HARDLY will you see a government in Nigeria (state or federal) that pursues the policies of previous administrations, with the exception of Lagos, where the politicians seem to have gotten the leadership model right. Others lag behind; everything about the old order must be bad. And destruction of the old order must be carried out, they are always united in confusion.
But this is not so elsewhere. Winston Churchill was not future blind when in 1943, he laid the foundation for the establishment of the universities of Ibadan in Nigeria, Legon in Ghana and Makarere in Uganda. How could he have known when he did that, he would be upstaged as prime minister by Clement Attlee of the Labour party in the general election of 1945?
Attlee was not future blind; regardless of the fact that the vision was Churchill’s, he went ahead with the establishment of the University of Ibadan (my alma mater) in 1948, Legon and Makarere. Could that have happened in Nigeria?
The National Open University in the United Kingdom was promoted by Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s Labour Party while in government from 1964 to 1970. It was a policy the Conservative Party loved to deride as no good. But when Edward Ted Heath of the Conservative Party defeated Harold Wilson and became prime minister, his education secretary Margaret Thatcher, against all odds, despite being harried by her party leaders, volte-faced and began to proselytize on the importance of Open University. She not only campaigned for its entrenchment but lobbied the party hierarchy for it to be funded. No need telling. The Open University became a success story but the credit due Thatcher was given to Wilson.
Harry Truman lacked charisma but today he is one of the greatest presidents ever to lead the United States. He implemented FDR policies to the letter after the latter’s death; The New Deal as well as building Europe with the Marshall Plan.
It’s important for youngsters to see politics as a noble profession, to see themselves as equal members of society and know that democratic contest is a sport, an avenue for healthy jousts necessary for developmental growth. After all, genuine statesmen and women are not bigots and development cannot be brought about by only one political party.
- Simon Abah, Abuja