Burden Of Leadership …The Nyesom Wike Example

Soye Wilson Jamabo

The bond between leadership and followership is like a pendulum that swings most of the time. It is such that both thrive as equal partners and change positions as long as the partnership endures. Sometimes, the followers follow, at other times, the leader follows.
This is why in one of his works, Alexandre Lednu-Rollins played the true leader in the words, ‘There go the people, I must follow them, for I am their leader.’ This means, a true leader must at all times listen and appreciate the yearnings, hopes and fears of the people he leads.
To succeed, he must himself be a good follower, for as Sam Raybunn insists, “you cannot be a leader and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow too.” This too underscores the danger in a leader considering himself all-knowing.
Such a leader often ends up in a fool’s paradise, an illusion of grandeur that ultimately distances him farther away from those he is expected to provide leadership. In all this, regular communication is key. It  must also be complete in a two-way format that guarantees quality feedback with which the leader needs to plan.
Also important is the need for the leader to realise at all times that his success is often measured by the quality of leadership he himself mentors and indeed bequeaths. That is why Walter Lipmann said, “the final test of a leader is what he leaves behind him, in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on.”
Only the overtly dictatorial kicks away the ladder upon climbing to the top, on the shoulders of the people he leads. To avert that, ‘reason and calm judgment, must be qualities he must embrace at all times, as a bride, as insists Tacitus.
But most importantly, a good leader must understand deeply, the individual differences of those he once led. He must at all times avoid undue generalisation as that is one of the most fatal mistakes of leadership.
An anonymous author once classified the citizenry this way, “some citizens are so good that nothing a leader can do will make them better. Others are so incorrigible that nothing can be done to improve them. But the great bulk of the people go with the moral tide of the moment. The leader must help create that tide.”
To achieve that, Lord Bayron warns leaders never to leave the realisations that, “when we think we lead, we most are led.” And it is such regular reversal of roles between the leader and the led that produces most of the skyscrapers, good roads, hospitals, schools, inventions, and indeed economic growth that make some countries developed world, others developing and the rest under-developed.
All depend on the bond of leadership and followership to prosper. Another hallmark of any good leadership is the leader’s passion and readiness to put the welfare, hopes and fears of the followership first among all considerations. This is because; no leadership can long endure without a committed and happy followership.
In fact, only a citizenry that is content with how its basic needs are met can be dependent upon to meet their civic responsibilities to the state, by way of taxes and other contributions.
To ensure such a mutually beneficial partnership, leadership must at all times be responsive to the urgent needs of the citizenry. Such needs may vary from time to time, and place to place  but generally cover basic infrastructure, functional education, good healthcare delivery, shelter, the right environment for growth, and most importantly, regular payment of workers’ salaries.
Apparently, Chief Nyesom Ezenow Wike, NEW, was properly grounded in the vagaries of the partnership and so, carefully chose his priorities upon assumption of office, as Executive Governor of Rivers State, on May 29, 2015,’ with the clearance of backlog of salary arrears owed workers and pensioners alike, opening-up the courts for litigants, denied legal services for over a year and embarking on extensive roads rehabilitation and construction among other urgent needs.
In fact, no day passes without Governor Wike exploring NEW ways of solving lingering problems, in line with his initials-NEW. So, when some ask, what is in a name, it is easy to provide an answer.
As the Governor today marks his …….. Birthday, it becomes even more instructive to challenge him to do many more NEW things for the betterment of the state and its peoples.
He must consider the many distractions arising from protracted litigations against his electoral victory, as mere challenges which he must overcome, with the support and cooperation of a grateful citizenry.
Today also affords Rivers people a platform to reciprocate the new proactive leadership direction that has restored the pride of the state’s civil servant as a viable component of the economy, redeemed the hope of the retiree and pensioner and indeed re-invigorated the justice system after more than a year of hopelessness.
Rivers people indeed owe all these and more to one man who in all weathers, rains and sunshine continues to traverse the length and breadth of the state, inspecting one project or another towards improving the infrastructure base of the state, for the comfort of the citizenry.
On a day like this therefore, the people naturally join family and friends to thank The Maker for the rare gift of a leader on whose shoulders today rest their welfare, hopes and fears. Beyond the funfair, if any, it should remind the celebrant that he is constantly in the public eye, and that his every action would be evaluated at every slight opportunity, if for nothing else, to put him on his toes, to do even more NEW things.
Such is the platform today’s birthday of Governor Wike affords and one that should set the stage for future observances, with unity, quality service and better leadership examples as targets.
The Tide joins family, friends and indeed Rivers people to wish our Governor, Happy Birthday

Soye Wilson Jamabo