South Korea teaches Nigeria a lesson in public conduct

The resignation of South Korean Prime Minister, Chung Hong-won, after his government was criticised over the poor handling of the 16 April ferry disaster, should be emulated by Nigerian leaders who hardly take responsibility for their failure in office.

In that disaster, over 300 people either died or were declared missing, and being a principled leader who also has conscience, the Prime Minister had to resign to save his image that had been battered by the public who criticised the manner the disaster was handled.

The issue of resignation is alien to Nigerian leaders, even when worse tragedies than the Korean ferry disaster occur here.

What can be more scandalous than the abduction of over 234 schoolgirls from their dormitories in Chibok, Borno State, yet none of the military service chiefs has turned in his resignation.

Two weeks after the girls were taken hostage by the Boko Haram terrorists, no word has been heard about them and no one knows the fate that has befallen them, yet the service chiefs have not deemed it fit to resign.

Following the Immigration job stampedes across the country recently that resulted in the death of scores of applicants, Nigerians called for the resignation of the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro.

The calls fell on deaf ears as the minister pointedly told Nigerians that he was not going to quit.

There have been several instances where our leaders failed the people and rather than resign their appointment, they sat tight and dared the heavens to fall. The attitude of our leaders to tragedies or disasters goes to show that they are not in office to serve the people. There are there to appropriate the commonwealth while the people pine away in penury.

All over the world where leaders with conscience care for their people, they demonstrate those qualities practically by doing what the South Korean Prime Minister has done. Until Nigerian leaders imbibe those sterling, altruistic qualities, the people won’t take them seriously, and our country will remain the laughing stock of other developed nations.