By Pastor Joseph Suleiman Manjoe
Preamble
As the race towards 2011 gather momentum, key players in the field of politics are perfecting their strategies to win the confidence of the people. As activities peaks on the part of the politicians not much is heard or seen from the people who matter most in this matter, the electorate. This is to be expected since most of the followers are always passive, apathetic and unenlightened on issues of governance.
If there is anything that most followers are concerned with, it is the issue of how to get a little peanut from the politicians and take care of their immediate needs. This indeed is a sad commentary on our politics. But the few enlightened followers are silently concerned about who lead them, the moreso given our experience in the last few years and the growing fear of insecurity in the land. I have therefore chosen to discuss, the leadership challenge for some reasons:
(i) Leadership is central to the management of man and resources. The destiny of a land, nation or kingdom is determined by the leaders. The issue in contemporary Nigeria nay Ebira is not whether we have the followership but whether we have the right leadership.
(ii) As we approach the electioneering year 2011, the people are in serious need of a guide as they prepare to move out of the wilderness to the “promised land”.
(iii) If Ebira must be counted among the comity of ethnic groups that will witness progress, it must have a forward looking leader – “A leader for all seasons”.
Leadership: A Conceptual Framework
There are many definitions of leadership as there are many authors. But we shall restrict ourselves to the ones that are relevant to our situation and this discourse in particular. Alan Keith state that, “Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen”. From the view point of this concept, we need stress here that it is the leader who must necessarily create the enabling environment for people to demonstrate their loyalty and consequently contribute to societal development. It is the leader who must galvanize the led to rise to the challenge of development. So leadership is about capacity and confidence building.
Ann Mcswain adds that: “Leadership is the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue (and not war) between all levels of decision making, to establish processes and transparency in decision making, to articulate their own value and visions clearly but not impose them”. It follows therefore that leadership is not about creating and managing crisis. It is about being proactive rather than being reactive: identifying problems and acting proactively and initiating change that makes for substantial improvement in the lives of the led rather than managing change.
George Ehusani on his part sees leadership as, “a charismatic, service-driven, non-hierarchical accession to the throne of power rooted in the transparent determination to use individual strength and wisdom, unity of purpose and the entrenchment of group order for the benefit of all”. He went further to identify the qualities of the good leader:
the good leader bears an acute sense of sacrifice and always shows a bias for the care and concern of the people. The good leader has an uncanny sensitivity to people’s needs and a veteran’s ability to manage the people’s resources. In time of crisis the good leader is an agent of reconciliation, one who shows unlimited commitment to reconciling disparate and contradictory forces. The good leader does not demand loyalty but is one whose charisma, candour and moral standing attract popular acclaim. A good leader does not predicate his reputation on propaganda nor on the condescending efforts of sycophants and hirelings
We can infer from this view that good leaders are made and not born, so background of birth does not confer leadership. A person who sees the needs and aspirations of a people and rises to provide the means of actualizing the aspirations may naturally or situationally become a people’s leader. Dr. Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jnr. belong to this category.
To be a successful leader; therefore, you have to convince your followers, not yourself, clan people or hired thugs that you are worthy of being followed. Leadership is not an imposition, or consensus bereft of democratic ethos. It is a high call. God the ultimate leader will always look for men to lead others and such will be held responsible for making a good use or misuse of such divine opportunity/privilege.
A Timeless Leader
Against the backdrop of this conceptual framework, I would like to examine a short story from the Bible and collectively draw a timeless lesson for desirable leadership in our land.
And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
And the three mighty men brake through the host of Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. And he said, Be it far from me, o, LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it (2 Samuel 23:14-17)
As brief as the account of the valour of David’s three mighty men is in this account, it furnishes us with delightful, time-honoured qualities of a delivering leader. David here created an enabling environment for these ordinary men to do extraordinary thing. Secondly, their time honoured action brought out the best in their leader. David did not make a request; he merely expressed a longing or desire. The three mighty men didn’t inform David of their hazardous mission. Their mission was not an eye service mission. These men dearly loved their king and put their lives on the line to quench his thirst for a particular type of water that he desired. Such relationship of followers and leaders does not come up only in one day. It comes only through God tailored modeling. David modeled such loyalty for his men. And it also drove him to do what he did next, pouring the water he longed for as sacrifice unto God.
