“Every great achievement is a dream before it becomes reality,” says former American Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was commenting on the miracle of Singapore, the tiny South Asian state that rose from poverty to prosperity. A nation with no natural resources and a land mass of not more than 640sq km, has today become one of envy in the comity of nations.
A nation that works for its people and the outside world, attracting thousands of tourists globally who never stop marvelling at the dramatic turn-around in the fortunes of a people once hemmed in by more ambitious and prosperous neighbours like China and Indonesia , and derided as a place where no quality products or services could ever come from.
A nation of fakes and the substandard. But all that was yesterday. Today the new Singapore is the delight of all visitors and the dream of every forward-looking nation. From engineering to the financial sector, jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities, the country is a far cry from what it used to be. The man who dreamt the great dream of achievement; who turned his dream of a great nation to reality was Lee Kuan Yew.
Undoubtedly its most charismatic leader to date, Lee Kuan Yew literally turned stone to bread; desert to savannah, and dust to gold. Singapore’s amazing rags-to-riches story , as widely known, is essentially the story of one man’s vision, and his bulldog tenacity to make things happen, leave a worthy legacy for his people. Lee declares triumphantly , albeit boastfully, in his expository narrative FROM THIRD WORLD TO FIRST: The Singapore story, “we have left behind our third world problems of poverty.”
Who would not be boastful in Lee’s shoes? From when he first assumed office as prime minister in 1959 to when he quit power, his country’s GDP rose from a paltry $400 dollars to $12, 200 dollars in 1990, and has been on a steady rise since then. There is also the story of Brazil’s labour leader-turned-politician Luiz Inacio da Silva, popularly known as Lula.
Lula shot Brazil from ground zero to a pedestal of respectability where it is no longer looked down on by other nations. Brazil may not be in the first world or the class of super advance countries, but it is certainly not in the class of poverty-stricken third world countries. Brazil’s technology, agriculture and youth empowerment makes it a nation on the upward rise. Lula quit the stage in 2011 after serving a constitutional two terms, and leaving his imprints in the hearts of his people.
He said he was fired to offer his best because he needed to prove that labour leaders could also make good administrators. “If I failed, it would be the workers’ class which would be failing; it would be the country’s poor who would be proving they did not have what it takes to rule,” he said, while reminiscing on his stewardship. In the two instances above, what happened to the countries was its leadership edge.
Focussed and creative leadership; leadership that made service to the people the fulcrum of its policies and actions. Leadership made all the difference. Leadership turned poverty to prosperity; hopelessness to hope; hope to reality. Leadership is certainly everything. Without the right leadership, Singapore and Brazil would not be where they are today; Ghana and South Africa would not be challenging us to the leadership position of Africa.
The United States of America, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe would not be the attractive destination point for our army of youths in search of the better life. In Nigeria, we should never get tired of talking about leadership. Leadership is the reason we are where we are as a nation where nothing works, where basic amenities of life remains a pipedream, where youth and graduate unemployment has assumed an embarrassing dimension, where infrastructure decay stares us in the face.
A nation helplessly and hopelessly in the vice-grip of criminals and other outlaws. With the right leadership or rather, with the right people in leadership positions, we could be nearer to realising our full potentials as a truly great nation. Indeed, we were once on that path to greatness when we had Chief Obafemi Awolowo at the helm of affairs in the West; Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in the East and Sir Ahmadu Bello in the North. These men dreamt great dreams for their regions, and we saw the results.
We saw the economic boom. We witnessed the renaissance in the West where free education was an article of faith. We saw how Bello educated a generation of northern elite. Now sadly, we see the decline in the bomb-crazy youths and almajiri. We see uneducated graduates with degrees that only announce their illiteracy in all parts of the country, including Awo’s beloved Western region. From a generation of brilliant, job-discriminating Nigerians, we have plummeted to a generation of unemployed and unemployable Nigerians.
I really. Pity the upcoming youths bcos our socall rulers have nothing left for them, but l know that the anger of the most high will visit them one day
Thank goodness this is not about Orji Uzor kalu!
