HALTING THE MASTERMIND REVIEW- By Emmanuel Uche

BY IKE STANLEY AMAZUO NWADIRIORA

A REVIEW BY EMMANUEL UCHE, ANTI-CORRUPTION PROGRAM

MANAGER, JUSTICE FOR ALL PROJECT, THE BRITISH COUNCIL, ABUJA

- ALL PROTOCOLS OBSERVED

- The book, Halting the Mastermind, by Ike Stanley Amazuo Nwadiriora, a young and

promising Nigerian patriot, signals a clarion call to all Nigerians to wake up to fulfill the

promise bestowed by the founding fathers to make Nigeria a rising star on the African

continent. The author demonstrates a passion for the transformation of Nigeria. He seeks

to articulate and translate this through the various themes he addresses in his book. He

appreciates the great human and material resources the country has, signals the potential

great heights this country could rise up to. Yet, he warns against the many ways in which

we together, and as individuals can undermine our present and future states of affairs and

legacies.

- The book, which in a sense qualify as the Treatise of a Nigerian Patriot or The Centenary

Lamentations of a Nigerian Comrade is divided into ten Chapters with each structured

into subthemes. In the various Chapters, he analyzes with deep-seated passion, the

current situation in the country, how we got here, what options are before us as a people

to either halt or accentuate the mastermind (whether real or perceived), by our collective

and individual actions and/or inactions.

- Chapter 1 opens the treatise with a reflection from Nigeria’s centenary journey and

the lessons from its key milestones, noting the need on Page 3 for Nigeria to draw

comparative lessons from other countries when they celebrated their 100 years of

nationhood. Chapter 2 addresses the undermining of democratic foundations for good

governance through conscious and sub-conscious masterminding of socio-political and

economic process and its grave consequences on Nigeria’s development and citizen’s

welfare. Chapter 3 and 4 substantiates the author’s postulation in Chapter 2 through

more in-depth analysis of the dynamics of corruption and bad leadership as well as

the nexus between poor governance, prevalent poverty and the dearth of rule of law,

especially in our national polity. Chapter 5 forays into Nigeria’s oil resource blessings

and attendant woes, while Chapter 6 x-rays the challenge of terrorism and other violent

crimes that have undermined our very existence as a nation, interrogating possible

solutions from comparable climes. Chapter 7 is dedicated to addressing the youth

challenge as a precursor to Chapter 8, 9 and 10 that then reviews in greater depth,

Nigeria’s nation-hood, its precepts, foundational gaps as well as past and present efforts

to address its fundamental disconnects.

- In summary, through the various themes and subthemes, he seeks to lead the reader

to understand the forces behind the country’s several experiences of political

maladministration, economic mismanagement, debilitating poverty among the less

fortunate, endemic corruption, missed opportunities to take the country to greater heights

considering the rich human and other material resource potential of the country. He

also reveals the greed, chauvinistic leadership styles where people in positions of power

feel “omnipotent invincibility” (to quote one author), predatory leadership and business

culture, winner-takes-all attitudes, regrettable apathy of citizens, cultural stasis (reflected

through inter-ethnic rivalry, conflict, insecurity and instability), as well as a socially

engineered mindset that cuts across the general population where people celebrate and

prioritize “big-manism and big-womanism”.

- He decries the manipulation of the population for self-aggrandizement by people in

positions of power, the disregard for the less privilged, and a careless disregard for the

protection of lived environments and livelihoods. He laments the impunity, criminality,

and indiscipline in our nation, as well as our pervasive lack of moral courage to question

and stand up to social injustices. The collusion by external actors and interests adds to the

list of national ills. In short, the author’s message is that we must halt the mastermind

that engineers and pursues the above shortlist of challenges. In as far as each one of us

contributes to these ills, we are one of the “masterminds”.

