By Comrade AMAWU Cletus Albert Amawu.
Journalist/Publisher of EpistleNews.
NIGERIA’S LEADERSHIP VACUUM AND THE RISE OF THE INTOLERANT.
…Leadership is not a performance, it is a responsibility.
Nigeria stands today at a perilous crossroads, not because it lacks resources or people of goodwill, but because it suffers from a chronic leadership vacuum. In the corridors of power, there is an absence not merely of bold decision-making, but of the fundamental qualities that underpin responsible governance: courage, conviction, and clarity of purpose.
An unsettling trend is emerging. The only groups exhibiting resolve and ideological clarity in Nigeria today are the most dangerous ones, those with fascist inclinations. They wield certainty like a weapon, exploiting the silence and indecision of the mainstream political class. In the void left by feeble leadership, demagogues are flourishing.
This is no metaphorical crisis, it is a tangible political quagmire. Elected officials appear more invested in managing political optics and protecting personal interests than in addressing national decline. Policies are either absent or incoherent. Decisions, when made, are often reactive, short-sighted, or driven by vested interests. Meanwhile, the Nigerian public bears the brunt of escalating insecurity, deepening poverty, and a faltering economy.
Where is the courage to govern? Where is the conviction to stand for something beyond re-election campaigns and partisan survival?
This leadership deficit has opened the door to extremists and ideologues who thrive on disorder. With their unwavering rhetoric and aggressive posturing, they present themselves as alternatives to the status quo. Their appeal lies not in competence, but in perceived decisiveness, a stark reflection of how low the bar has fallen. When people are starved of direction, even an iron hand can appear as guidance.
It is a damning indictment of Nigeria’s political elite that the only real energy in public discourse emanates from the fringes. There is more passion in the rhetoric of hate than in the promises of democracy. The centrists have grown timid; the populists, reckless; and the nationalists, conspicuously absent.
This is a call to conscience.
The political class must understand that their indecision is not neutral, it is dangerous. History teaches us that where the democratic centre fails to lead, extremism rushes in to dominate. Nigeria cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of other fragile democracies, where silence from the top was interpreted as complicity or weakness.
Leadership is not a performance, it is a responsibility. It demands moral courage, particularly in times of crisis. If Nigerian leaders refuse to rise to the occasion, they may soon find themselves irrelevant in a country reshaped by forces they failed to confront.
The time for silence has passed. This nation needs leadership, not in title, but in truth.