Pleasing God and pleasing men at one’s own displeasure are critical indices of altruism. The three mighty men sought to please David at the risk of their lives and their own displeasure. On the other hand, David sought to please God while empathizing with his followers whose lives he put very high value on.
One sees the wisdom of David in his refusal to feed from the blood of others. He sees the booty from peril as too expensive to utilize. He did that to honour the men who took the risk, and to honour God who secured the lives of these men. David understood that these men broke through the enemy lines and braved the swords and spears of the Philistines to fetch the precious water. This great event calls on leaders to develop a strong rapport with their followers so that the followers could trust and love them dearly; a kind of love that would help a great deal in the development of the people and the land.
David’s Godly act would be more appreciated when one realizes that in peace time, this same David sought for a man from the house of Saul, his arch enemy to show the kindness of God.
And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? …. And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet … And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shall eat bread at my table continually. 2 Samuel 9:1-7)
How many Ebira leaders have this kind of Godly heart – to forgive and show kindness to the enemy he has defeated? Instead we have leader(s) who married from a different clan and yet sends militants to go and sack the village/clan of his in-law. Mindless leaders who will not for the sake of their in-law or friends in another clan spare the clan. Of a fact, most of our leaders are too godless to appreciate this virtue of friendship and forgiveness.
On the contrary, David, a king in his exalted position condescends to invite a cripple to feed at his table continually. (Is this not the reason why God called him a man after his heart)? With such rare virtue in a leader, there can hardly be a follower who would not go the extra mile to please him knowing that his sacrifice would be remembered. This is the challenge before our political leaders who are jostling for political powers. What manner of leaders are we called to sacrifice for in this generation?
Where does this lead us to in Ebiraland?
The three mighty men were not unchallenged in the journey through the enemy’s stronghold. They fought through and got what they wanted. Leaders in Ebiraland, like David’s might men, must acknowledge the place of courage, valour and undauntedness. The leadership and followership must realize that to get “the water” from the political well of Kogi State which is by the gate of Lugard House is not going to be easy. The Ebira have their traditional political enemies in the State - some of which are blessed with an “army” that numerically outnumber the Ebira and with strong financial muscles. Some are clever and subtle in last minute strategic maneuvering. So the Ebira leaders must have the courage to fight, of course fight civilly and cleverly too, to get what they want. We need to be as strong as the lion and as cunning as the fox to fight this fight.
If the three men fought themselves on the way rather than fight the Philistines, they wouldn’t have got that precious water for their leader. Therefore in-house fighting is a severe symptom of cowardice. Winston Churchill once remarked during the trying period in Britain; and I quote, “This is no time for ease and comfort, it is the time to dare and endure” Ebira leaders should be ready to risk all that they have to salvage a politically thirsty Ebiraland. Today, the followers stand in the place of David, the political and traditional leaders in place of the three mighty men. This is because of my conviction that we are what we are in Ebiraland today because our leaders are not what they should be!
Right now, some of our so called leaders have traded our gubernatorial aspiration to others even before negotiation begins. They stand in the place of Biblical Esau who is ready to throw away his birthright for a morsel of pottage. We should not despair; however, those who fold their arms now should not eagerly position themselves with big buckets when others have perilously drawn the water from the well of 2011 which is just by the gate.
The youth of this land have made enough sacrifice. They were the ones who dared the despotic regimes of Prince Abubakar Audu to draw attention to our neglect. Some of them were arrested and detained. Yet others died uncelebrated when they confronted the crossfire and hails of bullets to demand the release of their leaders. A brave act you would agree.
They were the ones that were used as sacrificial lambs to confront their fellow brothers and sisters, when the self serving leaders lied to us that they won the 2007 election but shortchanged. They made Ebiraland a human abattoir for their self serving ends. When all the “Franks” could no longer control the Frankenstein Monster they made, they ran into the comfort of their cossy houses at Abuja and Lokoja and left the hapless masses traumatized with the blood of their able bodied young men who enlisted into the needless war. They demonized our youths, disorientated them and cowed the few sane voices that could have helped to bring order to our society. Are such leaders worth dying for?
