By Isyaku Ibrahim
Leaders, as vicegerents, need to be focused, composed, upright, sound, and fair in their articulations and dealings. When the situation is otherwise, it will not yield the required dividend for the greater majority. Thus, a leader has to be calculative, decent, and considerate in his actions, particularly when intermingling with the generality, as his image is at stake.
If one could trace back to history lane, as wise statement says it usually repeats itself, unguarded utterances by our crop of first republic leaders played a major role towards inviting the military to take the reins of power in the early days of our statehood.
This time around, one would wonder how such unremarkable, provocative, invective, affronting and derogatory, insulting languages have started resurfacing from the mouth of top political officeholders that are supposed to be role models in the midst of society in view of the respective positions they are occupying.
This is by no means unbecoming and unwanted, as so doing is amounting to relegating their offices to the background and making the entire country a laughing stock among the commity of nations, especially at this era that the world has become a global village when things made within a twinkle of an eye will become so publicised across the length and breadth of society like wildfire.
If it could be recalled, when the former President, Muhammad Buhari, while fielding questions from newsmen, described Nigerian as spongers or restive, the statement became a headline story across towns and cities during the period as bulk of the citizenry regarded it as so invective and affront as a person of his calibre should not have spoken as such going by his age and rank in the community.
Just of recent, almost same remark has been uttered by vice President Kashim Shettima and Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, as they were heard making utterances which became so viral particularly at this material time of peaceful protest across the thirty-six states of the Federation.
In the statements, the Vice President Kashim Shettima was heard saying “protesters were idiots” while the Senate President was saying “go and protest while we are eating.”
Definitely, the remarks without mincing words were highly disgusting, ridiculous, and uncalled for as people of their class should have to be responsible, consummate, and gentle in their manners. Orderliness, coupled with maturity and good judgement determines once’s status in a given environment, not age.
Righteously, from the ongoing, it becomes compulsory for the crop of leaders to be dear to the wider citizenry in whatever condition they found themselves. This will surely instill unbroken friendship and loneliness between the duo and send a message to those to come to always think and be focused before taking actions or making remarks in view of the repercussion and weight such statements may carry and the perception of those targeted, as different people always have divergent.
Certainly, people of distinctive class should always have self-control, mind their words, and be people of visionary behaviour hence should guard against chattering in view of the ills of doing so. Obviously, they should try to inculcate the culture of remaining quiet as according to elders, silent at the proper time is wisdom.
Bye for now.
Isyaku Ibrahim is Kano-based Journalist and Public Affairs Commentator
