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by Austin Oguejiofor Amaechi (Author)
The reason to write this book could not be more obvious. Nigerians are victims of broken promises from our politicians and from those given positions of power.We, Nigerians, lack trust in the ability of our leaders to lead well and effectively. We are known to always complain about our leaders and rightly so. We eventually get rid of them, though indirectly for the most part, and move on to the next one hoping that they would be different.And it seems that they never are. We complain about the quality of the men and women who run our governments and legislate and manage the government agencies. We bemoan their incompetence, and sometimes their detachment, their lack of urgency, and their lack of empathy. We have done this to every leader or every head of government who has run the affairs of this great country.In an attempt to contribute to the development of the country and the ongoing leadership and governance conversations, questions were put to the people and many people offered their opinions. The book is an attempt to transcreate rather than translate the various submissions. This book seeks to facilitate a conversation. As a popular saying said; if you have a position on the gate and you don't warn the people of what you see, you're to blame. Good governance is a choice. In making that all important choice, many of our people are NOW suggesting that we take into consideration the candidates' different values or deep-seated beliefs that motivate behaviours; their abilities, ways of thinking and behaving, qualities that the individual is endowed with, or acquired; their proficiencies; and the individual capacity to learn or develop new capabilities. As Parker Palmer once said, "we live in the present moment, with its tedium and terror, its fear and hopes, its incomprehensible losses and its transcendent joys. It is a moment in which it often feels as if nothing we do will make a difference, and yet so much depends on us."Until thought changes, actions and results can never change. William Faulkner must be right in saying, "you cannot swim for new horizon until you have courage to lose sight of the shore."It won't be easy. Let's get started and activists in the house would be wise not to debate nouns and verbs. The country and the people are more important. Budging the uninformed from their perches takes fortitude because mentality determines reality.
