“Fellows, there are blends and shadings that are part and parcel of the infinite variety of human nature, which leaves a gap between ourselves and the populace. That is it. Let me make this clear – we’ll have to gobble at the feet of the people at will, and utter to them like it has been rehearsed the previous night, saying – if given the chance to serve, our government will make them fatter, taller and even remove the crabgrass in their lawn without hesitation,” the dark-skinned man with tooth-gap muttered, his voice like the notorious head of the brigand.

“So we have to do everything plausible to swindle the people to believe in this course,” the less-inclined one added, thoughtfully. “Yes, of course” others chorused. “But what if a faction of the populace got to know of our not-in-line and undemocratic doings,” he asked. “Forget that, they won’t know, and even if they do, we will just walk into the big media houses and tell the editor to do a good cover story outlining the scent of sweetness and the lace of positivity that comes with such assertion” one quickly responded without a blink. “See, in case you don’t know, there is a need to assuage an unusual power drive on acquiring material possessions for our individual self. This is our chance, and we mustn’t let it slip away from our palms” he continued.

While they pretend to be at loggerheads by playing to the gallery, they got elected and proved it. They were full of smiles as chant of their own cognomen echoes round “Finally, we are here, we’ll die here,” exposing their coloured dentition all over the screen, and their agbada crawling the pristine floor like that of a newly-wedded bride. That is it – the politics of Nigeria is far from intellectual discourse and engagement, but a macabre theatre of deceit, subterfuge and inadequacies.

The focus of serving the public interest for its own good, and forming a lasting relationship with the masses, encouraging their overall growth and development so that over time they may reach their fullest potential are only being debated on papers, but defeated in the catalogue of the nation’s reality. The statutory notion of placing the interests and needs of the people over theirs is nothing but an accident waiting to happen.

Those who were paid handsomely to sit behind a numeric keyboard have in no time; they rather pitched up their game to a higher frequency and a longer wavelength, beating into our ears against the stark reality of what we actually feel and think. When asked: “Where are the records? They quickly invite the lords of unquenchable fire to visit the supposed dairies in a society where the challenges and problems are too complex. They are in charge; dictating what goes out and what doesn’t; they easily manipulate the data, if there is any, saying: “We have been reaching out to the poorest of the poorest in every corner.” What a ruse!

Most of our leaders lack the core characters of servant leadership. Even those who once possessed such had heavily been compromised to touch swords by having picnics together at midnight. Before now, we were much inclined to put it in our write-ups. The most active ministry is the Ministry of Corruption. Yes! It’s so effective and efficient in the discharge of its operational description and duties, even in the absence of an overseer.

The difference should manifests itself in the care taken by our leaders to make sure that the masses highest priority needs are being served, but they got entangled at the opposite. They will never bend the knee since there are no moral components that enhanced sound moral reasoning in their doings, which therefore doesn’t test the moral basis of their visions and ministerial goals.

In a situation where Abdullahi has, in the course of his telephone using career, loaded more than a hundred naira airtime in one month - he is rich, with no element of chasing palliatives. Is there common sense in that? Lukman and Emeka are considered richer Nigerians for having over N5,000 deposited in their individual bank accounts, popping red wines and champagne in the city’s night clubs. Hence, the trios are being boxed out of the relief ring without recourse. Where is the rationality? Is it being misplaced or lent out? It feels there is a need for national discourse.

No empathy for the people as a cat will have for a sandpiper. They are not responsible and responsive. The principle of responsible leadership we preached here and there only surfaced and end on paper. Inaccessibility to information laws are polished in a dubious way to push the patriotic ones aside, and when you speak, they uttered “he is a discontented person who is only promoting cheap politics to gain undeserved attention and popularity.” Sadly, we live in a society where the truth is often hidden to make informed decisions. They fail to realise that when there aren’t facts and evidence decisions are, therefore, being entrapped and disrupted.

Fellow Nigerians, our leaders always play the game of unawareness by hiding their ugly heads in dire situations. Somewhere in China, our fellows and other Africans are being brutalised by forcefully chasing them away from their places of residence; some are being denied food in Chinese restaurants even with their money. The government of the night feigned deaf ears to their calling amid the viral video tweaking on cyber space. And when you ask, they say: “We will look into the matter.” They always look into matters. And even when they do, it is debated and forgotten on letter-headed papers. But, this is no more a surprise package, since they have failed in seeing to the interests of those maltreated in their backyard. What a case!

The supposed guiding principle of the land, which is regarded as an academic model, is being subjected to their whims and caprices. In the reverse, this isn’t favourable to the people, as it has been captured to their corridors and that of their stooges. Their delusional minds are soaked in the bath-tub of abject negativities, despotism and self-centeredness. This is Nigeria where our leaders have lost contact with the reality. They hear nothing; see nothing; feel nothing, but quick in spreading the paroxysm of hatred across the drawing board.

Their commitment to growth and emancipation is being questioned as evident in their colonial relationship with the country under their watch; they would have taken to their heels if the pandemic initialised itself in a corner of our manageable society. “Why shall we build well-equipped national health centres when we can easily dash out to the Western world in the pretense of a formal trip to treat even the slightest of ache?”

They were deliberate in their decisions, with little or no care, towards the led. Their lives as well as their wealth are rooted somewhere abroad while the country is merely serving as their workstation and cemetery. Of course, that is the social psychology of our leaders. They loot, re-loot and stash loads of minted papers organised in corrugated papers beneath the ground.

They got wrapped up in themselves, yet, they produce nothing. The silence in the graveyard is fading gradually, since it doesn’t synchronise with the lyrics of the music being played. Cheese is always set in the mouse-trap, but there will come a time when the mice won't oblige and the chicken will feel guilty when the jury box is packed. It is no easy time, keep staying safe.

God bless Nigeria.

Adeyinka writes from Lagos and can be reached on: yinkopet@gmail.com

Update news