Between Lincoln and Buhari: Lessons for the youths (2)

By Waheed-Kaakaki Olawole on July 27, 2015
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LINCOLN became President in 1860, the time tension was high over the debate whether to or not stop slavery. As a selfless, patriotic and visionary leader who knew the danger in slavery and potential evil inherent in it, he did not shy away from stamping his authority on the abolition of the slave trade.
If Lincoln had been a self-centred or greedy leader, he would have introduced policies that would further strengthen the institution of slavery because the major victims were blacks. The measure to stop slavery by Lincoln polarised America at the time as North was highly industrialised and South depended heavily on slavery for its large plantation. The abolition eventually plunged the nation into bloody civil war for four years as South threatened to pull out of the Union. Lincoln’s patriotism and altruism was displayed once again as he was able to manage the war and keep America together with the significant victory recorded.

Drawing comparison between Lincoln’s records as U.S. President and Buhari’s style of leadership, one would safely conclude that they share the same fate as leaders. Buhari may not have fought a civil war as a leader; he participated actively as a soldier in the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970. The greatest danger of civil war is that it threatens the unity of a country but corruption which is considered as more dangerous battle weakens its existence. It was in the battle to rid the country of corruption that Buhari and his military government that turned him to an angel in a country where almost all past leaders are tagged promoters of corruption. His genuine fight against corruption outshone all his other performances while he was in office. It was his memorable policies and measures against corruption that endeared him more to many Nigerians who chose to vote him as the fifth president of Nigeria.

As noted earlier that Lincoln refused to profit from slavery and used his office as American President to outlaw it, Buhari’s stance again made him the poorest among the former military Heads of State. These leaders chose good name rather than stolen wealth that would bastardise their names and reputation. At least, there is an old saying that “good name is better than gold and silver.” The battle against corruption is more fierce and strategic to fight. It is like a guerilla war where the enemies are invisible or difficult to track.

Buhari’s doggedness against this monster called corruption for just 18 months he was in power gave him an edge over most past leaders alive or dead. In fact, his cohorts used his incorruptible and moral virtues as their selling point while campaigning for his presidential bid. This made the job easier for them because corruption is the major evil a common man wanted to join hand with government to send packing.

The Buhari’s antecedents as the least corrupt former leader as established by media contributed to his election as President. Though there is hardly a country without its own case of corruption, Nigeria’s case seems to be extra ordinary. And, if there is any leader who used his position to deal with corruption rather than doing the business as usual, such leader deserves to be celebrated and emulated. Fortunately, he is not only being celebrated but enjoyed maximum support of the electorate to defeat an incumbent, a feat considered almost impossible in Africa where leaders refuse to vacate exalted offices.

Now, it is not enough to read about good men and not learn from what made them great. Lincoln and Buhari are celebrated today not just because they occupied exalted offices at one time or the other. There is a popular saying that “great men are known not by their size but the contents of their characters.” There are many lessons to draw and learn from both Lincoln and Buhari. Though no mortal is completely free from fault or above mistakes, we should try at all times to do the right things when people invest their hope and trust in us. It is only through this that will make our names immortal or eternal. Notable figures like Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jnr and Nelson Mandela are dead but their names can never vanish from peoples’ hearts. Both Lincoln and Buhari did not device or adopt virtues that later worked for them while in office. They imbibed these attitudes and morals from their youthful period and they were principled. They could have compromised to do otherwise for material things but they chose to do what would benefit their respective countries and commoners. The first lesson in this is that youths must endure to cultivate and adopt good morals for they will later help in future.

Lincoln and Buhari shared characters of persistence and doggedness in their bid for elective offices. Lincoln like Buhari lost a number of elections before luck smiled on him in 1860. We should not give up easily when fighting or pursuing a course we believe will benefit us or fellow humans. It is not necessary to be in politics, it may be in other human endeavours like education. You do not give up to secure admission into higher institutions just because you fail once or twice. Lincoln and Buhari would not have become executive presidents, if they did not see failure as a curable disease and persisted in their pursuit. We should always know that “winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win.” Whatever we strive to achieve in life, we should not be discouraged by earlier failures. Of course, failure breeds frustration but as long as our intentions are genuine we should not relent. If, for any reason, we do not achieve our goal fully, we will definitely succeed in laying good foundation for those coming behind and prosperity will be fair to us.

Patriotism and altruism reflected more in the leadership qualities of both leaders. They worked tirelessly to see their countries thrive and overcome many challenges capable of disuniting them. Their actions and activities have been discussed extensively above. All of us may not be destined to lead or rule our countries but we should be conscious of the fact that we are leaders in various capacities we find ourselves. Ways and manners we relate and manage the people around us and resources at our disposal count a lot. We may not have intention or plan to be a leader of a community or country. The people that we have interacted and related with may later in life pressurise us to lead them in whatever capacity due to our altruistic nature. Mandela never envisaged being the President of South Africa one day when he put his life on the line and sacrificed 25 years of his active life for his fellow black men to have liberty and equality with the minority whites. His (Mandela) genuine commitment for others paid, as he became the first black president of South Africa in 1994. Life takes notes of our attitudes and characters; the same life will offer or disqualify us for bigger responsibilities or offices based on the contents of our characters.

In all honesty, nobody can win everybody’s hearts with his money or other material things but good characters, morals and right attitudes will easily and naturally capture peoples’ passion for us. This is how we can bury ourselves in peoples’ hearts forever. For instance, there are historical figures whose name ring bell louder than when they were alive. The likes of Luther King Jnr and Mandela are not being remembered for what they acquired for themselves but what they sacrificed for humanity. Let us strive to live and lead with good intentions so that we can be buried in peoples’ hearts.