In Search Of Genuine Leadership

Shedie Okpara

The most critical problem facing the world today, especially West Africa and Nigeria in particular, is the leadership vacuum that developed during the twentieth century. Leadership remains one of the glaring needs of Nigeria. People are often willing to follow God’s vision when in leadership positions, but too frequently, they have no exposure to true leadership.
Some people may ask, where or how do I acquire leadership skill or potential? Is it in politics, in business or entertainment industry, being a chief executive officer, management consultant or theoretician with Ph.D etc. The truth is that the best source of acquiring leadership skill remains in one’s hands. Everyone holds in his hands a tool that has the potential to change his life and the course of development as a leader.
The Bible draws out the leadership principles that we need because God Himself has taught us more about leadership.
The crying needs of our country, Nigeria, is leadership. The Nigerian nation is dying due to lack of true and strong leadership. In this time of unprecedented opportunities and plentiful resources, the country is actually loosing influence due to lack of good governance. Nothing is more important than leadership if a country, state or community must develop or grow.
This is why one views the declaration of the United State’s Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, that Nigeria cannot move forward without good leadership or governance as appropriate and timely. She urged the nation to take a firmer stand against corruption and the implementation of electoral reforms.
Former President of Ghana, Ft. Lt. Jerry Rawlings, during his visit to Port Harcourt last year, where he delivered a paper on: “Leadership for Sustainable Development in Africa,” at a conference for Rivers State Sustainable Development (RSSDA), vituperated Nigerian leaders, saying that most of them have failed to promote democracy because of their corrupt tendencies to enrich themselves instead of attending to the plight of the people.
He blamed the crisis in the Niger Delta on poor leadership in the country, pointing out that Africa’s woes were as a result of its leaders’ inability to show commitment in developing its potentials by effectively accounting for its enormous resources.
Reacting to Hilary Clinton’s comment after she had left the country, Senate President, David Mark, said it was only Nigeria that can decide what form of democracy and governance it wants in the country. He insisted that just as other countries of the world decided their own form of democracy, Nigeria has the right to do same.
Agreed that the new world order guarantees nations to decide on their form of governance but what Nigerian leaders ought to know is that as a nation, Nigeria has the responsibility of ensuring a strong economy as the prime element in political power and in the public interest. Economic weakness and inequality promote disorders. Every good government’s obligation is centered around not only the repair of the sinews of power but also full employment and social welfare, sustainable growth at levels sufficient to entrench and enlarge social aims. Social and economic objectives have vision to the top of the political agenda worldwide.
So long as Nigeria remains a basic element in international society, our leaders should not loose sight of the fact that other major powers together are supervising and policing the whole globe including Nigeria and its leadership, and they can as well equip and finance ailing countries or economies to do a good job for their people.
Nigeria is among the league of nations and the principles of governance are similar, so there was nothing wrong for Mrs Clinton or any other right-thinking leader from other countries to offer advice on the way forward for Nigeria. An advice is no cause, they say. The United Nations (UN) can sanction any member that defaults laid down conditions just as if a given situation contains a threat to international peace or breach of the peace or an act of aggression like in Nigeria, where oil installations are blown and foreign oil companies’ workers are kidnapped and held hostage, there is need for international intervention to arrest such delinquent situations.
There is ban on interference in the internal affairs of a member nation of the UN but it does not extend to measures for peace enforcement. The UN Charter provides that a collective action can be taken against its constituent sovereign members in time of crisis. When a state or nation is not well-coordinated, it, therefore, calls for external intervention to save the country from collapse and intransigence.
Jesus Christ left His church on earth to do work that has an eternal impact. If the church is not well led, then the bride of Christ suffers as she will not be able to fulfill her mission for this generation. So, for a nation and its people to achieve sustainable development, its leadership must be truthful and transparent.
Nigeria is wallowing in a state of underdevelopment because it is replete with leaders who would not admit their faults and weaknesses even when they are glaring to the world. Nigeria lacks transformational leadership that could inspire and allow people to take charge of their destinies. Our leaders prefer holding on to power forever and allow the citizenry to suffer.
