By Michael Meiphami Shaiza
There is an African proverb that carries the thunder of centuries and the wisdom of peoples who have survived empires: “When a leader does not address a problem well, the problem becomes the leader and the leader becomes a problem.”
It is a short sentence. But it is a complete doctrine of statecraft. It is a complete theology of nationalism. It is a complete diagnosis of why a nation rises and why a people perishes. Every Naga, and especially every Naga of Manipur, must understand it today.
The anatomy of the Proverb
This proverb reveals a divine and unbreakable law of leadership that no degree, no title and no gun can suspend.
Every generation is entrusted with problems. Problems are not a curse; they are the curriculum of nationhood. Corruption, factionalism, tribalism, disunity, unemployment, drug annihilation, land alienation, cultural erasure, identity crisis – these are our problems. A true nationalist leader does not deny them. He does not hide them. He does not monetize them. He addresses them.
To address a problem well as a Naga nationalist means three non-negotiable acts:
First, To Name It Truthfully. Not to call corruption “political adjustment”. Not to call factional bloodshed “principled difference”. Not to call extortion “national taxation”. Not to call betrayal “realpolitik”. A patriotic leader calls a spade a spade.
Second, To Confront It Courageously. Not to postpone it for the next election, the next round of talks in Delhi, the next Imphal Assembly, the next federal assembly. A nationalist leader confronts today what a coward postpones to tomorrow.
Third, To Resolve It Righteously. Not to resolve one problem by creating a ten-times bigger problem for the nation.
When a leader fails to do this, a mysterious but certain transference occurs – a transference that is spiritual, political and historical.
The problem that was once outside the leader enters into the leader. The leader who was ordained to be the solution becomes the very embodiment of the problem. The people no longer say, “We have a problem of corruption.” They are forced to say, “Our leader IS the corruption.” They no longer say, “We have a problem of division.” They are forced to say, “Our leader IS the divider.”
The problem becomes the leader, and the leader becomes the problem. And once a leader becomes a problem, every solution he proposes becomes another problem for the nation. This is the law.
The biblical, moral and nationalist dimension
The Holy Bible is the most powerful commentary on this African wisdom and on Naga nationalism.
God anointed Saul to address the problem of Philistine domination over Israel. When Saul refused to address his own internal problem of disobedience, pride and love of applause, Saul himself became Israel’s greatest problem. As 1 Samuel 15:23 thunders, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
God raised Eli to address the problem of spiritual decay in the nation. Eli refused to address the corruption of his own sons in his own house. He tolerated what he should have terminated. Therefore, the House of Eli became the problem of the nation, and God was forced to raise a new generation in Samuel.
This is the eternal nationalist law: A leader is not judged by the problems he inherits from history. He is judged by the problems he refuses to address in the present. God does not judge a people for having problems. He judges leaders for baptizing problems, protecting problems, perpetuating problems and profiting from problems.
This is the tragedy that wounds the heart of every patriotic Naga – when the shepherd who was anointed to protect the sheep from the wolves begins to behave like a wolf, and the sheep must now be protected from the shepherd himself.
The unaddressed problem
For the Naga nation in general, this proverb is a nationalist mirror held before us – with love, with tears, and with severity.
Our pioneers addressed their problem well. Their problem was colonial domination and erasure of identity. How did they address it? Not with degrees from Oxford or Delhi. Not with money or arms. They addressed it with a National Covenant. They dedicated the Naga people and her land to Jesus Christ. They were honest to God and honest to one another. They had the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the problem did not become them. They became the solution. That is why adversaries were afraid of them.
But what happened after them?
We inherited new problems – factionalism, tribalism, financial opportunism, and the shameful temptation to convert the sacred Naga national movement into a private limited company for building personal mansions. Did we address these problems well?
We did not address factionalism well. We allowed faction to be justified as principle, and murder to be justified as politics. The result: Factionalism became the leader. Today, the Naga nation is not led by leaders alone; it is led by factions. The faction decides who may travel, who may speak, who may do business, who may live with dignity. The problem became the leader.
We did not address financial corruption well. We allowed the sacred blood of thousands of martyrs to be traded for contracts, percentages and chairs. The result: Corruption became the leader. Today, the Naga public no longer asks, “What is your ideology for the nation?” They ask, “What is your profit from the nation?” The problem became the leader.
We did not address tribalism and nepotism well. We replaced collective wisdom with family wisdom. We replaced peoplehood with villageism, clanism and partisanship. The result: Tribalism became the leader. Today, tribe decides truth, not truth deciding tribe. The problem became the leader.
This is the painful nationalist truth we must assertively confess: The problems we refused to address have become our leaders, and many leaders we trusted have, by tolerating the problem, become a problem themselves.