- Therefore, in order to address all the above depressing realities, the author provides

us with ideas to understand and query the underlying causes of these problems. To

help us address the national challenges, he outlines an ethical agenda as a basis for the

unflinching strength, optimism and resilience of a people. Through an ethical culture and

attention to core national values, we can still wake up and work together, in solidarity

for the collective good, to deliver on the promise of prosperity and well being for the

Nigerian people.

- In the words of this promising young upcoming Nigerian writer, who aspires for a

reawakening of the spirit of the founding Fathers of our nation, “to get out of our present

situation of social, economic and political dread, we need to deploy an aggressive leadership

agenda. We need a strategic focus on principles of ethical leadership interventions. These are

necessary and needed to uphold and pursue core national values in order to revitalize, refocus

and achieve national purpose for the collective well-being of all Nigerians and others who

reside in her borders”.

- Thus, we need collaborative engagements, we need to focus on doing the public’s

business rather personal business. We also need to stand up with moral courage to foster

high morale among our disenchanted populace, to foster loyalty, commitment, selflessness

and dedication to fulfilling the demands of the public trust irrespective of risks, trials and

tribulations, dark forces, and various other challenges.

- Therefore, in moving forward into the future, what traits, competencies and tools do we

need to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of our youth and future generations?

I would like to offer some perspective on leadership, taking a cue from the author’s appeal

for ethical leadership as the answer to our national situation. My thoughts are based on

the insights of the Harvard University Management specialist, Daniel Goldman, in his

seminal article, “What Makes a Leader”, published in the Harvard Business Review,

2004. According to Goldman, in the exercise of leadership, we must demonstrate an

understanding and consciousness of the task of leadership as interdependent governance;

Self-awareness to discern and uphold preferred values that shape foundations; consciousness

and comprehension of one’s place in the world and of the grounding of oneself in a world

of interdependent relations as well as high levels of empathy, vision, moral courage and the

capacity to build, promote and sustain mutual accountability. Goldman concludes that It is

the above “soft” skills that we need our leaders and us all to imbibe and demonstrate as we

conduct the public’s mandate on a daily basis.

Let me without any equivocation, salute the daunting apolitical courage of the author

and brazen boldness with which he has elucidated the debilitating manifestations of mis-
governance and abuse of public trust by present and past leaders, as well as the daring

bravery that drives his commitment to a glorious rebirth of the Nigeria of our dream. May

I quickly add here, that although the author’s deep passion and craving for a new Nigeria is

infectiously manifest in every page of this epistle, his sense of the expediency and necessary

actions needed to halt the observable masterminds requires urgency. This not withstanding,

the book could have been better structured and the ideas better organized and streamline for

improved flow and readership appeal. I am however persuaded that these improvements will

be adequately addressed in subsequent editions and reviews.

These notwithstanding, as I conclude this book review, I again want to highlight that the

author’s passion and approach opens up the reality of our existence and experience. He does

not stop there. He actually attempts to present us with how we can address our current reality

of dread and promise, of opportunity and hope and of confidence and optimism to achieve

our greatest heights through the use of the greatest resources of all times – namely good

leadership and a culture of accountability, honesty, patriotism, popular participation and

fraternity. Only through this can we PRESERVE OUR UNITY, PEACE, PROGRESS, AND

PROSPERITY AGAINST THE OFF-SHOOT OF GROWING PERPLEXITIES in our national

life, which is the main essence of the book.

It is my sincere submission that Halting the Mastermind is a centenary legacy to Nigeria,

chronicling for posterity, critical issues in nation building at this stage in our national life. It is

a concise ‘Wikipedia’ on the challenge of development in Nigeria and therefore a great resource

for students of contemporary Nigeria history as well as a critical reference for all who are

genuinely interested in the survival of Nigeria. May I therefore request us all to rise and give a

standing applause to this great comrade and patriot per-excellence, for bequeathing this enduring

piece to Nigeria at this auspicious time in history.

Emmanuel Uche

Abuja, 2014