The Leaders We Need Now
In times like this, we need a shepherd leader, who will be ready if need be to lay down his life for the sheep and not a hireling who will devour the sheep to appease his blood thirsty gods. We need a leader whose disposition and candour will assure our neighbours that we are not seeking power for vengeance but to ensure equity and justice for ourselves and for others. We need a leader who will use his vantage position to heal our wounds and unite the Ebiras. Leadership is dear to God’s heart. According to Brother Gbile Akanni, “a leader is one whom God can take for an excursion into the mysteries of His divine plan hidden from the common and carnal man. Every leader he said “must be spiritual enough as to see what lies hidden in the heart of God for the people he or she leads”. Once again let us draw from the example of our model leader,
And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men. 1 Sam. 22:2
Among these four hundred men later emerged the three mighty men of David that we made reference to at the beginning of this paper. David saw the burden of these people as God ordained assignment for him to lift off their burdens. He was spiritual enough to know this and he was compassionate enough to labour for their needs and protection. The land of Ebira is in distress pleading for freedom from needless war against ourselves; a cleansing from the blood of the innocent that had been shed over the years; the people are discontented crying for a shepherd leader. This is a challenge to our political leaders as we approach 2011. Will they be patriotic enough to rise to surmount his challenge?
God expects leaders to accept responsibility over the led as though they are his biological children. Fending for the people as though they were his children is the standard of the calling of a leader. But what do we have in Ebiraland? Many rush for leadership positions and even campaign around for it but fail to know this obligation of leadership. They want the glamour of the office, the honour and material benefits of it rather than the labour and the obligation of office.
One recalls with nostalgic feeling the exploit of Atta, the Great, Alhaji Ibrahim Onoruoiza, the first paramount leader of Ebiraland. I accidently came across a photocopy archival record of his glorious contribution to the transformation of Ebiraland, and the politics of Northern Nigeria.
His voice was respected and sought for in the Northern House of Chiefs. I was awed by the administrative acumen of this “unlettered” but highly intelligent monarch who commanded enormous respect and acceptance both within and without.
During his reign, nobody took Ebira for a ride. He sought to put Ebira ahead of other tribes, and never compromised the territorial integrity of his domain. Atta, the Great represented the courage and the valour of an exemplary Anebira, he demonstrated the virtue and the native intelligence of Ebira people. He towered above his contemporaries and so was Ebira among her neighbours until partisan politics tore us apart and destroyed this worthy legacy.
We need a leader like Martin Luther King Jnr. whose life meant nothing to him in the mission to salvage his people; a leader who will forfeit other pleasures of life to meet the aspirations of his people. A leader who is ready to sacrifice and this sacrifice entails that when others are sleeping, he may be awake, working for the interest of his people. It entails that when others are savouring exotic wines and caressing with women of easy virtues, the leader is thinking of how to re-position his people on sundry scales of life.
Such leader must acknowledge the ‘leader collective’ philosophy. A leader is doomed, who thinks he alone makes the wheel go round. David could not have fought his battles alone. He enlisted men, including those three mighty men of valour. No one clan, no one religion, no one party, no one club or interest group can carry the Ebira burden alone.
David reckoned with God. The water brought to him he poured to God. We need leaders in Ebiraland with high degree of God-consciousness in them. A leader with God consciousness will not misappropriate what belongs to all; he will not secretly arm the youths for thuggery, and turn around to denounce them publicly and swearing by God to abhor same. He will not sponsor the dregs of society called singers to insult personalities and set one clan against the other. He will not put the lives of other children on the line while shielding his own from danger. A true leader will not assassinate others to get to power. He will not partake in rituals to undo others, and will not spill the blood of the youth to ride big cars. He will not encourage the celebration of archaic traditional festivals while one of his constituencies is in turmoil. For how long will these leaders feed on the innocent blood of the people they are supposed to lead?
A Role for the Followership
It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “the time is always right to do right”. So we must resolve to think right and act right. There is a general consensus among our people that thugs and guns have done us more harm than good. Therefore any aspirant whose antecedent we know too well and who have not developed a new attitude, and new mental response that our new situation demands be consigned to the dustbin of history to be trampled upon by the new consciousness to re-invent the Ebira nation.