O di mma! Ndigbo gini bu uche unu ugbua? Kedu ebe anyi kwu ugbua? Onye isi ala Naijiria e kwuola uche ya maka afo puku abuo na iri na ise. Biko gini ka unu na-ekwu? A choro m ka Ndigbo zaa m ajuju ndi a.
Ndi a n’achi anyi n’ala Igbo, ndi chigoro achi na mbu, ndi nnochi-anya na ndi ozo nke ka choro ichi, Kedu ubochi unu g’agbakota onu nwee ezigbo nzuko gbasara o ganiru Ndigbo? O nwere ndi aka oru ha bu icho ebe (ma ndi) ha ga akojo na-ebea. Anyi bu ndi igbo amaghi ihe, gini mere Ndigbo achoghi igbakota onu nke ha? Ndi a bu ndi iro anyi ka anyi mara otu anyi di. Ihe Maazi T.Orji no na-eme bu ibuso Maazi OUK agha, OUK bu so onye Igbo mu onwe m huru bu onye n’agba nbo otu a ga-esi jikoo Ndigbo onu. Ndi Govano nile n’achi Anyi, biko unu mepe anya unu, onwere ihe onye Igbo ibe gi mere gi, biko gbahara ya, k’anyi gbakoo onu nwere otu obi, otu atumatu ma hukwa onwe anyi n’anya. Ohaneze Ndigbo, kedu ebe unu gara? Ndi Massob, ike ogwuru unu?
T.Orji Biko Gbahara OUK. OUK biko gbahakwara nwanne gi bu T.Orji.
Maazi Okorocha, Nwoke ojii di ocha! Biko gbahara Maazi Ohakim. Maazi Ohakim, e jim Chineke yoo gi, biko Gbahakwara Nwanne gi bu Okorocha.
Maazi Peter Obi, Nwoke Oma n’achi Anambra, Biko unu hapu nkpari a unu na-enye Ndigbo site na nsogbu unu nwere na APGA, unu yoo onwe unu ngbahara ka-obi unu (na nke Ndigbo nile) buru otu.
Maazi Chime, kedu ka Enugu di? Chukwu gozie gi o. Biko nye aka chikota ndi nke gi maka Ndigbo nwere ka ha ji noro ugbua.
Maazi Elechi, okongwu! kedu ebe i gara, okenye na-emebi Ebonyi Steeti. Biko e jim Chukwu a yo gi ka-ichegharia bido mewa ihe ka onye Okenye. O dighi mma mmadu ibu okenye aruruala. Nyere onwe gi aka nyere ndi ozo. Kwee ka okenye gi bara Ndigbo uru. Ndigbo choro otu a ga-esi nwe ngbanwe n’ala Igbo.
Biko onye m kwujoro na-ebe a ya nwee ngbahara ma chetakwa na obi adighi anyi bu Umu Ikoroabia mma ugbua. Umu ikorobia Igbo ndi bi na-ulo, ndi bi na Naijiria, na ndi bi na mba ofesi na-ewezi iwe. Nwuta di ha na-obi, obi adighi ha mma ma oli. Ha siri na-oge erugo mgbe ha g’ebido ma-oburu na unu achighi i jikota onwe unu onu mewara Ndigbo ihe ha choro. Ori uka ka m na-ezunyere unu. Nti n’anu ihe a ha gi ka nkata ezi! Ka Chukwu nonyere Ndigbo nile n’aha Jisos Amen.
I ga-enweta m na: okirikiri asato okirikiri ato itolu ano okirikiri asato otu itolu abuo.
Good work!
The caption says it all. Unfortunately, that is what is lacking in our dear country.
God please come 4 our rescue now b4 things ll go beyond the level its.All i own my future nd born is prayer 4 change in our system nd the type of leaders that always take over the seat of power visionless.
thank u very much Eric, u have said it all, let he who have ears hear. God bless you, God bless sun newspaper, God bless our dear country Nigeria and her leaders
It’s a pity.
Na today…