• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Leading from the front

The infinite stake leadership explorer

Those who say Nigerians don’t have what it takes to compete with Western standards are the sort of people I like to keep away from.

As much as I’m in the habit of pointing out where developed countries get some things right, where we don’t, and how it may well be expedient for us to take a cue from them, it’s not because I think we’re not capable. We are, and that’s what makes it the more tragic and frustrating that we find ourselves where we are.

Lagos, the Centre of Excellence, truly lived up to its sobriquet by masterfully containing the Ebola virus when the Ebola infected Liberian – American gentleman, Patrick Oliver Sawyer, imported the deadly virus into Nigeria a few years ago.

Had it not been for the swift, decisive and efficient manner in which the Lagos State government’s apparatus, under the able leadership of the then governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, moved in to rebuff and confine it to “a corner,” the entire country would very likely have faced a disaster of epic proportions.

This remarkable feat, which incidentally, officials of several other African governments later came to Lagos to study and adopt as the standard strategy in their own countries, is evidence enough that excellence is not by any means an exclusive preserve of developed nations.

Even underdeveloped countries can still boast of “developed” individuals, many of whom are very quietly leading the way in their various fields. It’s really all about leadership. That’s what makes the difference.

Leadership isn’t meant to be just about securing all privileges and “largesse” of position for yourself but it’s supposed to be about inspiring the led to be the best they can be and to be willing at the drop of a hat to sacrifice your comfort and perks for the benefit of all,…

Stella Adadevoh was such a person. This beautiful, petite and lovely woman led from the front, as any leader worth his or her salt should. In her eagerness to fulfil her Hippocratic oath of treating the sick to the best of her ability and to do her utmost to save life, and protect the lives of millions of her compatriots, she spared little thought for her own well-being, preferring to ignore the obvious hazards of exposing herself to perhaps the most virulent of infections known to man.

Mirroring the sacrificial and selfless leadership act of the Captain of a sinking ship who dutifully refuses to abandon ship, until all passengers and crew have disembarked or have been successfully rescued, even in the full knowledge that he may never make it off, this uncommonly brave woman risked it all. As a leader both in name and in character, and with utmost devotion to her profession, she sacrificed herself for the sake of humanity and we Nigerians will forever remain grateful for this.

As a distant relative on my mum’s side of the family, we had occasion to meet several years before this sad but heroic incident. We chatted in her sitting room, where she discussed her son’s schooling with me. Little did I know that would be the last time we would see.

Till this day, I haven’t had the heart to delete her number on my phone just as I haven’t been able to do for any of my late loved ones either. Dr Stella Adadevoh, an epitome of excellence, an epitome of leadership, and as I’m even more proud to say, a Nigerian.

Leadership isn’t meant to be just about securing all privileges and “largesse” of position for yourself but it’s supposed to be about inspiring the led to be the best they can be and to be willing at the drop of a hat to sacrifice your comfort and perks for the benefit of all, if occasion calls for it.

It calls for doing whatever is necessary, within the confines of the law and acceptable ethical practice, to move one’s organisation, nation or even family forward, if need be, at one’s personal expense.

It takes a mind willing to subject itself to standards beyond that which is expected of others. It takes a heart which derives its joy and satisfaction from seeing the majority prosper as a result of one’s leading and actions rather than taking it as a licence to oppress one’s subordinates or compatriots or to laud it over them.

It takes a heart of humility, willing to collaborate with others to achieve the best result and which readily confesses that each victory is a result of team effort; not one which majors in self glorification. It also takes a mind which remains faithful to its principles no matter the temptation, the pressure or the inconvenience. Its anchor does not shift according to the tides of life but remains constant.

An effective leader must have compassion because without it, it would be impossible for him to give the led what they want. First, it would be difficult for him to know what they want, and second, even when they make their needs clear to him, he would lack the needed empathy to understand why.

The Governor of Bayelsa State informed the world during a recent interview on Arise TV that almost a month after large swathes of the state became completely submerged by floods that is yet to recede, the Federal Government is yet to offer any assistance to the state.

Instead, further salt was added to injury when a day after the governor’s interview, the minister of humanitarian affairs told an incredulous public that Bayelsa doesn’t even feature in the top 10 states affected by nation’s floods! Such insensitivity! Where did our President get his ministers from? And where’s the President himself at this crucial time?

What sort of example is he setting as the supposed father of the nation as regards being our brother’s keeper? Why hasn’t he or a high powered Federal Government delegation visited the state to show solidarity and offer them the hope they so desperately need at this time? Oh! I forgot. He travelled to London for a check up. Hmmm…well, to answer the first question, I believe this will suffice. Oranges will always produce oranges.

Heraclitus once said, “A man’s character is his fate.” Call me foolish if you will but I’m of the strong opinion that if all Nigerians take a step back to assess their conduct and examine if it actually pays them in the long run – not just in the immediate – we might come to the realisation that it actually doesn’t.

And the gradual change in mindset that this introspection will subsequently initiate, would at the very least, represent useful baby steps towards producing better leaders. After all, they all emerge from our midst.

They have never dropped from the heavens and never will. If we subscribe to Joseph de Maistre’s submission that, “every nation gets the government it deserves” then the better we become, the better our leaders will also be.

Changing the nation…one mind at a time