The real danger confronting us today is not the few thugs that are carrying guns but the army of little ones that are learning from the gun carrying youths whom they see as role models, perfecting their onslaught against the society that they rightly or wrongly thought owe them a living. To forestall this future tragedy therefore, any politician that professes to be concerned about service to the people and has no capacity to add value to the people’s life is a hireling and should be rejected at the polls. Let us tell them we can no longer sacrifice our youths to appease their gods, their greed and their avarice. Let us tell them by words and by deeds that the death of any Ebira youth on account of political thuggery and clan strife diminishes our humanity. If we can’t force them to tread the path of honour and Godliness, we must never again allow them to pull us down to their level of bestiality! Your soul is worth more than the few naira they offer to kill your conscience.
God is waiting for the youth to take a position on behalf of the generation yet unborn who deserves to inherit a peaceful society. I am not asking the youth to take a popular position but a righteous position for it is said:
When it comes to taking a position, cowardice ask the question is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and ask the question, is it politics? Vanity ask the question, is it popular but conscience ask the question, is it right?
Listen to your conscience and be mindful of what choice you make. Follow what is right no matter the pains. “The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.” Dare to say no to evil. The future is now!
Conclusion
If we put most of our leaders on the same weighing scale with our model leader in this discourse, it may not be wrong after all to agree with those who assert that we do not have leaders in Ebiraland but usurpers and impostors who imposed themselves as the leaders of the people. This may seem a harsh word to say or uncharitable comments about leaders but it does express the frustrations of the followers with their leaders who they rightly assessed to have failed to deliver. Martin Luther said, “if we are to move forward we must go back and rediscover some mighty precious values that we left behind”. I cannot agree more. We must give back the respect that our traditional institutions deserve. Let us give back the leadership to the elders, let the youth end their rebellion against the elders. And let the elders assure the youth that when it comes to making sacrifices, they would be prepared to die so that they the youth may have a secured future. We must be prepared to forgive ourselves and begin to build consensus; have faith in ourselves, but we must be courageous to ease out the bad leaders if peace must reign in our land. The time to confront the Goliath is now! May God grant that among some of you seated here today, you will be the David of truth and courage that will confront the Goliath of lies and incitement; the Goliath of impunity against the led, the Goliath of timidity in the face of abuse and immoral deal in our body polity. May we witness the emergence of a leader that would re-invent Ebira in our own time!
Pastor Manjoe is immediate past President General of Ebira Youth Congress and a Chief Lecturer with the Federal College of Education, Okene
Preamble
As the race towards 2011 gather momentum, key players in the field of politics are perfecting their strategies to win the confidence of the people. As activities peaks on the part of the politicians not much is heard or seen from the people who matter most in this matter, the electorate. This is to be expected since most of the followers are always passive, apathetic and unenlightened on issues of governance.
If there is anything that most followers are concerned with, it is the issue of how to get a little peanut from the politicians and take care of their immediate needs. This indeed is a sad commentary on our politics. But the few enlightened followers are silently concerned about who lead them, the moreso given our experience in the last few years and the growing fear of insecurity in the land. I have therefore chosen to discuss, the leadership challenge for some reasons:
(i) Leadership is central to the management of man and resources. The destiny of a land, nation or kingdom is determined by the leaders. The issue in contemporary Nigeria nay Ebira is not whether we have the followership but whether we have the right leadership.
(ii) As we approach the electioneering year 2011, the people are in serious need of a guide as they prepare to move out of the wilderness to the “promised land”.
(iii) If Ebira must be counted among the comity of ethnic groups that will witness progress, it must have a forward looking leader – “A leader for all seasons”.
Leadership: A Conceptual Framework
There are many definitions of leadership as there are many authors. But we shall restrict ourselves to the ones that are relevant to our situation and this discourse in particular. Alan Keith state that, “Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen”. From the view point of this concept, we need stress here that it is the leader who must necessarily create the enabling environment for people to demonstrate their loyalty and consequently contribute to societal development. It is the leader who must galvanize the led to rise to the challenge of development. So leadership is about capacity and confidence building.
Ann Mcswain adds that: “Leadership is the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue (and not war) between all levels of decision making, to establish processes and transparency in decision making, to articulate their own value and visions clearly but not impose them”. It follows therefore that leadership is not about creating and managing crisis. It is about being proactive rather than being reactive: identifying problems and acting proactively and initiating change that makes for substantial improvement in the lives of the led rather than managing change.
