WHAT NIGERIANS KNOW ABOUT THEIR PRESENT AND PAST 'LEADERS'
It was an interesting but pathetic situation last Sunday when the erstwhile comrade and pen-marshal, in almost all the national papers, descended heavily but unnecessarily on those he concluded were unjust and unfair critics of his principal. Ironically, he used to be a top striker for the critics’ team until he landed the lucrative transfer deal. Every elected leader, I submit, is actually an employee of his subjects who, as employers, have the right to demand for accountability as well as exercise the rights to fire whomever they had earlier hired. It is incomprehensible therefore for an employee’s aid to cast aspersions on his employer’s employers.
What is the concept of leadership about? The scriptures say in Matthew 20:26 - But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant; Proverbs 11:14 - Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers. Proverbs 29:2 - When the upright have power, the people are glad; when an evil man is ruler, grief comes on the people;. Proverbs 16:10 - It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
According to the retired General Colin Powell, one time Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff, “Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.” Prof Chinua Achebe talked about the Nigeria of the 80’s - ‘The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.
So what do we know about our current “leader”? We remember he was a deputy to a governor who was impeached on the grounds of monumental corruption. We note that he still keeps his company, as recent as the last Father’s Day church service. We recall that we all fought against the injustice meted out to him by the Turai “cabal” in preventing him from being duly sworn-in as an acting leader. We were informed that he was the signatory number 54 in the rotational power document of his party. We recall that he stated as a-matter-of-fact that it was not MEND that carried out the Independence Day bomb blast. We remembered that he asked South-west people not to vote for “rascals” during the last general elections. We recall he did not participate in the presidential debate attended by other leading candidates – Buhari, Ribadu and Shekarau. We still remember the campaign promises especially the breath of fresh air. We recall the donations made then by the current day “fuel cabal”. We have not forgotten that the first major discourse as a new leader was the desirability of a seven- or six-year single term.
We recall that he said a large cabinet of over 40 ministers and 60 advisers was a constitutional requirement about which nothing could be done. We learnt there was subsidy on fuel which must be removed at all costs. We remember the drafting of soldiers to the streets of Lagos in peacetime. We recalled that he admitted that Boko Haramists have infiltrated his administration. We are aware that he did not say Amen to Archbishop Akinola’s anti-corruption prayer. We remember that he claimed to be the most criticised leader in the whole world. We recall that it took a record 2 days to ratify Election Tribunal / Appeal Court President’s suspensionby NJC but it is now taken ages to have him re-instated as advised by the same NJC. We have observed how the SEC DG was re-instated. We have experienced terrible traffic logjams each time our leader or his dame goes by in the neighbourhood. We know he did not give a damn about making public his asset declaration but we also did not forget that he was already worth over N295 million at the time he was sworn-in as a Vice-President in 2007.
We already know so much about our other leaders – past and present heads of states, governors, LG chairmen, ministers, commissioners, legislators and judges. We remember vividly the leader who said money was not the problem but how to spend it. We were told about the one who sacked civil servants with immediate effect. We had leaders who unleashed “unknown soldiers” on its citizens and got 80-year-olds killed in the process. We heard about those who recorded landslide and moonslide electoral victories and popped branded champagnes thereafter. We had leaders who allowed 53 strange suitcases into the country in a currency conversion period. We had them who annulled free and fair elections and subsequently stepped aside. We have had an interim head of state who was neither elected nor ascended via a coup d’etat. We had leaders whose dark goggles concealed their vision.
We had leaders who moved from the prison to the rock then back to hilltop mansions. We had leaders whom we were told were eligible to rule us from anywhere in the world. We once had a Mr Fix-it who did not bother to fix our roads but acted as a real estate par excellence, who knows when the Rock is vacant and when it is not. We still remember the one who shed crocodile tears on inspecting the delapilated Ore-Benin expressway. We remember the one that was presented to the senate three times as the Aviation minister-designate. We know the governor with 4 first ladies ad over a thousand aides. We remember another with over 800 aides. We still recall the one that reeled out Coke and Fanta as the mineral resources in his state. There was indeed a minister who argued that Nigerians could not have been poor when they did not eat out of dustbins. Another stated that the telephone was not for the poor. Yet another reminded us that Abuja was not designed to accommodate every Tom, Dick and Harry. We have been having Works and Aviation ministries but deaths are continually recorded on our roads and in the skies. We have legislators who innovated cap-banking. We have had split verdicts in the highest courts in cases where electoral materials were not serialised.
A must read for our leaders is “A Leadership Primer” By General Colin Powell. These are some of his submissions - "Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off." Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's inevitable, if you're honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: you'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset. Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally "nicely" regardless of their contributions, you'll simply ensure that the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.
He continued - "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." If this were a litmus test, the majority of CEOs would fail. One, they build so many barriers to upward communication that the very idea of someone lower in the hierarchy looking up to the leader for help is ludicrous. Two, the corporate culture they foster often defines asking for help as weakness or failure, so people cover up their gaps, and the organization suffers accordingly.
He added that - Real leaders make themselves accessible and available. They show concern for the efforts and challenges faced by underlings, even as they demand high standards. Accordingly, they are more likely to create an environment where problem analysis replaces blame. They pay attention to details, they continually encourage people to challenge the process.
He further added that "Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing." Organization charts are frozen, anachronistic photos in a work place that ought to be as dynamic as the external environment around you. "Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it." Too often, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job. Effective leaders create a climate where people’s worth is determined by their willingness to learn new skills and grab new responsibilities, thus perpetually reinventing their jobs.
He also opined - Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them. They understand that management techniques are not magic mantras but simply tools to be reached for at the right times. "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier." The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues. I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a "what, me worry?" smile. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the "realist," give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
According to him - "Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand." Effective leaders understand the KISS principle, Keep It Simple, Stupid. They articulate vivid, over-arching goals and values, which they use to drive daily behaviors and choices among competing alternatives. Their visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered and buzzword-laden. Their decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and ambiguous. They convey an unwavering firmness and consistency in their actions, aligned with the picture of the future they paint. The result: clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership, and integrity in organization.
He concluded that - "Command is lonely." Harry Truman was right. Whether you're a CEO or the temporary head of a project team, the buck stops here. You can encourage participative management and bottom-up employee involvement, but ultimately the essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough, unambiguous choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization. I've seen too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility.
While we have definitely reached conclusions about our leaders based on the above scenarios about what we already know about them, nobody needs to be told that leadership is not a tea party. Leadership definitely comes with responsibilities. The scriptures remind us in John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free, Proverbs 14:34 - Righteousness lifts up a nation, but sin is a disgrace in any society, 2 Chronicles 7:14 - If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Written By Dipo Dosumu