It is no longer news that the French President and the second youngest leader in the world after Austrian 31-year-old Sebastian Kurt; Emmanuel Macron (39) visited Nigeria and Lagos in particular.
It was a ray of hope for music lovers as the President visited the new African Shrine in Ikeja. Macron had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the seat of power in Abuja where he was graciously received by our 74-year-old leader, President Muhammadu Buhari who just returned from Mauritania.
It was an emotional return for Macron who was just an intern at the French Embassy some 15 years ago. He confessed to the fact that things haven’t changed much except it was a different president at the time.
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Mr Macron spent the night in Lagos with Governor Ambode at the African Shrine where all the crème de la crème of entertainment in Nigeria were anxiously waiting. Macro has obviously been a fan of Fela whom he described as not just a musician but a politician. He urged young Nigerians to get involved in politics and emulate the late music icon.
The visit got interesting when Macron was hosted by the Tony Elumelu foundation in a question and answer session moderated by Tony Elumelu himself. I must confess, that was the first time Nigerians experience anything presidential since the last three (3) years of this administration.
The French president was in an open session with over 2000 entrepreneurs drawn from various sectors and cities in Africa to ask the president direct questions on any subject ranging from business, technology to politics. Emmanuel Macron despite being French took his time to take and respond to questions in English Language.
This is something Nigerian youths should ponder on. When was the last time we had a roundtable discussion with our leaders? Governors, senators or President? Have they ever answered questions in the open without being screened by their special assistants? Is there accountability to the people? If Macron were to be a Nigerian, he would probably be somewhere playing Special Assistant or Adviser to some over bloated politicians.
When looking for a leader to vote in the next election, what qualities are we really looking for? Shouldn’t we look for leaders with virtues and qualities of Macron? A leader we can all relate with.
Let me blow your mind with some facts about Macron. He was born 21 December 1977 and this was same time our current leader was more or less a minister before he became Head of State in 1983 after a bloodless coup.
Mr Macron was an intern in Nigeria 15 years ago during which Gen Buhari had been Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Babangida had been president and Chief Obasanjo’s third term agenda was truncated by public pressure and the National Assembly.
Needless to say, Nigerians have been recycling leaders while more serious countries are moving from good to better leaders. These same set of people are still hustling for Nigeria’s leadership till date.
Let us hope that Nigerian youths who constitutes more than 60 per cent of voting age get the message and are able to make decisive and informed choices of their leaders.
We have been told for a long time that we are the leaders of tomorrow, little did we know that tomorrow never comes. There will never be a tomorrow except youths decide it’s time to confront the menace of leadership plaquing the black man’s world. There needs to be a rise of pragmatic and deliberate leaders across all the three tiers of governance in Nigeria.
Every election period is an opportunity for Nigerians to correct their errors and I hope 2019 will not be an exception. People should look for credibility, competence and age in making their choices. Nigerians have been deprived of good leaders for a long time and having fresh air from 2019 is a great way to start.
God bless Nigeria.
Adetunji Adeniran is the convener of Young Nigerians And Governance (YNAG); an independent brand the brings today’s leaders in conversation with tomorrow’s leaders with no boundary.
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