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As we celebrate
this season of ‘peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind’, it is
important to pause and ask how the millions of Nigerians living beneath
the poverty line – in a country blessed with so much wealth – will be
spending their time. They will not have much to celebrate even if the
conditions they live under allow them the space to acknowledge that
this is one that is supposed to stand out from all the rest.

President Jonathan
should ask Nigerians what he has done to make this Christmas a better
one than last year’s. True the one difference this Christmas is that we
have a president and we know where he is. But is there more? For a
country whose citizens still regard electricity as a miracle, who
hesitate to entrust their healthcare or security to the state,
leadership can only be meaningful when there are recognizable changes
in the way the daily lives of citizens play out. Can we count any
practical changes for the better in the basic services that the
lowliest citizen would require to maintain the modicum of existence
water, light, shelter? We know elections are round the corner, but we
know too that there are no guarantees we can point to that the basic
elements of modern existence will improve once those elections are
over.

For far too many
Nigerians, Christmas is merely another reminder of the extent of their
poverty. One thinks of how many children will spend this season hawking
on the streets to bring a few more naira to their parents; and of the
millions for whom gift giving will be out of the question, because
there is nothing to be given.

No Nigerian
president can claim to have offered genuine leadership if Nigerians
still have to fuel generators to ensure constant power supply; if the
highways continue to be deathtraps ignored by the government.

During this season
we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who, 2,000 years after his
death continues to provide an exemplary model of leadership. He solved
practical problems – healed the sick, fed the hungry, raised the dead,
spoke words of wisdom that have stood the test of time and continue to
inspire and guide millions of people around the world today.

We are not asking
Mr. Jonathan to become Nigeria’s Messiah; neither are we demanding that
he heal the sick and raise the dead. What we are asking is for him to
provide inspired and determined leadership, the kind that has
constantly eluded Nigeria.

And in fact, he
actually has the power to heal the sick – by improving Nigeria’s health
infrastructure, ensuring that healthcare workers enjoy excellent
working conditions and remuneration, devoting a greater percentage of
the budget to health, Mr. Jonathan can ensure that millions more
Nigerians enjoy access to better medical care.

Indeed, as
president, Mr. Jonathan also has the power to raise the dead. What is
the Power Holding Company of Nigeria if not a dead institution, unable
to fulfill its mandate of ensuring that Nigeria has enough power to
function as a 21st century nation. If we decided to list Nigeria’s dead
institutions and projects, it would be a long one indeed.

Where is the
National Independent Power Project (NIPP)? What happened to the
National Health Insurance Scheme, the renovation of the Lagos -Sagamu –
Benin Expressway?

Nigerians require a
president whose ambition plays out not in Aso Rock intrigues but in the
quality of his or her leadership. The Biblical story of the Nativity
features King Herod, a cruel ruler who, in his bid to kill the baby
Christ, wiped out an entire generation of children. Nigeria has had its
own fair share of Herods. Their effects are evident all around us,
death and destruction in various guises.

As we celebrate
Christmas, we would like to remind President Jonathan that this country
needs a new model of leadership, a life-giving, promise-fulfilling one;
committed to putting an end to Nigeria’s continued occupation of the
thin line separating hope and despair.

It is now more than
seven months since he took office as president and this is his first
Christmas as leader of Nigeria. Depending on how things turn out in
next year’s elections, it could also be his last. Whatever happens in
the future, the present is all that Mr. Jonathan has. To make the most
of it, he should constantly ask himself: What am I doing to make
Nigeria a better place?

And of course, that is a question we all need to ask ourselves as
well. What are Nigerians as citizens doing to ensure that the leaders
they have are responsive to their needs?