 Welcome to The Advocate, your reminder that important conversations are among the necessary tools for a saner society. Today, I'm calling for change from the bottom, which means from us. Comfort is asking what's gone wrong with the children and how do we correct misguided children? I don't really add words, spotlight what Nigerians want in 2023. In the same vein, Ruth is calling for everyone to come out and vote in the next elections. As always, your panelists are here to share ideas aimed at provoking thoughts with no holds barred. Stay with us. Change begins from the bottom, not the top. When you ask an average Nigerian to vote, he complains about how the man at the bottom is powerless. When you talk about reckless driving on the streets of Lagos, the average driver will blame the authorities and uniformed men, the LASMA, VIO, police, etc. We live a life which suggests that we have no responsibility as a people and all powers lie with the government. Worse still, we ignore local and state governments and dump everything under federal government. Truly, governments have been a disappointment for so long, such that an average Nigerian teenager does not understand the principle of good governance, communal living and responsible living. Not because he isn't learned, but because there is very little exposure to good governance in our society. All you see is embezzlement, abandoned projects and deflections, for example, the contaminated fuel saga. We all know how the blame game has started. While governments should be held culpable, we need to face the reality. Change cannot come from the top. It's a simple principle of life who changes a working idea, a winning team. If things go wrong and politicians get richer, why would any politician want to make things work? Now, this is not to say every politician is anti-Nigeria or Nigerians. If you go back 20 years, many people in our local government secretaries today were nobody's average persons on the streets like you and I. They were men like you and I who complained about bad governance, but today they are bad leaders. If you live in a society where everybody takes advantage of the other, then you cannot have good leaders. It is bad enough to have contaminated fuel, but what is evil is the fact that fuel attendants introduce 500 Naira to 1,000 Naira surcharge on every 25 litre of jerry can of fuel that is filled. What is demonic is the fact that managers of a filling station orders the pump to be shut down in order to create artificial scarcity. They stimulate frustrations and ultimately hike the price. There simply isn't brother's code anymore in Nigeria. As a kid, if you went to a kiosk to buy an item and the attendant tells you 300 Naira, what you thought she said 600 Naira and as such you decided to negotiate down to 500 Naira, she will gladly tell you, I said 300 Naira. Now when you make such corrections, this present moment, you are considered not to be a sharp guy. Take advantage, take the 500 Naira and move on. And when we say there is increase in ritual killings, I then say we ain't seen nothing yet. We cannot demand from politicians what you are born. Many of us complain about bad governance. But when our relatives get into power, suddenly our list well. Nigerians don't want good governance. Of course that's what it seems like. We only want a good life for ourselves and as such, as much as I know, we don't care who pays the price for it. There are too many irresponsible people on our roads. People who only care about themselves. People who do anything to make way for themselves. As long as you stop your car in the middle of the road to greet a friend and when other drivers caution you, you shout, get out of here, useless man. You deserve the leaders you have because you are not different from them. To get good leaders, we need to be good people. As long as we remain selfish, nothing will change permanently. If we change our attitude, it will be easier to identify quality leaders from among us. Then collectively, we can support such candidacy till he or she gets to the top. Remember, change begins from the bottom, not the top. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any change that comes from the top, not last. That's what I've come to realise because the people are not involved in it. They are only just going to do it because they want to do it. An example is the case of when the fashion law was governor of Lagos State. He made this compulsory that you do not have parties on the streets. People changed. People are just there. In the event centre, we are making more money. But these days, even on a main road, you see someone putting up a tent for a small party. So it's funny. It just tells us that people only did it because the system forced them to do it. But once it comes from within, it is a habit. It is something that we also initiate because we see the reasons why we should do this. Then it's more likely than to last. It's something we also hand down to our children. I may have to disagree with you a bit. That's because I think that everything rises and falls on leadership. Just look at the example you gave. The governor said, and I dare say that he probably started from within his cabinet to make sure that people are head to those things. I think that the reason why we see all the things we have seen is because there is no leadership. There is no leadership. Who is leading? Who is telling us how to, where to, when to? There is no one. Because again, even as children, we know that children don't do what they hear. Just because daddy said don't, doesn't mean they don't. They do what they see. So what are our leaders doing? Yes, I know that the bottom, it's a holistic collective thing. So the bottom has its part to play. But until leadership changes, I personally think that that's the problem. In my view, you don't become a good leader because you're in government. You must be a good follower. You must be a good leader from the bottom. So you don't suddenly change because now I'm in government, let me do the right thing. Is that true? We're just having a conversation about people we know who are human beings. I'm saying change for the better. I'm saying change for the better. If you were selfish, if you were nonchalant, if you were self-centered as a follower, and you vie for a position and you get to government, that is who we see. The governor-fascist we're talking about today, I know people who said in his house, even before he became a governor, you don't put on the generator anyhow. And he wasn't a poor man when he was not a governor. So he was frugal. Yeah, exactly. He knew how to manage things. So anyway, comfort. Yes, because you know this topic goes me. Because we've gone over and over this issue, we know very well that both parties are to blame for what we are. Both the top and both the bottom. And I agree with you 100%. That the leaders come from us. And coming from us meant that they were followers too. And they are now in these positions needing having stood on the sidelines at a certain point and complained. So where does that lead us now? We are left with a de-franchised followership, a battered followership, a run-less followership, a misguided followership. And it's still from these people. So even the change that you're talking about come from these people means that we still need to have leaders at the bottom. Exactly. Who are ready to say, you know what? Okay, okay. These people at the top that we said they are not doing the right thing. But here we are at the bottom. Exactly. They are not doing the wrong thing. And I love the example you used about the petrol station because it was the same argument I had two days ago. I said, so the federal government decides to screw us over. So we now decide at our level that we are the ones that are collecting the power of the school. Yes, we now do ourselves to more harm. The same person who is a manager of petrol attendant is still suffering in the same economy that me and him and them are. We are expected there. That is when we should show solidarity to ourselves. Okay. We have this bad situation. I'm going to make sure that there's no dumping of fuel. Even if it is, they wanted to make sure that everybody gets rationed so that your brother will get it. So if you're going to want to fill your tank, we'll say, no. Everybody across Bob will get 5000 so that at least let everybody be able to. But no. That's not what happens. Instead, we had human filling stations. So honestly, even the change starting from the bottom, there's still a level of change in it that needs to be given from the bottom. Well, as you rightly said, we need to look at each other as our brother's keeper. But unfortunately, our consciences have become so serious and we don't know what is going to take. And I think you've said it all that we need at this point. You see, there are a lot of people at the bottom who know what is right, but they don't do anything about it. The only complaint, we need to stop massing up such people. Forget that's what I was talking about. We can't change the top. If we don't start influencing our immediate environment. You who knows what is right, who knows doing this is wrong. Just start influencing your... Don't go far. Don't leave. Don't go for a state. You're Jerusalem. Exactly. Your local... Not even your local government might even be too human. Not even your home. Your home, exactly. I've been a good dad. I've been a good husband. I've been a good brother and a good son and then... A good community leader, your streets, whatever it is, just ensure that things are working well. That's it. So, the conversation continues starting from the top or the bottom. One thing is certain that we need to start influencing change. And anywhere you find yourself as a leader, start doing something right. Well, comfort is next after the break.