Great leadership is not, cannot, has never been; and should never be measured sorely in statistical terms. Great leadership, particularly under democratic dispensation, must pass the scrutiny of decorum, decency, consistency, integrity, transparency, accountability, adherence to the rule of law and respect for the preferences of citizens, whose interests must be the ultimate.
When individuals decide to view things solely from their parochial prism, often shaped by ego, arrogance and self-acclaimed righteousness that sounds the death knell for democracy and all it represents.It is little wonder, therefore, that not a few share the sentiments that the worst democracy is better than the most benevolent dictatorship.
Simply put, there is far more that democracy offers to humanity than mere physical infrastructural development. Democracy by itself, does not bring about good governance. While it creates the environment, it is the quality of the human elements that consist of an entity: how enlightened, cultured and cultivated they, that consist of the motif force that bring about good governance and define an enviable trajectory for nations.
Sadly, it would seem obvious that in our own part of the globe, all these values have been thrown overboard with a sense of arrogance and impunity that is unprecedented in history. How else do we explain the shameful political gymnastics playing out, all in the name of political dexterity or wizardry by dramatis personae such as the former Governor of Rivers State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barr. Nyesom Wike and his cohorts.For many years, 2009-2015, I held up Barr. Wike as Learned friend and an ideal, leader, as well as beacon of democratic ideals.
I had even wished he had emerged the PDP presidential flagbearer in the 2023 Convention. My assessment of his person was purely premised on his performance as Honourable Minister of State Education and a two-term Governor of Rivers State. I had believed that all his actions were dictated by altruistic considerations and the quest for the common good. He had on occasions, stepped forward, supposedly, to protect the interest of any person from Rivers State when the need arose.
The cases of Mrs. Mary Peter Odili (now a retired Justice of the Supreme Court) whose house was under siege in the dead of the night by security operatives, and Barr. Joy Yimebe Nunieh, a former Managing Director are still fresh in our minds. His performance in constructing over-head bridges and network of roads in Rivers State, which earned him the name of “Mr. Project”, an appellation he still enjoys in the Federal Capital Territory, also shaped my adoring impression of him.
Wike’s post-governorship conduct, particularly with respect to governance in Rivers State under the watch of Siminalayi Fubara, whom he literally, single-handedly, imposed on others, has however, left me wondering if really, I had not made a grievous mistake in investing my trust and confidence in him.
Whatever seemingly impressive work Wike has done in Rivers State and that which he is doing as FCT Minister has been completely obliterated by his overtly intolerant, brash, dictatorial, caustic and uncouth behavior, firstly, towards his Rivers State political protégée, Governor Siminalayi Fubara; secondly, towards his perceived political traducers; and thirdly, towards his supposed friends.
All of these have faulted my sense of judgment, rendering me a subject of ridicule before friends who had cautioned my hasty admiration of his style. Smarting from a bruised sense of judgment, I have learnt and also hope others should, not to assess leadership using a single yardstick.
Recently, Hon. Nyesom Wike, the Hon. Minister of the FCT appeared on “Politics Today” anchored by Seun Okinbaloye on Channels TV on September, 18, 2025, where he paraded himself to have single-handedly moved the National Convention of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at which he also said he single-handedly picked Senator Waziri Tambuwal as the Northern Presidential candidate without consulting with anyone, not even stakeholders from the North. While on the face of it, this appears a heroic act that ought to be commended, a critical analysis of this gesture eloquently points to the dictatorial tendencies of the person of Wike. Even worse, is the condescending implications this attitude portends towards the north.
Did the North need a Wike to think and decide for it who was best qualified to represent it in a National election that was to produce the President of the country? How much of the concerns, frustrations, hopes and aspirations of the North does Wike understand? According to Wike, it took a General Aliyu Gusau, a former National Security Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo to thwart his wish of single-handedly foisting Senator Waziri Tambuwal on the PDP.
For this, Wike has never forgiven the former NSA, whom he claimed instructed Northern stakeholders to direct northern delegates on who to vote for. Wike claimed this scenario repeated itself in the 2023 PDP Convention where he, once again, attributed his loss to General Aliyu Gusau’s last minute intervention which swung the pendulum in favour of Atiku Abubakar in a contest Wike was equally a presidential aspirant.
