fits” must be spiritually and morally enlightened, and prepared to fight corruption without fear or favour.

Crucially, he must have a throbbing compassion for the “wretched of the earth,” and be very willing to do whatever it takes to alleviate their sufferings. As we argued earlier, an intelligent and morally alert benevolent dictator is necessary in a decadent society to trigger the kind of mental revolution necessary for social transformation. Unless Nigerians like to hide their heads in the sand like an ostrich, they must admit that the kind of agbata ekee political system now in place cannot take the country anywhere except to oblivion.

Look critically at the horrendous level of corruption at the three tiers and three arms of government in Nigeria, and ponder the fact that some of the fabulously wealthy empty barrels that have messed up the country in the past and ought to be in jail  are still shamelessly hustling to become president, governor, legislator etc. next year.

Consider how some so-called intellectuals with highfalutin academic titles and prominent “religious leaders” (I almost said religious dealers) have shamelessly betrayed their calling as shepherds of The True, The Good and The Sublime due to avarice and uncritical adoration of power.

Believe me, this country is due and ripe for a radical leader that would shake things up (preferably non-violently) and rouse us from our self-induced slumbers. Now, before we conclude the justification of our basic position, let’s correct some erroneous views credited to some influential Nigerians and foreigners.

The first one, held by Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States, Pat Utomi, a theoretician of entrepreneurship, and others, is that what Africa (and by implication Nigeria) needs most are strong institutions, not strong leaders.

The core justification for this view, apart from the demonstrable failures of Mobutu Sese Seko, Idi Amin, Babangida, Abacha, and Obasanjo etc. is that societies require well-founded institutions which embody positive societal values and paradigms to actualize the quest for sustainable national development.

No serious student of history will deny the critical role strong (that is properly founded and managed) institutions played in the emergence of economically vibrant, politically stable, prosperous, well-organised and relatively peaceful societies.

What would ancient Egypt, the empires of West Africa, the United States, Britain, and other developed countries of the world have been without strong socio-political and economic institutions? Virtually nothing, we should say.

Yet, invariably these institutions were built by visionary, disciplined and creative strong individuals who ensured that they (the institutions) survived and spawned traditions that eventually sustained them.

To take a well-known illustration, America’s democratic institution is the creation of the visionary founding fathers of the “union,” such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln etc.

Just pick any institution whatsoever (most importantly from among those ones on which the critical sectors of a society depend) and trace its history – you would discover that it owes its origin, survival and sustenance to people one might call strong individuals: disciplined, strong-willed and visionary people who were willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the hard work required to build and sustain it.

Hence, strong institutions depend on strong traditions build over time by strong men and women. Without strong individuals, strong institutions cannot exist.  Of course, when an institution has reached a certain level of maturity and autonomy, its reliance on particular strong individuals goes down because of entrenched tradition: it might even begin to produce individuals of a certain type, including strong individuals.

Therefore, Africa needs visionary and selfless strong men and women now who can create and nurture strong institutions. The second is the simplistic assumption that the most serious obstacle to the emergence of “true democracy” – I really don’t know what that means – in Nigeria is the inability of successive administrations to conduct free and fair elections in the country.

By some kind of twisted logic, even “highly educated” Nigerians presume that “free and fair election,” on its own, will bring about “true democracy.” Let us examine these assumptions closely and see whether they have any merit.

Although the concepts embodied in “true democracy” and “free and fair elections” connote complex phenomena, we can still use the expressions in a way that most people would understand.

Thus, we can say that “true democracy” is encapsulated in the immortal definition of democracy by Lincoln as “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Similarly, “free and fair election” refers to an election in which the electorate freely voted those they prefer into elective offices, and the results declared by the election management body reflect the true pattern of voting during the election.
TO BE CONCLUDED.