Dialogue With Nigeria By AKIN OSUNTOKUN
Beneath the Surface By AKIN OSUNTOKUN
The ongoing conversation on the establishment of state police in Nigeria is essentially a debate on Nigerian federalism. The argument that has mostly obfuscated the understanding and indispensability of federalism to the long term survival and viability of Nigeria is its subordination to the ‘Leadership’ factor. Those who make the argument will tell you that what ails Nigeria is squarely and roundly the problem of Nigeria. Indeed there is no situation in life that does not require leadership even if it is a failed leadership. To this extent the argument becomes a platitude.
The idealisation of leadership goes way back to Plato and his notion of ideal type leaders whom he termed “philosopher kings”. In his vision of this aspirational leadership, he argued that ‘only true philosophers, uncorrupted by greed and driven by a love of truth, are fit to govern for the common good’. If such ideal leaders were to exist, they would most certainly constitute the rare exceptions to the general rule of average and mediocre leadership. Invariably the majority of those who find themselves at the pinnacle of political power range from the suboptimal to the pathological breed.
