Quote: Entrenched poor leadership, impunity,
corruption and nepotism are more dangerous in the long run than terrorism – Don
Okereke
Preamble: Before
doing justice to this essay, a caveat, and clarification suffices. Granted he
is a politically conscious ‘change agent’, a devoted advocate of security and social
equality, writer has zero political or parish-pump affiliation, at least for
now. Don’t dissipate your energy trying to figure out where he belongs; whether
or not he is anti or pro status quo. Born across the River Niger, writer
relates with our brothers on the other side of the Niger. As someone that has ‘served
with the Colours’, traversed the country with a stint across the Atlantic, he
is unapologetically eclectic, broadminded, abhors injustice and bootlicking.
This essay is not about individuals; it stems from unflinching passion, a bent
to speak truth to power, hold leadership responsible and to proffer solutions
to societal malaise inherent in our clime. Superior argument and tolerance are
the hallmarks of civilized societies. We all don’t have to see things the same
way, if you disagree with the writer, do a rejoinder with sophisticated arguments
rather than troll or take to stereotyping. By the way, to the uninitiated, ‘na mu ne’ is Hausa for ‘our own’,
nepotism if you want to be blunt while rankadede,
more appropriately put, ranka ya dade
is also Hausa expression which reads ‘may you live long’, sort of sycophancy
meted out to eulogize more often than not, affluent folks.