By AVM AKUGBE IYAMU (Rtd)
Governance provides the opportunity for leadership to be professional while they are emotionally disembling because you can’t take spaces without consequences.
Effective leadership does not announce itself with sparks, sometimes it shows up quietly disguised as admiration, someone who understands urgency and the struggle of their country and create explanations that don’t feel like luxuries.
Intention on it’s own is not enough to bridge economic and structural imbalances as Nigerians are asked to survive conditions they were never designed for. That is why Leadership should be about editing oneself and minimise your feelings to protect what is already at strain.
This is because when soon becomes eventually and eventually becomes undefined, what exactly are we preserving: governance or a semblance of one.
It becomes not broken at once, not dramatically but patience is stretched thin and governance has to be redefined.
Every nation that is suffering from hunger, insecurity, poverty and inequality need a leader who understands urgency.
A hungry population cannot wait for comfort, a struggling generation cannot wait for indifference. Leadership demand discipline and a willingness to place public welfare above personal convenience and every opportunity in leadership carries one central purpose; to help mankind, and leadership that dies without producing good work become increasingly meaningless.
Governance does not just need intention, it needs infrastructure. It needs empathy, commitment and reality and when those things are removed, what remains in governance is not always enough no matter how strong the leadership is.
Most often, Nigeria convert single hiccups to huge problems that last a decade to solve. Why does the simple solutions that people seek like electricity, pipe borne water, public safety and primary healthcare still hold our society hostage?
Life in Nigeria requires attention elsewhere and everywhere with the conversation often centred around stability, security and broader questions of where we are headed as a nation. We need to understand where we are while allowing room for where we want to go because the citizens are left negotiating to follow, to wait or quietly let go.
Let governance be consistent, let it be intentional, let governance be something leaders practice and not postpone. If all else fails, remember that every day is good day to chose your citizens even if no one sends appreciation.
(AVM (RTD) AKUGBE IYAMU MNSA fsi, a
CONSULTANT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ANALYST ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES, is the PRESIDENT ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE PRACTITIONERS)