Some months ago, President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election campaign team rolled out an advert that compared the President with distinguished global icons, including legendary Singapore leader, Lee Kuan Yew, who passed on on Monday.
The advert generated a heated debate concerning whether any living or dead Nigerian leader matched the courage and vision of the transformational leader.
The globally-revered leader has died but the fact that the Nigerian election is about to be held makes the debate still very relevant.
For three decades – 1959 to 1990 – Lee led Singapore selflessly but with ruthless intolerance for distractions and iron grip on power, which left his critics with no words but to describe him as a dictator.
Yet, the west, which was the staunchest critic of Lee’s firm leadership, are now leading in the outpour of tributes to him . Indeed, the world has shifted its attention to Singapore to pay its last respect to a man credited for single-handedly transforming Singapore from extreme poverty into a prosperous country.
On Monday, President Barack Obama, in a statement reported online, described Lee as a “visionary” leader. Obama, who said he was “deeply saddened” by the death, said Lee’s “remarkable” leadership helped build one of the most prosperous countries.
He said Lee played an important role in “helping me to reformulate our policy of rebalancing to the Asia Pacific.”
Prime Minister of neighbouring Malaysia, a country Lee had a touchy relationship with when he attempted to ‘annex’ it, Najib Razak, said the late leader’s achievements were great and his legacy enduring.
Razak’s Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, also described the late icon as a “strategist and politician widely respected by international society.”
The tributes from the global leaders were echoed by millions of people who chose to admire the rare courage and exceptional morality of Lee. The hashtag, #LeeKuanYew, through which ordinary people expressed their thoughts, went viral on social media. The comments, just like his ideals, cut across diverse race, cultures, religions and sectors.
Perhaps, the address of his son and current Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, is most revealing of the lessons from the life of Lee for developing countries.
In the speech transcribed into English and posted on the PM’s official website, Lee called on his people to “dedicate ourselves as one people to build on his father’s foundations, strive for his ideals and keep Singapore exceptional and successful for many years to come.”
Lee did not pretend about his incapacity to step into the shoes of his father. In fact, he frankly told mourning Singaporeans that nobody would replicate his courageous leadership.
“The first of our founding fathers is no more. He inspired us, gave us courage, kept us together, and brought us here. He fought for our independence, built a nation where there was none, and made us proud to be Singaporeans.
“We won’t see another like him. To many Singaporeans, and indeed others too, Lee was Singapore. He pushed us hard to achieve what had seemed impossible. After he stepped down, he guided his successors with wisdom and tact. In old age, he continued to keep a watchful eye on Singapore,” the PM recalled in the emotional national speech.
About five and half decades back when Lee assumed what would turn out an historic reign, Nigeria was far more visible on the global map than the hitherto trading poor Singapore. Yet, the Island country has become a reference point at events where Nigerian challenges are discussed.
Perhaps, a notable lesson for Nigeria is Lee’s tendency towards home-grown solutions as against imported ideas. While pushing the country to the top of human development and economic growth indices where it comfortably sits today, Lee admitted that Singaporeans would respond better to solutions that were specifically designed for them. This became a guide for his socio-economic policies.
Also key to his success was his ruthless anti-corruption stance. Through a legislation, Lee gave the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau a greater power to arrest, search, call up witnesses and investigate bank accounts and tax returns of individuals indicted for corruption.
His brutal approach to fighting corruption paid off. Today, Singapore is the seventh least corrupt country in the world, the only Asian country in the league of top 10 corruption-free nations.
For a country that is struggling to attract investments like Nigeria, there may even be no more to learn from Lee than how he pushed Singapore to the first position in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking.
Its efficient tax payment, contract enforcement, credit, construction permit and business registration systems are, indeed, lessons for Nigeria and other developing countries. And that is why the social media is bound to hero-worship him in the days and weeks to come.
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