By Yusuf Atanda Dan-Ilorin.
Effective and sustainable governance in the 21st century is a product of several qualities possessed by the person who leads the team. That is perhaps why it is usually difficult to make any leader give whatever he/she could not possess either by nature or by acquisition. Without any rocket science at play, every society is therefore, as progressive as the minds of its leader(s).
The present situation of our dear state of harmony can however be likened to a journey involving a set of people who are being driven in a car full of passengers and a driver all of whom are unfortunately drunk and unconsciously have slept over while still on the highway but gracefully enough, they were able to put off the car’s engine else it would have resulted in an accident. The people and their journey are therefore at a sudden coma, aside from obstructing other road users, they must however be made to complete the journey by whatever means because it is a sanctioned trip which can never be abandoned.
Careful choice must therefore be made to get these comatose people back on the journey, one easy choice may be to shift the driver aside and replace him with an outsider; as easy and straight as such a decision may seem, it is definitely going to be the most unfortunate choice. Yes! Such is purely a very wrong decision, one which may spell doom for the journey and the people involved in the journey and this is simply because; the new driver brought into car from outside knows nothing about the journey, he has no idea of where they were coming from as well as where they are headed, he also may not know the reason why the journey was at a halt, should he try to use his own new idea, he may as well just return them to where they were coming from; a mileage which had already been covered, he may even take them to the wrong directions; an effort in futility which may adversely affect all the occupants of the vehicle.
The right wisdom to however, apply when faced with such a situation is to wait for one of the occupants of the vehicle to wake up, get his eyes cleared and put him on the driver seat in order to kick off the next phase of the journey. As unusual as such a decision may seem, it is nonetheless, the best thing to do if the journey must return to a progressive path. Such a decision is novel because the new driver who has woken up from the unconscious sleep has been part of the journey when the going was smooth, he knows where they kick started the journey in the first attempt, he also has a clear understanding of why they stopped suddenly on the road, having been an occupant of the vehicle for sometime before now, he must also be abreast of the conditions of the vehicle and more importantly, he also must have learnt what must be avoided to prevent a repeat of the current pitfalls in order to get the vehicle to a sustainable destination. Such a person is therefore equipped with the map required for a purposeful progression of the journey.
Therefore, if we must get the vehicle of our state back on the right track wherein it would be good for everybody, we must learn to take the unconventional decision of encouraging and collectively support the gubernatorial ambition of Hon. Moshood Mustapha, who has not only woken up but also possesses the right map with which the vehicle of Kwara can be driven on a progressive path.
Moreso, Hon. MM’s governorship ambition stands on a tripod which has been long discovered by governance analysts to be the major ingredients of any political ambition that is people oriented.
First is his UNCOMMON SERIOUSNESS which is clearly devoid of desperation. It is only a purposeful seriousness that has made MM to deploy the right and harmless tactics of uniting kwarans across all political divides in order to get the divine dream actualised. For close to Two years now, he has being the only consistent aspirant to the highest office in the land whose aspiration has never been rested for a day, more reassuring is the growing acceptability of his project in many political parties and camps; a strange development which has caused no harm to anybody or group. Meanwhile, while some people are of the opinion that what is simply working for MM, is his thoroughly home grown personality which has made friends, old school mates, family members, in-laws and others to see his gubernatorial ambition as a unifying project and beyond political parties affiliation, I am however of the belief that; this situation is also a pointer to his uncommon seriousness which has made him work across board instead of limiting himself to a political net.
Another quality index of any people oriented aspiration is the possession of AN INDEPENDENT MINDSET by the aspirant. Of all known and rumoured aspirants to the top job, Hon. MM, stands out as the only man who is not waiting to be given especially when the culture of giving is no longer fashionable in our democratic experience. I know a lot of political heavyweights who have since bought into his gubernatorial project just because they are sure he would be able to deploy his independent mindset to take purposeful decision when he eventually get on the job. This trait has however, been identified by development experts as highly important in leadership.
The third of the tripod stand is however his PREPAREDNESS and CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TASK AHEAD. How I wish an early debate could be organised by relevant stakeholders in order for Kwarans to test the pulse of the thinking and thoughts of everybody claiming to merit our trust, support and subsequent votes. It would definitely be an expose of the rare preparedness of MM. As a broadcast journalist, I have had the privilege of interacting with many of the current contenders for the job and I am ready to swear that; it is only Hon. Moshood Mustapha, who is well informed about the job of a governor with a clear understanding of the peculiarity of our state. Aside from being under a selfless drive to serve, MM, has a mastery of what could be done to get Kwara and Kwarans on the path of sustainable progress. Call it a product of his vast experience in both executive and legislative arms of government, you may not be wrong but certainly, our next governor should be as knowledgeable as MM, who could give a convincing summary of what ought to be done as a governor in all sectors of governance up til his succession plan in less than 1hour of interaction.
In view of the afore stated progressive arguments and to keep the vehicle of Kwara state back on the desired path, many of us would agree with me that; the driver we need in 2019 is one who has the map of the journey bequeathed to him by nature through uncommon seriousness, independent mindset, experience, purposeful personality and undiluted preparedness.
We all must therefore be prepared to support all Key Opinion Leaders who are all now taking positions on the political field to arrive at the most unusual decision this time round in order to berth at the unusual but positive destination of growth and purposeful development necessary to engender a new Kwara state which shall bring forth goodness for all and sundry.