Good Followership As Imperative for Outstanding Leadership
Nigerians can only get just the leaders theyย deserve.ย
Nigerians seem to have a penchant for trying to achieve the impossible. Nowhere is this more glaring than in the realm of politics, leadership, and our quest to build a stronger nation,
Is it possible to have good leaders without good followers?
Recently, I had an experience that underscores that question and its answers.
As the records keeper, I promptly notified him when I noticed he had paid excess money (by roughly N5,000). Otherwise, he wouldn't have noticed his mistake.
โWhen am I getting back my excess money?โ
Wait, as soon as the accounts are done, Iโll send you your balance. But not now. Otherwise, I could be stuck repaying a debt that I don't owe.
This evening, he WhatsApped me again.
โWhen are you refunding my excess pay?โ
I ignored him (for now).
I realized that despite the urgent need for upright leaders, the majority of Nigerians are not ready or willing to put in any effort to back the potential rise of incorruptible leaders.ย
No matter how much you selflessly spearhead their interests, many Nigerians arenโt ready to spare you the least of their many umbrellas to alleviate your sun and rain-battered head from Nigeriaโs economic adversity.
In Nigeria, it is everybody for himself and only God for us all.
How then do you save a people who are not ready to lift a finger to aid in their own deliverance?
We all know that unity is strength.ย
But,
Can a country be rescued when it forsakes its champions and expects them to fight alone?
The question we must answer is, โDo Nigerians deserve the Peter Obis and the Baba Ahmed Dattis of this dispensation?โ
Arenโt we more than deserving of the heisters who are perpetually grasshoppering our famishing our land?
โIf Nigerians want good leaders, Nigerians must be good followers (citizens).โ Otherwise, we are going nowhere.
Nigeria is a reflection of their (un)leaders and followers
Prolific writer and pastor, Praise George, aptly captures this in his Facebook page.
Our leaders in Nigeria are a reflection of who and what we are.
You may deny it, but it is the truth.
Do I like our present leaders?
No.
I want Peter Obi to be our leader.
But is the Nigerian consciousness ready for his leadership?
No.
I shall explain.
China and India are corrupt.
But compared to Nigeria they are in kindergarten in the school of corruption while Nigeria has a PhD in it.
It seems like corruption was invented in Nigeria.
From the least to the highest, our society is steeped in corruption.
Peter Obi is everything Nigeria is not.
He is alien to us.
We wonder what kind of man is this who refuses to accept money from the government which he earned by right?
We may not say this out loud, but many of us secretly do not want him to be our leader because he will unseat institutionalized corruption and where will that leave us?
How shall we continue to falsely enrich ourselves by stealing from government coffers, paying tithes to fake pastors and priests, and giving testimony in church on Sunday about the miracle-working power of our god who doesnโt disapprove of our culture of corruption?
Look at Bulabla.
Study Peter Obiโs credentials.
Which one of them is a true reflection of Nigeria as it is presently?
Many Nigerians want their champions like Peter Obis to use their heads (with due respect) to break the coconuts of Nigerianโs problems, after which all Nigerians step in to sup.
In the words of inimitable Nigerian crooner, Fela Anikulapo Kuti of a past generation โE no possible, ko se i seeย .. โ (Itโs impossible. It canโt be done)
Tell Nigerians, from now till forever, itโs never gonna work.ย
I know it. We all know it. Any Nigerian who pretends to not know is only glorying in self-destructive infantilism.
One by one, we must change our ways. One by one, we must all be involved.
Otherwise, fogerrrit.
On becoming good followers of goodย leaders
To create a better society, all Nigerians must be willing and ready to make meaningful contributionsโโโplaying their roles. But, without understanding your role, it is impossible to make such needed contributions.
Not knowing their roles, or knowing but preferring to ignore them, many Nigeria choose to swallow the anodyne of sidon look (sit down and look), benumbing themselves with it is None Of My BusinessโโโNOMB.
Why do many Nigerians travel the self-defeating precipitous NOMB route?
Writing in Noirpress, Uchenna Okonkwo explained that according to ancient Greeks, there are three dominant classes of people. These are
The Idiots
The Tribesmen, and
The Citizens
According to him, studies have shown that only 10% of Africans are citizens, and the remaining 90% are either tribesmen or idiots.
A No-nation of Brutalย Idiots
When the Greeks used the word idiot, they didnโt use it as a curse word.ย
Idiots are the people who just donโt care, if they write an examination, they will cheat. If theyโre in government, theyโd steal. An idiot just doesnโt care at all. If he eats bananas, he throws the peels anywhere instead of putting them in the trash.
According to the Greeks, some societies have more idiots than tribesmen and citizens.ย
Nigeria certainly has a preponderance of idiots. And of course, you know that Iโm not proud of that.ย
The Tribal WarlordsโโโโMe and my people suppressing and plundering them and theirย people.โ
The next set of people are tribesmen, these are the set of people that look at everything from the point of view of their tribe. These are people who believe in you only if youโre part of their tribe. It's terrible to have a tribesman as a leader. He would alienate the rest.
When the Greeks talk about tribesmen, itโs not just about ethnicity, they also consider religion as a tribe. A great deal of Africans are tribesmen because they view everyone from the point of view of their tribes and their religion. They trust only their tribesmen.
Tribesmen only seek what is good for them and their co-tribalists at the expense of others.ย
The CitizensโโโThat this nation may rise andย thrive
The last group of people are citizens. These people like to do things the right way. They will respect traffic light rules even if no one is watching them. They drive within the speed limit. They respect laws, and in an examination, they wonโt cheat. If they are in government, they wonโt steal. They are compassionate people; they give to others to promote their well-being.
Some countries have more citizens than tribesmen and idiots, others have so many idiots and tribesmen.
A tribesman can become a citizen through orientation, and an idiot can become a citizen by training and constant enforcement of the law.
Things will fall apart if you elect an idiot or a tribesman to lead if he has not been reformed into a citizen.
Where do you belong? Are you an idiot, a tribesman, or a citizen?
โWe canโt have good leaders without good followers.โ is a thread-bare assertion many Nigerians used to excuse and justify their oppressors and crooked rulers. Ultimately, the buck stops at the table of whoever steps out to serve and lead their people.ย
Every Nigerian must reflect, decide, and choose the type of person they want to become.
Am I a brutal idiot, a tribal warlord, or a citizen dedicated to nation-building?ย
The answers we get, from you and me, will determine how long Nigeria keeps skirting the precipice.ย
The fortunes and the future (or no future) of Nigeria depend on the cumulative answers Nigerians give to that question.ย
Thanks for your readingย time.
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