Breaking through the power barrier by Kanmi Iyanda

I got an email (as pasted below) from a prolific author and blogger friend of mine by the name of  Kanmi Iyanda ( Castro). I  read his piece. Excellent stuff. Read below and kindly share your comments. Congrats Castro, don’t forget us mere mortal bloggers…..

Subject: Next234

My Man Jide

Some time ago, u were the first person i told of my wish to appear on Next234 as a blogger. Well, I just did it…….

http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/Blogs/5433810-182/Breaking_through_the_power_barrier_.csp

Thanks for your continuous encouragement.

Rgds

Castro

I happen to be of the school of thought that leaders are born and not made.

Yes, we might have had a few examples of reluctant people who have literally been thrust into power and gone on to perform remarkably well in the face of an impossible situation, but of course we must also acknowledge that they are those who predictably; struggle.

Ayatollah Khameinei is a good example of the former and our beleaguered UYD is the perfect poster boy for the latter.

Khameinei, a modest man by nature took over the impossible job of succeeding Ayatollah Khomeini, a larger than life cleric, who by all historical recollection, was at the time, the most influential leader in the world.

He more or less brought Ronald Reagan to power and his intransigent policies also decided the occupant of the Palais de l’Élysée, so taking over from him did spin a few curve balls in the path of the easy-going Khameinei, who went on to do an enviable job.

Contrast this with our own Umaru, who has staggered from pillar to post; burdened by the political wreckage left behind by the OBJ regime and hampered by his lack of charisma, star quality and doggedness, all God-given qualities, showered generously on the likes of Barack Obama, but held back from mere mortals.

Nigeria is blessed with people who possess copious amounts of leadership skills, for instance, irrespective of where you stand on his record, one has to admit that IBB is in a indeed a born leader.

His devastating charisma , first-class mechanised knowledge and the ability to recollect who you were after just one meeting and make you feel you were the most important person in the world, put him a cut above his peers and ensured the legendary loyalty he inspired within military and subsequently, civilian ranks.

Yes, some still see him as the architect of the ‘Deconstruction of Nigeria,’ but this only point to a possible misuse of talent, ala Etim Esin, and not a denial of the effortless genius within.

Our President is by all accounts a decent and fun-loving man, but leading a nation of 140 million people demands much more than a mild-mannered streak.

You have to possess guile, cunning, heart, desire and incredible self-belief! More importantly, you have to be prepared to do the unthinkable to achieve the impossible.

If I was advising the President, I would give him some unthinkable advice; speak to Henry Okah! The imprisoned enigmatic leader of MEND and I attended the same secondary school and in fact at one point, were in the same year.

His strident and unwavering spirit was as evident then as it is today and most who really got to know him then, would attest to his gift of inspiring people. Don’t misunderstand me; I am aware that like everyone in life, he will be sinner or saint, depending on your perception.

So why am I recommending UYD speaks to Henry?
Anyone who has come across the MEND leader would confirm his enigmatic aura, flawless oratorical skills and powers of persuasion; all qualities that UYD can utilise at the moment.

Even as far back as then (the set of 77); Henry could easily have led a rebellion against authority.

He reminds me of the Sean Connery character who sensing that his boss (Kevin Costner) was going soft in the war to bring down Al Capone, screamed out; what are you prepared to do? Henry was visionary enough at that young age to suggest personal security would become one of the critical Nigerian issues of the 1990s and beyond.

He was the guy who asked you the questions that your undeveloped brain could not process and basically left you punch drunk with information!

I vividly remember a conversation I had with him about outwitting our boarding house masters and leaving school without the required exeats.

Henry, one of the few day students we had, left you in no doubt where he stood and to paraphrase; he basically saw the dormitories as mini-prisons where we were being raised to conscribe to a certain way of life.

He was in no doubt that it was imperative for the powers to keep us in that captive environment, so we remained blind to the way of the world.

It actually occurs to me now, even more than it did back then, that Mr Okah has been fighting the Power all his life and incredibly, it seems our shackled leader who is currently overseeing Henry’s incarceration, might need to adopt this approach if he really wants to go down in history as someone who truly cares about his legacy!

I am not an apologist for Henry’s misdemeanours; rather I am an admirer of his ability to transcend his space and basically transform himself into someone that the federal government needs to resolve the ongoing Niger Delta crisis.

His brutal intelligence and sheer force of nature make up, positions him as someone who we can utilise, rather than discard.

If there is one fact that remains self-evident in the mechanics of the Nigerian polity, it is this; to change the country you have to be prepared to fight the powers that be!

There is absolutely no way we can change the direction of the country whilst we subscribe to celebrating ill-gotten wealth and sudden prosperity.

We worship riches and dangerously ignore the source and that by the way includes our churches and mosques, yet we fool ourselves into thinking a brighter day is coming.

Our top magazines pepper us with images of leaders past and present, parading profits of corruption and to add insult to injury, expect us to pay for that privilege.

Talk about getting shafted twice! So, Mr President if you really need to change your government, you will have to go head-on with those who you clearly know are responsible for the state of the nation.

Sir, your father was an influential minister from the First Republic and your big brother was a charismatic army officer drenched in goodwill and mostly responsible for your ascension to power, so it is very unlikely that you do not understand the intrigues of our complicated nation.

The pilfering of public funds might prove too rampant to be stopped and the culture of corruption too commonplace to stem, but you have to decide to tackle any one issue.

Be it the Power or Security crisis, you have to play the zero-sum game and take the bull by its horns.

Your government has told us of these cabals whose self-interest has meant we continue to suffer in fear and darkness, but 99% of Nigerians do not know these individuals.

All we are aware of is their vicious preparedness to maintain their prosperity.

The burning question is WHAT ARE YOU PREPARED TO DO to maintain ours?