The adversary understands this doctrine perfectly. The adversary does not need to fight the Naga army directly. He only needs to ensure that Naga leaders do not address Nagas internal problems well. Then, automatically, our problems will become our leaders, and our leaders will become our problems, and we will dismantle ourselves without the adversary firing a single bullet. This is the highest form of psychological and political warfare. And this is precisely what is happening in Our Nagalim- ( All Naga Political Ancestral Land/ Territory )
Where the Proverb bleeds
If this proverb is true for the Nagas in general, it is critically, seriously, nationally and painfully true for the Nagas of Manipur in particular, where it bleeds daily.
The Nagas of Manipur live in a strategically engineered death-world. They are the vanguard of the Naga nation, yet they are treated as the most expendable. They inhabit buffer zones, disturbed areas, and systematically deprived hill areas. Their problems are specific, severe and existential:
The problem of land – ancestral land being alienated in the guise of development and demographic invasion.
The problem of security – villages burnt, churches desecrated, and farmers unable to cultivate because terrorists and fanatics are allowed to disturb the peace and harmony.
The problem of marginalization – educational, economic and political invisibility in the narrative of Manipur.
The problem of identity – being told to prove loyalty to two contested homelands-( Nagaland and Manipur States of India ) while belonging fully to neither in the eyes of the states and India.
When a Naga leader of Manipur does not address the problem of land lawfully, logically and boldly – when he negotiates land instead of protecting land – then land alienation becomes the leader. The leader himself becomes a land dealer.
When a Naga leader of Manipur does not address the problem of security righteously – when he seeks collective security not through righteous unity and national solidarity, but through appeasement and secret shelter to those who terrorize his own people – then insecurity becomes the leader. The people live not under leadership, but under fear.
When a Naga leader of Manipur does not address the problem of disunity nationally – when he does not assertively stand for the organic unity of Tangkhul, Mao, Maram, Poumai, Thangal, Zeme, Liangmai, Rongmei, Maring, Anal and all Naga tribes as one peoplehood, but practices clanism and family enterprise – then disunity becomes the leader. And a disunited Naga in Manipur is the most expendable pawn in Manipur’s power politics.
This is why the Nagas of Manipur today feel nationally orphaned. Not because they have no leaders, but because many leaders, by not addressing the core problems well, have become part of the core problem. The people cry out for a righteous builder who will build the nation, but they find a bluffing profiteer who builds his own house. The people cry out for a nationalist, but they find a partisan.
The African proverb is fulfilled before our very eyes in Manipur: The problem of failing to protect the people has become the leader, and the leader who fails to protect has become the problem of the people.
The way out
How does a leader cease to be a problem? How does a problem cease to be the leader?
The solution is not in more guns alone. It is not in more money from Delhi or Imphal. It is not in another ambiguous agreement. The solution is moral, nationalist and covenantal. It demands a nationalist return.
We must return to the Covenant of our pioneers. They proved with their blood that unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Psalm 127:1. Their security was not in arms alone, but in righteousness. Their collective wisdom was not in degrees, but in honesty to God and to one another. That honesty was their national security doctrine.
A righteous nationalist leader addresses a problem well by four assertive acts:
First, National Repentance: He must have the courage to stand before the people and declare, “We did not address this problem well. We have failed the nation.”
Second, Nationalist Righteousness: He must immediately stop bluffing his own people for own profit. He must be honest to God and honest to one another. A nationalist does not lie to his own nation.
Third, Re-centering on the Holy Spirit: He must replace cold political calculation with the fire of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The Holy Spirit will never guide a Naga leader to sell his people’s future, to provide shelter to those who burn Naga villages, or to trade the blood of martyrs for personal enrichment.
Fourth, Renewal of the National Covenant: The Nagas in general and the Nagas of Manipur in particular must arise fearlessly as one people and renew the covenant – that we belong to Jesus, that we belong to each other, that Naga land and Naga people are not for sale, and that no problem is bigger than our collective integrity and national honour.
The final verdict
Let this be officially, assertively, patriotically and powerfully declared for all generations:
Problems are inevitable for any nation. But a nation is not destroyed by its problems. A nation is destroyed when its leaders refuse to address its problems well, truthfully, courageously and righteously.
Evil is always against righteous doers. But evil never wins finally.
When Naga leaders become righteous doers and assertive nationalists – when they address corruption instead of managing corruption, when they address disunity instead of weaponizing disunity, when they address land alienation instead of negotiating land alienation – then problems will cease to be leaders.
Then, leaders will cease to be problems, and will become solutions again.
That is what our pioneers were. They were solutions in a time of impossible problems.
Let the new generation of Nagas in general, and Nagas of Manipur in particular, become solutions again. Let us be patriotic again. Let us be nationalist again. Let us be honest again. Let us be covenantal again.
For if God is with us and we are honest to one another, no adversary, no terrorist, no fanatic and no unaddressed problem can ever become our master.
That is our collective wisdom. That is our collective security. That is our nationalist honour. That is our eternal covenant. Kuknalim!
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Michael Meiphami Shaiza is Co-incharge of BJP Manipur State Political Programmes and Meetings and President of Ukhrul-based NGO Ecological Rehabilitators’ Association (ERA).
(Views expressed are writers’ own and do not, in whatsoever manner, reflect that of Ukhrul Now)
