By Hon (Engr) Promise A. Nwadigos
Hedgehog, popularly known as Idiot is an awkward looking spiny mammal that belongs to the subfamily of Erinaceinae and the family of Eulipotyphlan They are mainly found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand.
Idiot or Hedgehog has a common ancestry with Shrew. Like many other first Mammals , they have adapted to a nocturnal way of life. Idiots have a spiny protective feature like that of porcupines, which they use for defence, especially during extreme distress. Their spines are not poisonous like that of Porcupines.
One of the distinguishing features of Idiot is that they are born blind. They have a very shallow mentality. This is the main reason why they always cover their faces with their hands, always feeling shy all the time. Their shallow mentality makes them easily fall prey to their predators.
While other animals strive for survival, they always mope about achieving nothing on a daily basis.
Incredibly, some human beings are like Idiots with profound intellectual disability and mental retardation. Also, most African leaders behave like this Hedgehog with hollow mentality and myopic reasoning. Leaders with crystal motives employ wisdom, foresight, sense of purpose, and commitment to galvanize the people towards self-actualization and propel the national and patroitic spirit in them. One of the major constraints and drawbacks in achieving sustainable leadership in the continent today is that we have leaders with shallow mentality like that of Idiot.
Our continent has remained in a suspended animation partly because most of our leaders lack the necessary vision, passion, intellectual prowess, insight, and charisma required for leadership responsibilities. Sustainable leadership anywhere in the world is a function of the presence or lack of noble men of conscience, selflessness, patriotism and transcendence; and their will power to pursue the ideals of common good in spite of the base impulses to the contrary.
Leadership, in all intents and purposes, is about fostering change. It requires leaders with a high intrepid spirit for change against the uninspiring climate of leadership fatigue being experienced in our society today. Achieving a sustainable leadership also requires leaders with high intellectual mobility, innovative craft, and resounding artistry for progressivism. Not leaders who mope about squandering public money without achieving anything for the people or who always cover their faces with their hands like Idiots as a result of their failures and weaknesses.
With the leadership failure fact tracking reality in the continent, where the citizens are higly depressed in all sectors , the gap is ever widening between them and most elected leaderships feeding fat and getting richer by the day , most leadership enjoying self awarded honours and prerequisites, with their wards often comfortably ensconced in foreign lands. With political Hedgehog in the african leadership saddle, the people will continue to wallow in economic constipation and social self adulation.
Today, rampaging political Hedgehogs are jumping up and down in a jamboree and abracadabra manner, all in the name of leadership. Inflicting pains and anguish on the african people. Pensioners crying on a daily basis begging for their pensions and gratuities, civil servants praying and fasting on a daily basis for the payment of their salaries.
May God deliver our continent from the hands of political Hedgehogs and Idiots.
His Excellency, Hon (Engr) Nwadigos is IYP President www.iypglobal.org