South Korea Premier Resigns In A Circumstance Where No Nigerian Minister Has Ever Taken Responsibility!

Nigerians need not be reminded of series of mishaps, misappropriations and mishandling of circumstances even worse than the South Korean ferry sinking, which should have made certain government official show a bit of human face. But rather they politicized it and still held-tight on to their positions largely because their career is more important than the welfare of the 170 million Nigerian.

According to www.washingtonpost.com, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won handed in his resignation letter today, Sunday, over his handling of the aftermath of the ferry sinking, taking responsibility for “a series of problems” that both enabled and worsened the severity of the accident which left more than 300 dead or missing. In a statement, a somber Chung Hong-won said the "cries of the families of those missing still keep me up at night".

You would recall that the position of prime minister in South Korea is largely ceremonial, and power is concentrated around President Park Geun-hye. But in the aftermath of the ferry's sinking on April 16th, the government has faced withering criticism because of lax safety regulations and a slow rescue response. He apologized for the mishandling of all the problems leading to the accident, ranging from preventive measures before the accident to the government’s initial response and follow-up steps over the accident,” Chung said at a Sunday news conference, according to the Yonhap news agency, the washingtonpost reported. 

There is a practice of adding additional cabins in most ferry bought and operated by Seoul, hence leading to over loading the ferry's capacity. In the hours after the disaster, officials badly overstated the number of rescued, saying there were 368 survivors, not 174.

Until Nigerian political office holders learn to respect the people they represent or lead, the country will continue to look largely like the land of the greedy and winners takes it all. The culture of impunity must stop from the president to the local government chairman to all other arms of government. Being sensitive to the feeling and welfare of the people is the key to good governance and responsible leadership and no people expect less of it from it's leaders.