Ladies and gentlemen, let me take you to the class of history for a moment. A search for the greatest political leaders in human history will give you this or a similar result:

ALEXANDER THE GREAT: He is arguably the greatest political leader the world has ever known. He built one of the largest empires in human history, stretching from Greece to Egypt to India. He was such a leader and military commander that never once suffered defeat in battle. He was personally tutored by the great philosopher Aristotle. He achieved great success as a leader. He died at the age of 32 after series of mutiny and revolt in his army. The very people who rejoiced at his leadership, ended up revolting against him. Until he died a strange death at a very young age.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: He was a French military leader who rose to prominence during the French revolution. He was Emperor of France and dominated European affairs for nearly two decades. He seized control of most of continental Europe. He is regarded as one of the greatest commanders in history. But despite all these, he still remains a controversial figure in most of history. He was hugely hated and had a lot of assassination attempts on his life before he mysteriously died at the age of 51. He was both loved and hated by the people he conquered and ruled.

JULIUS CAESAR: He was a Roman General and Statesman. He played a prominent role in the rise of the Roman Empire. He extended the reign of Rome to England and invaded Britain. He like all other great leaders was very controversial despite his great success and power. He was assassinated by his close ally and friend Brutus Albinus. He died at the age of 55.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The 16th President of the United States of America, he is probably the most popular and loved president in America today, but this is only after he was brutally assassinated in office. Even though he had a lot of success as a leader, including winning the war and signing the emancipation proclamation to release black slaves, yet he was so hated that he was killed for it at the age of 56.

GEORGE WASHINGTON: He was the first President of the United States of America and is probably the most accomplished of American leaders, especially for leading United States to victory in the war against Great Britain, their colonial masters. He died at the age of 67.

WINSTON CHUCHILL: A British politician. He was the prime minister of England from 1940-1945 and 1951-1955. He was regarded as one of the greatest war time leaders of the 20th century, but despite all he did for his country, he still lost elections and saw himself as a failure towards the end of his life. Winston Churchill lived to the old age of 90 and was only hugely celebrated after his death.

OTTO VON BISMARCK: He was a Prussian statesman who ruled Germany and European affairs in the 19th century. He is credited for uniting Germany, and made Germany a country to reckon with in Europe and the world. He was the first imperial chancellor of Germany. But as much as he did for his country he was forced to abdicate his position and resign the leadership of his country. He died at the old age of 83.

ADOLF HITLER: He was an Austrian-born German politician who was a chancellor of Germany from 1933-1945. He rebuilt the economy of Germany and built Germany into a military might. But in the name of the greatness of Germany, he led his country to a war that resulted in the death of almost 30 million people. He committed suicide in 1945 during the war. He is probably the most hated leader in the world up till now.

JOSEPH STALIN: He was the leader of the former Soviet Union. He turned Russia into a super power. He built a great country, but on the blood of millions. Today, his monuments are being destroyed and his name removed from history books.

MAO ZEDONG: He was the communist leader of the People’s Republic of China. He turned China into a great industrial country but in the process sacrificed the lives of millions of his people. Today, he is both loved and hated all over the world. He died in 1976 at the age of 82.

The history of these leaders proves the very same point that I elaborated in this column last week. When people clamour for a good leader, the good leader would either eventually become bad, hated and rejected or he would be ousted by the same people who called for him. In most cases when we ask for great leaders, we are actually asking for dictators.

Most of these people seen above were actually dictators. The example of Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore who built his country from third world to first world is a modern example that you cannot have a great leader without some excesses. He was a dictator that ruled Singapore for over 30 years. If anybody does that in Africa, he is castigated and hated for it.

Even though all these people are now regarded as some of the greatest political leaders of their nations and in the world, yet, they are as controversial as they are great. In most cases, they were only recognised as great only after their death.

Our challenge is when we say leadership is our main problem. Are we sincerely ready for what it takes to have a great leader? Are we ready to pay the price of sacrifice of some basic human rights? Are we ready to pay the price of dictatorship? Are we ready for repression? Are we ready for mass death of our populace?

We need to ask ourselves these hard questions because in most cases, that is what it means to have a strong leader rule over a country. That is why I said earlier that we simply don’t know what we are asking for. Let us begin to ask for more of structures, systems, due processes, rather than a strong and powerful leader. Again, let me say that there is a place for good and powerful leaders, but systems and structures are more important.

If we are to have strong leaders then only for one purpose: To build strong structures, systems and processes. But even more than that, we need leaders who would build strong value systems.

In Nigeria, if you ask, what is the greatest government we have ever had? You would be probably told it is the government of Murtala Mohammed. Students of history and those who lived at the period of his short reign will tell you that in his short span as the leader of Nigeria, he was so controversial especially among the elite, civil servants and journalists that they called for his head.

You see, any leader who wants to do the right things would need to enforce those right principles upon the people. In so doing, people feel offended and they revolt. People want the benefits of change, but they themselves don’t want to go through the process of change. They don’t want to pay the price for the progress they wish to have. That is why they ask for great leaders who could pay that price for them, without him touching them. Once he begins to step on their toes, they call for his head. We have gone through that many times in our short history as a nation in Nigeria.

