NIGERIANS WILL CONTINUE to wait the time when her leaders will be ripe enough to take political decisions that can make the world to come to realize that we are politically matured.  It is no gainsaying that no Nigerian leader right from independence in 1960 to the present time 2018 has portrayed the courage to resign from office as a result of public condemnations and outcry from the wake of economic problems.  Every government has had to face one economic problem or the other but none has taken the bold step of resignation. 

It seems that it is only in Africa that leaders tend to hold onto power for the rest of their lives when they are in juicy position like the Presidency or Head of State.  It is also on record in Africa that no political party in power has forced its candidate to relinquish power as a result of corruption and gross mismanagement. But South Africa was able to show the world through the African National Congress (ANC) that it is possible to force their candidate out of office due to gross mismanagement of public funds.  Can Nigeria's PDP, APC, SDP, AP and the rest political parties do this? Nigeria is still crawling politically.

A resignation is the formal act of giving up or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term is not considered resignation. When an employee chooses to leave a position, it is considered a resignation, as opposed to involuntary termination, which occurs when the employee involuntarily loses a job. Whether an employee resigned or was terminated is sometimes a topic of dispute, because in many situations, a terminated employee is eligible for severance pay and/or unemployment benefits, whereas one who voluntarily resigns may not be eligible. Abdication is the equivalent of resignation of a reigning monarch or pope, or other holder of a non-political, hereditary or similar position.  A resignation is a personal decision to exit a position, though outside pressure  in many cases. For example, Richard Nixon resigned from the office of President of the United State  in August 1974 following  the Watergate scandal, when he was almost certain to have been  impeached   by  the United States Congress. 

Resignation can be used as a political manoeuvre, as in the Philippines in July 2005, when ten cabinet officials resigned en masse to pressure President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to follow suit over allegations of electoral fraud.  Arroyo's predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was successfully forced out of office during the EDSA Revolution of 2001 as he faced the first impeachment trial held in the country's history. In 1995, the British Prime Minister, John Major, resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party in order to contest a leadership election with the aim of silencing his critics within the party and reasserting his authority. Having resigned, he stood again and was re-elected. He continued to serve as prime minister until he was defeated in 1997 elections. Although government officials may tender their resignations, they are not always accepted. This could be a gesture of confidence reposed in the official. The case with US President George W. Bush's refusal of his Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's twice-offered resignation during the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal could be an example.

The resignation of President Jacob Zuma marks the end of an era. This according to South Africans was era of one corruption allegation after another and an era of divisions, infighting and public squabbles. There are many people who are celebrating now, and not just from the opposition benches.  Some of President Zuma's fiercest political foes came from his own ANC party. Comrades who fought white minority rule in the same trenches as he did, could not wait to see his back. He is gone now. There is a renewed sense of hope over the reins of Africa's most industrialised economy. Some will miss him though, pointing to  the achievements like announcing free fees for higher education.

Mr Zuma, a former member of the ANC's military wing in the days of apartheid, rose through the ranks of the party to become president. He led the country for more than a third of its time after apartheid. But he leaves office with several scandals hanging over him, and with South Africa's economy in dire straits. With the replacement of an extremely wayward character like Jacob Zuma, by his long time errand boy and co-looter , why should the people of South Africa be optimistic about the coming days and years? Both Mbeki and his wayward successor known as Jacob Zuma, were both expected to follow after the example that was laid and clearly established by the late Nelson Mandela, who stayed in office for only 4 years despite the fact that the late sage was entitled to a life presidency going by his sacrifice of almost 3 long decades in prison for that segregative and apartheid country. Just like our sorry case in Nigeria, unfortunately, Mandela, was sent to his grave in both frustration and disappointment by those expected to lead South Africa out of the woods! Just like Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari and those before them in our one-sided federation, history will only remember Jacob Zuma, for misrule and mass corruption while in office.

South Africa has taken the lead once to show not all African countries are the same in terms of governance. Nigeria should learn from this good move. It takes boldness and a great sense of national concern for a leader to do this…unlike his "Nigerian Colleague". Nigeria is doomed as it is because no matter how bad a ruler is, he will get millions of people to line the streets and sing his praises. This is a pathetic situation.

Mugabe has gone. Jacob Zuma has followed. The hand writing is simply on the wall for Nigerian leaders. Nigeria needs younger and modern minded leaders. Here we are again; Nigerians are muddling things up in the way of preparing for the 2019 general elections. The sycophants are at work again looking for ways of remaining in power till eternity when Nigerians are dying.  The few perpetrators are holding on to power without considering the plight of an ordinary man in the street. South Africa operates a system that is completely different from the federal system we operate here and Jacob Zuma's main problem stems from the endemic corruption that has crippled the economy of South Africa over the years.

If African countries can fight corruption to the barest minimum, then whether old or young (corruption is not age specific), we would be able to improve the lot of our people. Rwanda was able to turn its economy and people around when President Kegame (60 years old) boldly confronted corruption and ethnicism in the country. Can we do that in Nigeria? It is time for Nigerians to rise and say no to corruption, killings, kidnapping, fuel scarcity, adoption, tribalism, nepotism, cultism, the list is endless.