God has in the beginning created mankind to participate and to lead others. Leadership is a natural and spiritual phenomenon. God clearly stated when He said: “Let us make man in our image and likeness, let them have dominion over all creatures” (Genesis 1:26). It is believed that everything rises and falls on leadership, so more than anything else, the leadership of any nation, group or organization determines its success or failure.
The impact of leadership on a people can not be over-emphasised because in ancient Israel, when God’s people had a good king, all was well with the nation but when they had a bad king, things went poorly for everyone. It is against this backdrop that it is said that without a vision, people perish (Proverb 29:18).
The call to leadership is a consistent process all over the world. When God decided to raise up a nation of His own, He did not call upon the masses but He called out one man – Abraham. In the same vein, when He wanted to deliver His people from of Egypt, He appointed Moses as the leader just as He raised up Joshua to lead His people to cross into the Promised Land. Every time God desires to do something great, He calls a leader to step forward, so today, He has called some persons to lead the people of Nigeria and that means they have been called to do great work for the people.
The problem of Nigeria is that her leaders have misconception about leadership. They think the whole thing is all about looting of public funds and allow their followers to die in abject poverty and agony, wanting them to become sheepish, quiet and withdrawn. They confuse meekness with weakness and fail to display honesty and sincerity when entrusted with leadership responsibilities. What God desires is that we display a broken boldness, lead the people rightly and not being pushy or in control. It means serving others and not exerting influence to the detriment of the followers.
Nigeria leaders must begin to obey God’s call to leadership by using the nation’s resources to provide the necessary needs of the people. There are the twenty-one irrefutable laws of leadership, one of which states that leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness when working with others. Leadership is greater than resources, talent, money or intelligence and makes the difference when it comes to making an impact. To be a good leader, you must be Christ like, you need to think and act more like a leader while becoming a person of influence.
A good leader must be like salt and light as Jesus commanded and in so being, he or she has obeyed God’s call to leadership. Good leadership is the best means for leaving a lasting legacy. Nigerians are living in an age of tolerance where they look with suspicion upon those who desire to influence others to embrace their beliefs.
Judging by the observations of Mrs Hillary Clinton and Jerry Rawlings, Nigerian leaders and politicians are challenged to become dedicated students of leadership. Although becoming a good leader may not guarantee that a leader must be able to leave a spiritual legacy for future generations, but it certainly provides the greatest opportunity to do so. A good name is worth a lot more than money.
The challenges of leadership is one of the biggest problems in Nigeria. Resources are not our problem and unless we begin to see leadership at the right content, we will continue to have problems. Jesus is an embodiment of servant leadership, so Nigerian leaders must see their positions as a means to serve. Most leaders in this country came to position just as a promotion and greatness and not to serve.
We should see the point of leadership from God’s perspective and be functional. It shouldn’t be perceived as just a title. A servant leader must be willing to demonstrate good governance, diligence, discipline and punctuality, devotion, be loyal and accountable. Loyalty and accountability are missing in our nation because we have people in position without qualification, in power without justice, without service, those who have popularity without accomplishment, pleasure without hardwork and praise without heroic act. These factors have eaten deep into our leadership setting, so it is high time we begin to practice righteousness and love the people we serve and emulate Jesus Christ, the model of servant leadership.
The adage that when the righteous rules, the people rejoice is not practicable in Nigeria and that is why the citizens are suffering in the midst of plenty. Our leaders and the followers should retrace their steps to things that will benefit the masses and deliver the dividends of democracy at all segments of the country. It is unfortunate that some of our leaders have ridiculed or labeled the country one that has the worst sense of leadership but the time has come for Nigerian leaders to rebrand the image pointed about them by ensuring that there is progress in the country. Public monies should be used to provide the people’s needs and change their living standards.
Development should be geared towards enabling man to improve his material and mental conditions, and living through the use of resources available to him. For Nigeria to achieve the desired development, there is need to separate politics from the commence and business activities of the country.
We must grow a local economy that is not tied to political activities and lead well if Nigeria must progress.