We have always known that better leadership can lead to better citizenship-that’s the traditional path to national reform.

The question is, can better citizenship raise the quality of leadership?

If we become more humane, honest, ethical, competent, can that lift our leaders?

This is not just a rhetorical question

In our failure to organize politically to counter these crop of leaders, we are left with a weak hand. Note the political fortunes of non insiders in the last presidential election - some had fewer votes than their social media followers.

Better still, compare the data on active social media engagement with the voter records. We did not turn out 30m voters in 2019. Lagos barely scratched 1m.

So our ability to influence our government is now non existent. we don’t organize, we don’t contest and we rarely vote.

So if we are not in the political arena where leaders are groomed, presented, chosen, I have to assume we are busy elsewhere .. like living a model life.

Which brings me back to my question - if we are not fixing leadership, (and this doesn’t happen on Twitter) are we fixing us?

Because I have long concluded that all aspects of our society are in need of repair, starting from the family unit.

We have all seen what our communities have been turned into, greed above good. Our churches, our mosques & our shrines are personal fiefdoms.

We can’t deny this.

So we have to either agree that activating political engagement (on the street) is our path to changing or even influencing our leaders OR we accept we are not ready to fix leadership & focus on becoming better people.

Vote or be ignored, that’s the truth about democracy.

Without stepping away from our screens to walk the streets of our townships & villages, talk to the poor, explain good leadership to them, within knocking on millions of doors to drive the political outcome of our preference, our influence over government will be weak at best.

I have concluded that leaders listen to those who can remove them.

And those who can remove them (the masses) listen to those who step down to their level to engage them.

Until we take the civic duty of political engagement seriously, we stand no chance of changing our leaders.

And so we will continue to engage, not because it is easy, but because it is a must.

Yes, leaders are the quickest way to change a society and they respond to voters that are well organized & demand accountability, voters that can tip the scale

We either become this or we tweet

.. or we tweet in vain.

Note to self;
I have voted in every election since I became eligible to vote 30 years ago.

Note to many;
If all the enlightened folks vote, 2023 outcomes will be different.

Note to all;
If we engage the poor masses that are compromised for election, many will vote wisely.