George Ehusani on his part sees leadership as, “a charismatic, service-driven, non-hierarchical accession to the throne of power rooted in the transparent determination to use individual strength and wisdom, unity of purpose and the entrenchment of group order for the benefit of all”. He went further to identify the qualities of the good leader:
the good leader bears an acute sense of sacrifice and always shows a bias for the care and concern of the people. The good leader has an uncanny sensitivity to people’s needs and a veteran’s ability to manage the people’s resources. In time of crisis the good leader is an agent of reconciliation, one who shows unlimited commitment to reconciling disparate and contradictory forces. The good leader does not demand loyalty but is one whose charisma, candour and moral standing attract popular acclaim. A good leader does not predicate his reputation on propaganda nor on the condescending efforts of sycophants and hirelings
We can infer from this view that good leaders are made and not born, so background of birth does not confer leadership. A person who sees the needs and aspirations of a people and rises to provide the means of actualizing the aspirations may naturally or situationally become a people’s leader. Dr. Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jnr. belong to this category.
To be a successful leader; therefore, you have to convince your followers, not yourself, clan people or hired thugs that you are worthy of being followed. Leadership is not an imposition, or consensus bereft of democratic ethos. It is a high call. God the ultimate leader will always look for men to lead others and such will be held responsible for making a good use or misuse of such divine opportunity/privilege.
A Timeless Leader
Against the backdrop of this conceptual framework, I would like to examine a short story from the Bible and collectively draw a timeless lesson for desirable leadership in our land.
And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
And the three mighty men brake through the host of Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. And he said, Be it far from me, o, LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it (2 Samuel 23:14-17)
As brief as the account of the valour of David’s three mighty men is in this account, it furnishes us with delightful, time-honoured qualities of a delivering leader. David here created an enabling environment for these ordinary men to do extraordinary thing. Secondly, their time honoured action brought out the best in their leader. David did not make a request; he merely expressed a longing or desire. The three mighty men didn’t inform David of their hazardous mission. Their mission was not an eye service mission. These men dearly loved their king and put their lives on the line to quench his thirst for a particular type of water that he desired. Such relationship of followers and leaders does not come up only in one day. It comes only through God tailored modeling. David modeled such loyalty for his men. And it also drove him to do what he did next, pouring the water he longed for as sacrifice unto God.
Pleasing God and pleasing men at one’s own displeasure are critical indices of altruism. The three mighty men sought to please David at the risk of their lives and their own displeasure. On the other hand, David sought to please God while empathizing with his followers whose lives he put very high value on.
One sees the wisdom of David in his refusal to feed from the blood of others. He sees the booty from peril as too expensive to utilize. He did that to honour the men who took the risk, and to honour God who secured the lives of these men. David understood that these men broke through the enemy lines and braved the swords and spears of the Philistines to fetch the precious water. This great event calls on leaders to develop a strong rapport with their followers so that the followers could trust and love them dearly; a kind of love that would help a great deal in the development of the people and the land.
David’s Godly act would be more appreciated when one realizes that in peace time, this same David sought for a man from the house of Saul, his arch enemy to show the kindness of God.
And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? …. And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet … And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shall eat bread at my table continually. 2 Samuel 9:1-7)
How many Ebira leaders have this kind of Godly heart – to forgive and show kindness to the enemy he has defeated? Instead we have leader(s) who married from a different clan and yet sends militants to go and sack the village/clan of his in-law. Mindless leaders who will not for the sake of their in-law or friends in another clan spare the clan. Of a fact, most of our leaders are too godless to appreciate this virtue of friendship and forgiveness.
On the contrary, David, a king in his exalted position condescends to invite a cripple to feed at his table continually. (Is this not the reason why God called him a man after his heart)? With such rare virtue in a leader, there can hardly be a follower who would not go the extra mile to please him knowing that his sacrifice would be remembered. This is the challenge before our political leaders who are jostling for political powers. What manner of leaders are we called to sacrifice for in this generation?
Where does this lead us to in Ebiraland?
The three mighty men were not unchallenged in the journey through the enemy’s stronghold. They fought through and got what they wanted. Leaders in Ebiraland, like David’s might men, must acknowledge the place of courage, valour and undauntedness. The leadership and followership must realize that to get “the water” from the political well of Kogi State which is by the gate of Lugard House is not going to be easy. The Ebira have their traditional political enemies in the State - some of which are blessed with an “army” that numerically outnumber the Ebira and with strong financial muscles. Some are clever and subtle in last minute strategic maneuvering. So the Ebira leaders must have the courage to fight, of course fight civilly and cleverly too, to get what they want. We need to be as strong as the lion and as cunning as the fox to fight this fight.
