By Yusuf Shehu Usman, mni, Abujà
When ordinary citizens criticise their leaders, it doesn’t mean that they are unpatriotic or are in any way trying to bring down the nation we love so much.
The nation that has given and is still giving us all we have and all that we aspire and hope to have.
The leaders we criticise did not conquer us by war and imposed themselves on us as dictators or emperors.
They are a part of us and we elected them and gave them the mandate to run our affairs on our behalf as a trust.
That’s what is meant by the statement that leadership is a trust
A trust property does not exclusively belong to the trustee, even if he has a stake in it.
The trustee has a legal obligation to hold and administer the trust in strict compliance with and for the interest and benefit of those who gave him the trust.
That’s the basis of criticism of governments and those that run them on behalf of the citizens that elected them and put them in the various positions of leadership.
Therefore as part owners of the trust property, the citizens have every right to criticise the leaders when they are mis managing the trust, derailing from its terms or destroying the property subject matter of the trust.
The trust deed that binds the leaders and the led in our democracy, is the Constitution, which in express and clear terms has laid down the foundation of the duties, powers and functions of government and the social contract between the government and the citizens.
At the root of this contract and trust is the basic responsibility of the democratic government to carter for the welfare and well being social and economic of the people, promote and protect their fundamental human rights and to secure their lives and properties.
The citizens also have a corresponding duty to support the government through the leaders, to deliver on the burden of trust we have mandated them with.
Therefore, our leaders must never take criticism of government policies that they are implementing as personal attacks.
The critics are exercising their rights under the Constitution, the ultimate Charter of the trust and the Articles of Association that binds them to the persons that they entrusted with the management of their affairs.
They are not criticising government and the leadership as strangers but as persons with a stake and interest in trust property.
The leaders of every democratic government must tolerate and absorb constructive criticism from the citizens , learn lessons from them and use them as guides to better manage the trust for the benefit of all covered by the Trust deed.
Yusuf Shehu Usman, mni
Abuja