Try and have a conversation about development, (not politics), with some of those people you call capacity leaders and notice somethings.
The first challenge is that the followers themselves don’t even have a full grasp of what development entails. So even the people, who are mostly timid and sycophantic, can hardly have the courage or depth to have that conversation, with their so called leaders.
It is also not the fault of the followers. Because many of the followers have never experienced good governance in their entire lives or been to where governance is tailored to serve the people, they have no idea what they are being denied by their “capacity leaders.”
You will observe that most of these “capacity leaders” easily become bored, disinterested, fall asleep or form busy just to evade the governance conversation.
Talk about sustainable provision of water on a long term, they can’t think beyond boreholes.
Talk about rural roads, they cannot think beyond using their own proxy companies to do crappy isles that won’t last more than 6months, when countries with good governance are building roads that last a lifetime.
Talk of health, they cannot think beyond three days health outreaches in their villages.
Talk about scholarship, they cannot think beyond parceling cash in envelopes and distributing in open fields.
Talk about education, they cannot think beyond making wooden benches and printing exercise books with their faces on top to share for children that they will still charge illegal levies and send them home from school if they don’t pay the levies.
Talk about food security, they cannot think beyond sharing palliatives like indomie and rice.
Talk about empowerment, they cannot think beyond sharing okada and keke and fourth hand vehicles.
Talk about skills acquisition, they cannot think beyond how to make soap and knitting.
Talk about electrification for development, they cannot think beyond the installation of China rechargable lamps that cannot power even a barbing clipper. They call them street lights.
Yet, all these challenges have long term, if not permanent solutions. But these crooks do not want to bother themselves to think. They just want to do the little they can do in the immediate and steal the rest of the money to fund their luxuries.
But just raise a conversation about politics, all eyes and ears will stand. Comment sections will be fully engaged with sycophantic panegyrics. And this has stunted our collective dreams for development and good governance and deafened the call for accountability.
So as you approach 2027, if you have the access and the courage, engage whoever you plan to vote for and talk about their long term plans for development. But I doubt if that can happen, because most of you followers are just looking for appointments and immediate gains in the pocket and stomach.
But the future is actually waiting with a knife.
Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo is the Publisher of CrossRiverWatch and a rights activist, a Cross Riverian, and writes from Lagos.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Agba Jalingo, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.
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