“A vision exists now of where Nigeria ought to go; will you follow, will you help or will you simply whine and criticize? To my mind, that is a crucial national question for Nigeria”- Ambassador Howard Jeter
As we were saying, the official launch of Ken Nnamani Centre for Leadership and Development afforded the eminent speakers the opportunity to discuss the place of leadership in the development of any nation.
The dominant thesis, as we recalled, was “leadership matters” and in the vanguard, expectedly, was the chief host of the event, immediate past President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator (Dr) Ken Nnamani. For him, leadership is so crucial that he is building a centre to teach it, research it and nurture it in whomsoever it is found. Event chairman and elder statesman, General (Dr) Yakubu Gowon agreed completely, endorsed the vision and urged all to support it.
The third of the men who had speaking roles was Mr Howard Jeter, one-time Ambassador of the United States of America to Nigeria. Although he recognised the role of the follower, he was also clearly of the “leadership is crucial” school. He recalled his first encounter with the suggestion that it could be otherwise. Many years ago, he said, “I read a book entitled, “Do Leaders Make a Difference?” I was perplexed by the title because the answer was so obvious. Leaders not only make a difference, I thought they are the distinguishing factor among nations (emphasis his) and it is their actions, their vision, their commitment that determine whether their countries are rich or poor, at war or at peace, developing or decaying, models to emulate or pariahs to be avoided.”
He also drew attention to the several levels of leadership that exist in any given polity. His words: “…Leadership is not a monopoly of the political class; it starts in the family, in the workplace, in villages, large and small; it starts in the executive, in the national assembly, and the judiciary; leadership starts in the states and local governments and in civil society groups throughout this country; and it starts in the market place where Nigerian business leaders have excelled as accomplished and competitive entrepreneurs; and yes it starts in the Niger Delta where self-styled militant leaders are depriving this country of 25% of its national revenue, at a time when global oil prices have reached historic highs…”
Making the critical linkage between leadership and followership in general; between political and national leadership, on the one hand, and the variety of leadership levels he had identified, on the other, Jeter told his audience: “A leader is like a conductor: he or she cannot make good music without a great and diverse orchestra, whether a great symphony or a bankable rap lyric or hip-hop. The leader, the guide can show the way, but a people will not reach their destination unless they rally around, support and follow their leader, their guide. A leader, no matter how strong, sincere and committed, cannot get to that destination alone without popular trust and support. Leadership is within and starts with each and every one of you…”
In what, for me, was a most solemn and challenging moment in his presentation, Ambassador Jeter referring to what he described as President Yar’Adua’s vision of making Nigeria one of the 20 leading economies in the world by 2020”, he said “A vision exists now of where Nigeria ought to go; will you follow, will you help or will you simply whine and criticize? To my mind, that is a crucial national question for Nigeria”
Jeter, his audience now considerably sobered by his solemn challenge, went on to share what he described as some of the very basic principles that he believes a good leader must follow. These are: He must be able to see clearly; must be able to hear; must be able to feel the pulse of his polity and must be willing to act.
Summarising these principles, Jeter recoursed to the words of Dr Macgregor Burns, whom he described as the exponent of transformative leadership: “Leaders (are people) acting - as well as caring, inspiring and persuading others to act – for certain goals that represent the values , the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations of themselves and the people they represent…The genius of leadership lies in the way leaders care about, visualize, and act on their own and their followers’ values and motivations”
In all of these however Jeter made one very important observation that, I believe, ought to point Nigerians and their leaders in the one quintessential direction that we must go. He said: “…Nigeria’s geography has insulated it from many of the world’s most devastating natural disasters;…(the) combination of factors – size, dynamism, talented and energetic population and abundant natural resources – places Nigeria in a position to emerge as a great economic and political power, not only in Africa but in the world.”. I shall return to the great import of this observation later.
The Keynote Address delivered by Ghanaian former Head of State, J.J. Rawlings of course was on the theme of the event, “Nurturing Transformative Leadership, Promoting Good Governance and Improving Lives in Africa.” He opened by saying that he found the perspective, implied in the topic, that good leadership leads to good governance that in turn improves the lives of the people, a compelling one. This he said was because it brought home to him “vividly a connection between good governance and the improvement of people’s lives and livelihoods, as opposed to the apostles of good governance who focus on the right of a few to choose leaders whose sole duty is to preside over and plunder the wealth of the nation.”
Then, he threw in what looks like an antithesis: “Docile societies get dictatorial leaders; while transformational societies create transformational leaders. This view turns the argument upside down, by putting huge responsibilities on societal dynamics and not just on a mythical ‘transformational leader’”
He went on to give what he considered as four main pillars of this perspective as follows:
1. Traditional African societies had and still possess the ingredients for nurturing transformational leaders through advocates of sanctity of truth and open dialogue;
2. Good governance is a reflection of dynamic relationship between an emboldened citizenry and a responsive leadership, not just a benevolent leader;
3. Responding to the needs of ordinary African citizens consists of a constant reminder of our values and connection between governance and material needs for improved livelihood of our people;
4. Nigeria can show the way for the reconstruction of transformational society that will nurture transformational leaders.”
It is easy to glean from the above that while he appreciates the role of leadership, he seems to imply that a people get the leadership they deserve; since leaders emerge from among the people. His words: “A dynamic citizenry emboldened to demand their rights at every turn, will help steer the leader down a path of caution, care and responsibility. If this crowd of citizens were simply waving and hailing the leader, irresponsible leadership occurs…”
He pointed out that throughout history, ”whenever a highly organized group of citizens have established groups to articulate their interests and engaged leadership in real debates, we have seen transformation even in the remotest of villages. Workers organized to engage management; students organized to engage school authorities; communities organized to engage, sometimes, challenge their local government; political parties organized to demand constitutional rule. Whether we liked it or not, these movements have shaped, changed and transformed the political, social and economic landscape of Africa towards improved governance.” He then aked the critical question, “Will we credit these transformations only to the leaders?”
He is also enamoured of the African tradition which he described as a “tradition of truth.” He thus lamented that modern African societies have “bypassed the spiritual sanctity of the truth; neglected our long-cherished traditions of holding our rulers and leaders in check and succumbed to the public display of traditional ‘praise singers’”
The intellectual debates will of course continue for as long as mankind continues. But, I daresay that most of it is misdirected. The most important element in leadership and development is being, at best, marginalised. And that is the spiritual angle. I shall dwell on this next week.
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