Come 2023, Nigerians Need A President That Has Nehemiah’s Leadership Style

There is no denying the fact that Nigeria as a country is facing an ethical crisis, and that the fact that it is also happening in other countries, as the president’s spokesmen and the minister of information will always defensively say is no consolation. After all, an African proverb says “A man does not point to the weed-filled farm of a lazy man to justify his own laziness.”

In view of this situation, talking about leadership is complicated these days. The great failures of so manyNigerian leaders today have given people a negative impression of the institution of leadership. People question motives, strategies, personalities, leaders’ lifestyles, what they like and dislike. Not even leaders’ families are safe from criticism. The media, like the vulture that hardly eats pleasant foods, has literarily been feasting on these unpleasant stories.

To say that Nigerians are in Catch-22 situation, given the wobbling state of the economy, cannot be farfetched as political leaders elected into offices from one political dispensation to the other, since 1999, have been demonstrating, through their acquisitive behaviors and leadership styles that the act of governance is all about making money to the detriment of the country’s economy and the general wellbeing of the people.

The foregoing cannot be pooh-poohed as those that are democratically elected are usually concerned about how to make their bank accounts grow, extend their terms and refuse to let go of their position.

Without any iota of exaggeration, a large number of politicians that are invariably senators, ministers, governors, local government chairmen, councilors, political appointees, and other government employees are basically after making millions of Naira illegally. Meanwhile, the people fight to survive and are defenseless against the greed and hunger for power of the leaders. Regrettably, the situation in the church, ministries, NGOs, and mission organizations does not appear to be any different. It seems like the salt that has lost its flavour. Instead it has been contaminated by the corruption of society in general.

In fact, not many readers of this piece may say, and rightly so, that this is not new, that it has always been like this since the dawn of time. Truly, Nigeria’s political history is full of corrupt leaders, inept and clueless leaders and praise-singing followers. But for every leader who falls, there are hundreds of other leaders who have remained faithful, but who have been systematically ignored by those who write history. After all, shocking stories sell more, and that is what the media looks for nowadays.

This is why the example of Nehemiah in the Bible is like an oasis it in the middle of the desert. In the midst of a painful exile, mainly caused by the depraved and corrupt monarchy, while going through a transition process in the middle of a spiritual and existential crisis, Israel needed a different leader, someone who would help the people as they tried to settle back in their own land.

The situation was critical. Those in exile were returning to a city in ruins, with financial problems and no food security, and they ended up being exploited by greedy speculators. Even slavery in Babylon seemed better than the situation in Palestine. In this context, Nehemiah made a difference and we can learn important lessons from his leadership. As the cupbearer to the king, Nehemiah knew all about what went on in the empire’s government. He was no stranger to the benefits that came with power. He was used to the luxury and glitter of the palace. Because of all this, the fact that he took part in the process to rebuild the city is even more noteworthy. As he said himself,

“Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year — twelve years — neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors — those preceding me — placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land. Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people. (5:14–18)

Something stands out in this description: Nehemiah put the needs of the people he was governing before his own. There was not enough money for him and his entourage to charge impoverished citizens interest, like the governors preceding him had done. Furthermore, Nehemiah rolled his sleeves up and worked shoulder to shoulder with the people. He could have simply supervised and managed the project from the governor’s chair. But instead of that, he got his hands and clothes dirty, like everyone else. “We did not acquire any land” can be understood if we look at 5:1–5:

Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.” Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” To any Nigerian that has a dispassionate mindset and apolitical, does the foregoing situation not look like what many Nigerians are facing today?

The land was mortgaged to usurers who, like leeches, held on to the fields and crops. The only way the people could survive was by selling their possessions and enslaving their children. Nehemiah could have taken advantage of the situation, but he didn’t. He didn’t take away anyone’s land. Instead, as it says in verse 10, “I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain.” Instead of taking away from them, he helped them by giving them resources.

We might ask, why was Nehemiah so different to other leaders? We find the answer in verse 15, “But out of reverence for God I did not act like that.” It was his “reverence for God” that made him act that way, unlike his greedy predecessors. The meaning of “reverence for God” is not clear. Nehemiah possibly meant obeying God’s law. At least that is what he seems to be saying when he talks to the people in verse 9. Obeying God’s law was something that God’s people had to do and that set them apart from other people (verse 9). But this required them to know the law, which is an important topic in the narrative. What we can see is that it permeates Nehemiah’s entire life. From the beginning of the book, God and His law are central themes. He is constantly praying to God. His involvement in the rebuilding process is presented in the narrative as a direct answer from God to his prayers. The success of the project and the defeat of the enemies are entirely God’s doing. Everything Nehemiah did, his decisions, way of working and exercise of power, was all guided by the fear of God, the obedience to the law.

You may be wondering why Nigerians need a President that shares the same leadership styles as Nehemiah. The reason cannot be farfetched as Nehemiah’s leadershipstyle is appropriate for a country that is passing through crisis. Without doubt, Nigeria’s economy is in crisis when seen from its present state, particularly in the face of soaring rate of dollar, general increase in the prices of virtually all consumable items, insecurity across the land, unprecedented rate in unemployment, just to mention a few.

Sandra Ijeoma Okoye (Author)