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| Picture obtained from Zazzle.ca |
I remember an
incident that occurred during my secondary school days. That particular day, I
climbed a chair and began writing on the board: “Vote for me and I will give
you gari and water every day, Vote for me and I will make sure that you work on
your legs while my family members and I use limousines, Vote for me….” One of
my teachers, Mr. Oyenuga saw me and he asked: “So you want to be president? I
couldn’t proffer an answer but since that day, we’ve had a better
teacher-student relationship. Thinking back on that day I can only laugh and
wonder “what sort of manifesto is that?” and what sort of electorate would vote
for an individual bearing such manifesto. But then thinking about that incident
again, isn’t it true that hundreds of Nigerians starve while our leaders and
their entourage feed fat on government money. Their manifestos may seem all
prim and proper but in the end when the veil is lifted, their promises are in
its crudest sense just like those I wrote on the board back in secondary
school. Given the fact that the world today and indeed Nigeria has had its fair
share of deceptive, selfish and corrupt leaders and the fact that in the
timeline of history today; Nigeria is facing its most damaging challenges and
yet we still have the opportunity to launch ourselves into the limelight we
must ask ourselves: “Who is the Ideal Nigerian Leader?” (Or rather what sort of
distinguishing qualities must the leader who will launch Nigeria into all of
her glory and splendor possess?)
So what sort of
qualities should the ideal Nigerian leader possess? Should he be extra rich so
that when he ascends political office, the multiple zero figures dancing in
front of his eyes wouldn’t be a source of temptation, or should he be average,
not-too rich because a rich person might only to seek to promote interests that
will increase his wealth while an average person who understands the pains of
not having enough might feel for the plight of his former not very well to-do
compatriots and maybe (just maybe) will
promote interests that will better their lives. Or should this leader possess
just an ordinary school leaving certificate or should he be a well renowned
Prof.? The questions posed above are basically ethical questions and the task
of proffering answers would not be one that can be carried out with ease.
However, I can identify certain must-have qualities which every leader who can
and will lead Nigeria and Nigerians into the Promised Land must possess.
The first and most
important quality which any leader must possess is INTEGRITY. Without integrity
you can never be a better person talk less of a better leader. If as a leader
the people (your followers) cannot take you at your word then all hope is lost.
When deceit, lies begin to permeate the leader-follower relationship and
integrity begins to seep out of the relationship, the bond between the leaders
and the followers is broken and the eventual result of such an occurrence,
would be that such a leader will not be able to achieve any meaningful change
whatsoever with his followers or amongst his followers. Any leader who can
secure the trust of his followers will be able to get them to believe his
vision will get them to run with it. A leader full of integrity will be able to
say to his followers: “Follow me into the fire and I promise you we’ll come out
unscathed on the other side” and his followers will without hesitation follow, because
they trust him and believe in him. A leader without integrity on the other hand
will say to his followers: “Follow me into the fire and I promise we’ll come
out unscathed on the other side” and his followers with much hesitation will
reply with something like: “Go on and let us see you come out on the other side
FIRST, who says if we follow you in; you wouldn’t turn your back on us the
first chance you get.” I have of recent being reading the book “Everyone
communicates, Few Connect” by John Maxwell and it he shares a word from Presidential
Historian Robert Dallek who insists that successful presidents exhibit five
qualities that enable them to achieve things that others don’t, these qualities
include: vision, pragmatism, consensus building, charisma and trustworthiness
(integrity). The above thus
evidences the fact that for the Nigerian leader who will be successful and who
will lead a successful nation, integrity is paramount; integrity is utmost;
integrity is important….in fact integrity is everything!!
P.S. To be continued
P.S. To be continued