Probably most Nigerians would agree that another government that was reputed as the most orderly and disciplined in Nigeria would be the government of Gen. Buhari/Idiagbon. They too were forcefully removed from office. Because any government that desires to do what is right, would need to correct the habits and lifestyles of the people – which always brings about protest and revolt – that government lasted for less than two years before it was overthrown by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

Anytime the right leader comes to a country, the people of the land would most often revolt and fight his government. Why? Because any government that comes to do the right thing would call for a change in the lifestyle of the people, which equals conflict. The reason for the conflict is often because the same people who clamour for change and reform always don’t realise the price they themselves would have to pay for the change they are clamouring for.

The point I am trying to make is that the biggest problem of a nation is not in the leadership of that nation. The biggest problem of a nation is always in the (corrupt) value system of that nation.

For an example, if the Lord Jesus Christ becomes the President of Nigeria today, I hope we all agree that he is a righteous and upright leader, the best any nation could ask for. Yet, I am sure, he would not last more than two years as the leader of Nigeria. The very same people who called for good leadership would also call for his head. Why? Because he would demand for the right things to be done. That would bring discomfort to the people in those things which they are already used to. For example, it might require everyone not to jump queues. He would definitely stop all the corrupt practices in the land which the people will interpret as taking away their bread, etc.

So instead of us waiting for a good and kind leader, we must know that change must begin with each and every one of us. We all as citizens must get rid of our wrong mindsets. We must individually take responsibility to reform our lifestyles. We must intentionally declare war against our own wrong attitudes and actions. If this change does not happen first in the populace, this same populace with their wrong value systems would crucify any leader that comes to rule them with the right values.

“So if you see no one like you, no one who agrees, don’t worry. There are actually hundreds of people like you, and they’re waiting for a leader. That person is you.” –Julien Smith.

Most of the time nations have good leaders, but the corruption in the mindset of the people does not give them the chance or the will to carry out the necessary reforms the country so badly needed.

Even if we assume that we have bad leaders in Nigeria or Africa, my question is, where do we get those leaders from? Leaders of any country always come from amidst her. Every country only produces leaders in correspondence to her value systems. So if we produce corrupt leaders at every level, it means that is who we are as a nation. If most of us are given the opportunity to occupy the same position, we will also be corrupt. It is not that we are bad; it is because we have the wrong value systems. That affects our thinking. When we think wrong, then we act wrong.

“Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.” –Brian Tracy

For example, if a community hears that one of their sons has just been elected to a high governmental position, the natural response in Africa is that the whole community begins to jubilate, because they know that now they are going to have a part in the national cake. If the man now decides to live by the law and refuses to steal, the same people who put so much pressure on him to get involved in corrupt practices, would call him names, and most likely they wouldn’t re-elect him again into that position.

Who would they elect next time? The one that would bring the largesse of stolen national cake! In this case who is corrupt, the politician? Yes, but even more than him the people are corrupt. When a whole people is corrupt, it is because of the wrong value system that is influencing the way of thinking of the people in the wrong direction.

“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. “- Abraham Lincoln

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Prov. 14:34

So what needs to be changed therefore in a country is not just changing leadership as we have been doing in the past 55 years in all the 54 countries in Africa. What we really need is a change in our value systems!

The greatest challenge for any government in Africa that desires to see a changed society is to focus first of all on the value system of the people. If the value system of the people are right, they would not select corrupt leaders or bad leaders. For example, in societies, where there is a healthy moral value, people would not elect corrupt politicians or collect money to get the wrong people into office.

On the other hand, if a corrupt politician finds his way by hook or by crook into the government. Since the moral values of the masses contradict the corrupt values of the politician, he would be exposed and easily dismissed. Therefore what we need in Nigeria and Africa in general is not just good leaders, but good set of virtues and good value systems in the masses that would make them abhor and reject any manifestation of corruption in their leaders.

It is my belief that the most significant emphasis of the new Nigerian government should be an emphasis on national orientation. A revolution of values that would bring every Nigerian back to the basic moral value systems upon which our nation was built.

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” —Prov. 14:34

Every nation deserves its leader, because leaders emerge from the populace. A righteous people would choose righteous leaders, but a corrupt people would be easily compromised into choosing corrupt politicians. Everything depends on the value system of the nation.

So is leadership the biggest problem of Nigeria or Africa? My answers is No! Our faulty value system is where the problem is. Until we change the value system of the populace and the masses, we would always have bad leaders and corrupt politicians. It does not matter how many years we wait. We have already waited for 55 years. Another 500 years will not give us a better result than we presently have.

I therefore stand to call for a revolution of virtues, morals and values in our nation and continent. I hope our new government listens, but even more importantly I hope every conscientious Nigerian and African listens.

•Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, Transformation Strategist, Pastor and innovator who lives in Kieve Ukraine. He can be contacted at sundayadelajablog@gmail.com

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