If the three men fought themselves on the way rather than fight the Philistines, they wouldn’t have got that precious water for their leader. Therefore in-house fighting is a severe symptom of cowardice. Winston Churchill once remarked during the trying period in Britain; and I quote, “This is no time for ease and comfort, it is the time to dare and endure” Ebira leaders should be ready to risk all that they have to salvage a politically thirsty Ebiraland. Today, the followers stand in the place of David, the political and traditional leaders in place of the three mighty men. This is because of my conviction that we are what we are in Ebiraland today because our leaders are not what they should be!
Right now, some of our so called leaders have traded our gubernatorial aspiration to others even before negotiation begins. They stand in the place of Biblical Esau who is ready to throw away his birthright for a morsel of pottage. We should not despair; however, those who fold their arms now should not eagerly position themselves with big buckets when others have perilously drawn the water from the well of 2011 which is just by the gate.
The youth of this land have made enough sacrifice. They were the ones who dared the despotic regimes of Prince Abubakar Audu to draw attention to our neglect. Some of them were arrested and detained. Yet others died uncelebrated when they confronted the crossfire and hails of bullets to demand the release of their leaders. A brave act you would agree.
They were the ones that were used as sacrificial lambs to confront their fellow brothers and sisters, when the self serving leaders lied to us that they won the 2007 election but shortchanged. They made Ebiraland a human abattoir for their self serving ends. When all the “Franks” could no longer control the Frankenstein Monster they made, they ran into the comfort of their cossy houses at Abuja and Lokoja and left the hapless masses traumatized with the blood of their able bodied young men who enlisted into the needless war. They demonized our youths, disorientated them and cowed the few sane voices that could have helped to bring order to our society. Are such leaders worth dying for?
The Leaders We Need Now
In times like this, we need a shepherd leader, who will be ready if need be to lay down his life for the sheep and not a hireling who will devour the sheep to appease his blood thirsty gods. We need a leader whose disposition and candour will assure our neighbours that we are not seeking power for vengeance but to ensure equity and justice for ourselves and for others. We need a leader who will use his vantage position to heal our wounds and unite the Ebiras. Leadership is dear to God’s heart. According to Brother Gbile Akanni, “a leader is one whom God can take for an excursion into the mysteries of His divine plan hidden from the common and carnal man. Every leader he said “must be spiritual enough as to see what lies hidden in the heart of God for the people he or she leads”. Once again let us draw from the example of our model leader,
And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men. 1 Sam. 22:2
Among these four hundred men later emerged the three mighty men of David that we made reference to at the beginning of this paper. David saw the burden of these people as God ordained assignment for him to lift off their burdens. He was spiritual enough to know this and he was compassionate enough to labour for their needs and protection. The land of Ebira is in distress pleading for freedom from needless war against ourselves; a cleansing from the blood of the innocent that had been shed over the years; the people are discontented crying for a shepherd leader. This is a challenge to our political leaders as we approach 2011. Will they be patriotic enough to rise to surmount his challenge?
God expects leaders to accept responsibility over the led as though they are his biological children. Fending for the people as though they were his children is the standard of the calling of a leader. But what do we have in Ebiraland? Many rush for leadership positions and even campaign around for it but fail to know this obligation of leadership. They want the glamour of the office, the honour and material benefits of it rather than the labour and the obligation of office.
One recalls with nostalgic feeling the exploit of Atta, the Great, Alhaji Ibrahim Onoruoiza, the first paramount leader of Ebiraland. I accidently came across a photocopy archival record of his glorious contribution to the transformation of Ebiraland, and the politics of Northern Nigeria.
His voice was respected and sought for in the Northern House of Chiefs. I was awed by the administrative acumen of this “unlettered” but highly intelligent monarch who commanded enormous respect and acceptance both within and without.
During his reign, nobody took Ebira for a ride. He sought to put Ebira ahead of other tribes, and never compromised the territorial integrity of his domain. Atta, the Great represented the courage and the valour of an exemplary Anebira, he demonstrated the virtue and the native intelligence of Ebira people. He towered above his contemporaries and so was Ebira among her neighbours until partisan politics tore us apart and destroyed this worthy legacy.
