My duty as a Nigerian citizen

By Orji Udemezue, KSC

Every Nigerian has a duty to ensure our society’s progress and development in all spheres.

We must ensure we lead sincerely, firmly and generously in every corner we find ourselves – family, schools, neighbourhood, alumni movement, Church/Mosques, community, workplace, and the larger society.

Whether we hold a position of authority or not, we are required to LEAD – to be a light in our dark corners; to be the salt that brings out good tastes; to bring positive change for the good of others.

Certainly, leadership is NOT about the positions or degrees or titles or power or authority that we hold. It is about the actions that we take to make life better for EVERYONE. To seek the common good. To make things better than we met them.

Leadership is sacrificial, it is transformational, it is situational, it is dynamic, it is inspirational, it is influential, it is purposeful and honest. it is anything positive and good. It is godly!

When it comes to political leadership, it does not matter which party we belong to; we must take actions to improve the lives of EVERYONE under our leadership.

Once elections are over, everyone MUST face nation building. And it may involve even disagreeing with your party in principle. It involves speaking the truth to power.

As a Nigerian, I am definitely convinced that our elections in the past years – from 1999 to 2019 – were frost with different degrees of mal-practices. And I have every conviction that the frauds will continue in the foreseeable future until we find a TRUE LEADER.

So, in my little socio-economic activism, I never keep talking about past elections once they are over and concluded at the highest appellate court – no matter how badly manipulated we all knew the results were.

What I do is to focus on government policies – good and bad. I condemn the government’s bad decisions/actions and commend their good decisions or actions. That is my role as a citizen. I did that when Goodluck Jonathan was in power. I am certainly doing that now we have the APC’s government.

I pray God for His grace to keep up this role even when I am involved in a position of authority in this nation in the foreseeable future.

And these roles must be played in good conscience.

I would never want to be in a position where my conscience is severed or I get hypnotized just because I find personal benefits in a particular “leader”.

In fact, I should be able to resign my position once a genuine conflict of interests occur.

I believe that the ONLY way Nigeria can ever get back on the track of growth and DEVELOPMENT is through social justice, economic emancipation and just and equitable leadership.

Nigerian professionals must stop hiding lest Nigeria dips further into anarchy and chaos – as we continue to elect ignorant, vindictive, untrainable, uncaring, tribalistic, and incompetent rulers.

I will write later on my thoughts on how professionals can change the political destiny of this nation.

We must act now, lest we all perish together.

Orji Udemezue is the CEO of Flame Consulting based in Lagos and operating within Africa. You can reach him via: orji.udemezue@gmail.com.