By Femi Fani-Kayode
When it comes to leadership surely it is the heart and character of a man that matters and not his religion, tribe or colour.
For those still fixated on religion and tribe when it comes to politics kindly consider the following.
The United Kingdom, our erstwhile colonial master and a country in which 80% of the people are white-skinned and Christian, now has a brown-skinned, ethnic minority, Hindu Prime Minister, a brown-skinned, ethnic minority, Muslim First Minister of Scotland, a brown-skinned, ethnic minority, Muslim Mayor of London, a brown-skinned, ethnic minority Muslim Home Affairs Minister and a black-skinned, ethnic minority Christian as its Foreign Minister.
Again King Charles 111, their new monarch, who is to be crowned today, will no longer be addressed as the “Defender of the (Christian) Faith” as his Royal predecessors in office have been addressed for the last 1000 years, but rather the “Defender of ALL Faiths”.
Despite these changes the white-skinned Christian majority of the United Kingdom did not wail, lament, cry, throw tantrums, scream that they have been cheated or marginalised or claim that the world is coming to an end.
It is time for us to revaluate our thinking and our values in Nigeria.
It is time for us to seek for the best within our ranks to lead and serve and not to constantly indulge in the pettiness of only considering or supporting those that are members of our religious faith, that speak our language, that come from our tribe or that are our personal friends.
As long as we refuse to change our mindset and bring forward our brightest and best minds to make their contribution to the leading and running of our nation and as long as we allow religious and tribal bigotry, envy, insular and provincial thinking and hatred for one another to determine the choices we make, our country will not move forward and become the great and mighty nation that God destined and purposed her to be.
When cowards and sheep are asked to lead and the chicken-hearted are placed in positions of power and authority whilst lions are pushed to the background and ignored simply because they do not share your faith, are not from your tribe or are objects of your envy and hate, your country will suffer for it.
This is because sheep do not have the requisite fortitude, vision, tenacity of purpose, heart, strength, insight, knowledge, foresight and courage to lead, fight, persevere, overcome and win battles.
They are not only losers but they are simply incapable of bringing home the bacon or delivering the goods.
If Moses had been a sheep and not a lion the children of Israel would have still been living in bondage in Egypt till today.
If David had been a sheep and not a lion the Philistines would have been in power in the Middle East today and there would have been no state of Israel.
It is the heart of a man and his love for and fear of God that matters and that is important and not his religious faith.
If he has the heart of a sheep he will lose but if he fears and loves God and has the heart of a lion he will win.
God chose both Moses and David to lead because of their hearts and their love and commitment to His cause and to that of their people.
These are the type of men we need for Nigeria and that is why millions of us lined up behind and fought for our President-elect and Vice President-elect.
It is time for us to forget about religion and other petty considerations when it comes to politics: let men and women with the heart of a lion and the brightest and the best lead our nation regardless of what their faith or tribe may be.
That is the only way we can break the yoke of underdevelopment that has entrapped us. That is the only way that we can be rest assured of entering our Promise Land.