We need a leader like Martin Luther King Jnr. whose life meant nothing to him in the mission to salvage his people; a leader who will forfeit other pleasures of life to meet the aspirations of his people. A leader who is ready to sacrifice and this sacrifice entails that when others are sleeping, he may be awake, working for the interest of his people. It entails that when others are savouring exotic wines and caressing with women of easy virtues, the leader is thinking of how to re-position his people on sundry scales of life.
Such leader must acknowledge the ‘leader collective’ philosophy. A leader is doomed, who thinks he alone makes the wheel go round. David could not have fought his battles alone. He enlisted men, including those three mighty men of valour. No one clan, no one religion, no one party, no one club or interest group can carry the Ebira burden alone.
David reckoned with God. The water brought to him he poured to God. We need leaders in Ebiraland with high degree of God-consciousness in them. A leader with God consciousness will not misappropriate what belongs to all; he will not secretly arm the youths for thuggery, and turn around to denounce them publicly and swearing by God to abhor same. He will not sponsor the dregs of society called singers to insult personalities and set one clan against the other. He will not put the lives of other children on the line while shielding his own from danger. A true leader will not assassinate others to get to power. He will not partake in rituals to undo others, and will not spill the blood of the youth to ride big cars. He will not encourage the celebration of archaic traditional festivals while one of his constituencies is in turmoil. For how long will these leaders feed on the innocent blood of the people they are supposed to lead?
A Role for the Followership
It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “the time is always right to do right”. So we must resolve to think right and act right. There is a general consensus among our people that thugs and guns have done us more harm than good. Therefore any aspirant whose antecedent we know too well and who have not developed a new attitude, and new mental response that our new situation demands be consigned to the dustbin of history to be trampled upon by the new consciousness to re-invent the Ebira nation.
The real danger confronting us today is not the few thugs that are carrying guns but the army of little ones that are learning from the gun carrying youths whom they see as role models, perfecting their onslaught against the society that they rightly or wrongly thought owe them a living. To forestall this future tragedy therefore, any politician that professes to be concerned about service to the people and has no capacity to add value to the people’s life is a hireling and should be rejected at the polls. Let us tell them we can no longer sacrifice our youths to appease their gods, their greed and their avarice. Let us tell them by words and by deeds that the death of any Ebira youth on account of political thuggery and clan strife diminishes our humanity. If we can’t force them to tread the path of honour and Godliness, we must never again allow them to pull us down to their level of bestiality! Your soul is worth more than the few naira they offer to kill your conscience.
God is waiting for the youth to take a position on behalf of the generation yet unborn who deserves to inherit a peaceful society. I am not asking the youth to take a popular position but a righteous position for it is said:
When it comes to taking a position, cowardice ask the question is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and ask the question, is it politics? Vanity ask the question, is it popular but conscience ask the question, is it right?
Listen to your conscience and be mindful of what choice you make. Follow what is right no matter the pains. “The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.” Dare to say no to evil. The future is now!
Conclusion
If we put most of our leaders on the same weighing scale with our model leader in this discourse, it may not be wrong after all to agree with those who assert that we do not have leaders in Ebiraland but usurpers and impostors who imposed themselves as the leaders of the people. This may seem a harsh word to say or uncharitable comments about leaders but it does express the frustrations of the followers with their leaders who they rightly assessed to have failed to deliver. Martin Luther said, “if we are to move forward we must go back and rediscover some mighty precious values that we left behind”. I cannot agree more. We must give back the respect that our traditional institutions deserve. Let us give back the leadership to the elders, let the youth end their rebellion against the elders. And let the elders assure the youth that when it comes to making sacrifices, they would be prepared to die so that they the youth may have a secured future. We must be prepared to forgive ourselves and begin to build consensus; have faith in ourselves, but we must be courageous to ease out the bad leaders if peace must reign in our land. The time to confront the Goliath is now! May God grant that among some of you seated here today, you will be the David of truth and courage that will confront the Goliath of lies and incitement; the Goliath of impunity against the led, the Goliath of timidity in the face of abuse and immoral deal in our body polity. May we witness the emergence of a leader that would re-invent Ebira in our own time!
Pastor Manjoe is immediate past President General of Ebira Youth Congress and a Chief Lecturer with the Federal College of Education, Okene
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