Assuming, without conceding, that Wike’s narrative is correct, for which he bears eternal grudge against Gen. Aliyu Gusau, how morally detestable can Gen. Gusau’s action both in 2019 and 2023, be more than Wike’s draconian acts of silencing of other governorship aspirants and the crass imposition of Fubara as the PDP governorship candidate in 2023? On what moral pedestal does Wike stand to bear a grudge against Gen. Gusau when what he accuses the General of is exactly what he set out to achieve by, according to him, “single-handedly moving the 2019 PDP Convention to Rivers and single-handedly imposing Senator Waziri Tambuwal, as the northern presidential candidature on the PDP” without recourse to anyone, not even the northern political stakeholders. What point was Wike trying to prove?
While at that time, some of us failed to see through this emerging danger to our fledgling democratic ecosystem, some keen observers with foresight had realized that Wike’s behavior eloquently pointed to nothing short of the making of a political tyrant adorned in the garb of a quintessential democrat. Thanks to General Aliyu Gusau’s intervention, if at all he indeed thwarted Wike’s dangerous schemes on the two separate occasions. If truly, the General did, then, the time-tested adage that “what an elder sees while standing on a plain, can never be seen by a younger person, no matter the elevated height from which he/she stands.” The vision that informed General Gusau’s timely intervention is indeed the vision that guided the politics of our forebears – the founding fathers of our beloved nation, which they bequeathed their successors in the person of Gen. Aliyu Gusau, one of the pioneer products of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA 1), who put their lives on the line to preserve Nigeria as a corporate entity. With benefit of hindsight, one wonders what would have become of this country had Wike assumed the reins of power as President, Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Whatever reasons the General had for frustrating Wike’s inordinate ambition, as claimed by Wike himself, with benefit of hindsight, Nigerians owe the General a debt of gratitude.The number one office in the land must not be occupied by a despot, in whatever guise (in uniform of civilian dress). Construction of roads and overhead bridges must not be the sole criterion for occupying such an elevated position.
Those who aspire to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must epitomize our age-long cherished values of decency, decorum, morality, respect for elders, constitutionality and true champions of democratic ethos. They must not be tyrants adorned in democratic garb.
The number one office of the land most not be turned into a “Fuji house of commotion”, which Wike single-handedly turned Rivers State and the PDP to.
It deserves nothing less that sanity and sobriety.I am still struggling to come to terms how someone who claims he toiled to build the PDP would, overnight, turn around to be the undertaker that presides over the tragic extinction of that same party that nurtured and nourished him to political relevance, simply because he failed to fly the party’s ticket as its presidential candidate.
Is it suddenly lost on Wike the Scriptures from the two Holy Books, the Qur’an and the Bible that remind us that it is the God Almighty who gives Power to whom He wishes, and when He wishes? Has Wike, so obsessed by inordinate ambition, suddenly forgotten the injunction from the Holy Scriptures that remind us that the race is not for the swiftest? Let not one act of failure make us throw caution and decency to the dogs because tomorrow surely holds greater promises.
When a friend accepts an invitation to dinner, he does so Not because he lacks food in his house, but because he cherishes friendship and fellowship. Therefore, for Wike to have gone on National Television to ridicule Chief Dele Momodu, whom he had hosted to a meal, that okra steamed down his chest from his mouth while he ate, is to say the least, not only childish, but demeaning and least expected of a person who had aspired to lead biggest black Nation on earth and the pride of the Black race.
It is also a smack of betrayal of trust and utter disrespect for one’s guest and supposed friend. How could any prospective guest ever trust such a person? Should this also not be a lesson to the G-5 Governors and others alike who flock with him because they have conveniently found a safe haven under the shelter? May they never be objects of ridicule and a laughing stock Tomorrow. Wike must appreciate that politics is a marathon. He still has age on his side. He needs to do some introspection. One succeeds, not by antagonizing people on all fronts, but by reasoning together, building bridges and warming oneself into the hearts and minds of men and women across the entire spectrum of society. Wike has never lost an opportunity to accuse just everybody he has had cause to work with of betrayal. It is instructive that he should ask himself: why is he the only person who feels betrayed? This calls for introspection.
Meanwhile, leave Gen. Aliyu Gusau alone. Do not drag the elder Statesman into pedestrian matters. You merely chase shadows if you think he is your problem. He is certainly not and will never be your problem because there are more important issues of higher value to humanity he has to attend to.He who has ears, let him hear and learn.
Nuhu writes from Country Chambers, Bank of Industry, Waff Road, Kaduna
