The Book Nigerian Leaders Must Read (Part 2) – By Frank Ofili

With part two, we continue the examination of John Maxwell’s “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” vis-a-viz Nigeria’s leadership experience. In this part, we shall examine laws 3, 4 and 5. As in part one, instances will be cited where necessary to drive home the contradictions between Maxwell’s laws and Nigeria’s experience. Read on.

3, The Law of Process

Here Maxwell argues that leadership is not instantaneous but learned overtime. You don’t become a leader overnight or simply by being appointed to some position. You grow your leadership muscles daily through learning, experience, mistakes, reflection and small improvements. He emphasizes that habits, discipline, ongoing development and consistency matter more than the title alone. The process includes self-improvement, building competence, increasing influence, mastering your craft, and staying the course.

He argues further that people’s skills, emotional strength, vision, momentum, and timing are all areas that can and should be learned. Good leaders, according to him, are always good learners.

Conversely, bad leaders are always bad learners. In Nigeria, there is hardly any organized effort, or process to groom or throw up credible leaders in future. The few leadership-grooming institutions we have (for example, Centre for Management Development, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies etc) are far between, not adequately funded, mismanaged, or left to rot. In most part, everything we do in the political space has a tint of sentiment in it – influenced by either self-interest, ethnicity, religion, political interest, kinship spirit, connextion or federal character. Not that reflecting the diverse nature of our polity in public policy decisions is bad in itself, but our decisions ought not be largely influenced by factors that are less than objective. Secondly, we often leave critical decisions too late, only to resort to fire brigade approach. We often lack comprehensive futuristic planning. Structures, systems, processes and methodologies necessary to throw up objective outcomes are hardly in place. Where they are, they are largely disregarded. Even the formal educational system, which is globally acclaimed as the repository of leaders of tomorrow, has been left to rot in our country. Yet we expect to get things right all the time.

It would have been interesting to know how Yar Adua and his government would have fared had death not taken him aware”

There is no doubt that Nigeria’s long-term leadership crisis reflects a failure to develop leadership as a process. Many leaders are elevated to high office without adequate preparation, roadmaps, or institutional continuity. Nigeria’s leaders rarely prepare for office intellectually or institutionally. And because the process of leadership development is weak or missing, policy discontinuity, weak succession, institutional decay and ineffective governance are common. Maxwell counsels that leaders must invest in themselves and their teams over time.

4. The Law of Navigation.

Maxwell says, “anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course”. Vision is defined as the ability to see the whole trip before leaving the dock. A good leader will also see obstacles before others do. A leader does not just go along with whatever comes – they foresee obstacles, set direction, plan the journey, chart the course, and guide the ship through rough waters. As a “navigator”, he listens, finds out about grassroots level reactions, and balances optimism with realism. It is simply not enough to be “in charge”; the leader must know where the team is going, why and how to get there. The bottomline is, preparation is the key to good navigation. “It is not the size of the project; it is the size of the leader that counts.”

Unfortunately, it is almost always difficult to tell where the ship of the Nigerian State is heading at any point in time. Like the legendary Titanic, it seems there is never a compass to navigate and berth it at the desired port. Time after time, many Nigerian leaders show a lack of clear strategic direction and poor anticipation of crises. For instance, the removal of fuel subsidy — though economically rational — was executed without some social cushioning. Also, a floating exchange rate system was introduced without first understanding and introducing policies that would alter the fundamentals of the economy from an import-dependent one to a producing one. Thus, both policies – executed at the same time – deepened hardship and exacerbated the poverty index. Nigeria’s broad institutional planning and long-term vision are often weak; hence leadership is reactive rather than navigational. This reflects a breakdown of the Law of Navigation – the ship is being steered, but no clear course has been charted. The key takeaway here is that leaders must not only take charge but map a route, prepare for storms, and align the team’s journey. Otherwise, even good intentions can drift or sink.

Good leaders are always good learners; bad leaders are always bad learners”

But there have been few notable exceptions to point to in Nigeria in this law of navigation. During President Olusegun Obasanjo’s time as civilian president we had National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP), Vision 20-20, and so and so forth.  It may be argued that President Obasanjo was politically more dictatorial than democratic, but he sure had an eye for process, and for competent technocrats to drive his programs. The Dora Akunyilis, the Oby Ezekwesilis, the Nasir el-Rufais, the Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealas, the Nuhu Ribadus, the Kema Chikwes, the Charles Soludos and the like, were men and women who invested their energy, intellect and commitment to prosecuting the government programs and policies – for good or for ill. Under our current government, however, aside from the vague and nebulous “Renewed Hope Agenda”, it is difficult to point to our economic direction – there is neither policy roadmap, policy articulation, nor policy depth. The ‘rule of the thumb’ seems to be the preferred approach to our current macro-economic management.

 5. The Law of Addition

Maxwell opines that “leaders add value by serving others”. True leadership is not about position or power; it is about adding value to others. This closely aligns with — and can indeed be equated to — the servant leadership paradigm. It was the late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua who proclaimed himself as the servant leader. This was the very first time a Nigerian leader, rather than demand total obedience and submission from the people, would in fact pledge to be their servant. Yar Adua died barely two years after being elected President of Nigeria. It would have been interesting to know how his government would have fared had death not taken him away. The circumstances of his election, his brief time in office and his eventual passing are stories for another day. For now, let us remain with Maxwell, even as he declares that “great leaders focus on serving, empowering, and developing the people they lead. The essence of leadership is service — improving others’ lives and enabling progress”.

But cases abound in our leadership journey – and unfortunately so – that contradict Maxwell in this regard, and further prove the point that Nigerian politicians treat public office as a means for personal gain — embezzling public funds, hoarding opportunities, and neglecting the people’s welfare. Example: widespread corruption scandals in state governments where funds meant for education, healthcare, infrastructure etc are diverted to private accounts. Instead of adding value to citizens’ lives, leaders extract value from the system.

There is also the neglect of public services. Public office holders often ignore decaying schools, hospitals, roads etc. while living in luxury. It is common knowledge that from President to even local government chairman, all often travel abroad for medical treatment instead of improving local hospitals. This shows a lack of service-oriented leadership –  leaders benefit themselves while citizens suffer.

What more illustrates this point than the case of a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation? The former minister was accused of diverting public funds meant for vulnerable Nigerians into a private account. The funds were reportedly part of federal poverty-alleviation and social investment programs intended to assist poor households and internally displaced persons. Instead of adding value and improving the life of vulnerable citizens she was meant to serve, she used her leadership power to benefit herself and her associates, thus, worsening their hardship and eroding trust in government aid programs. Worse is that there is hardly any consequence to deter official corruption. The lesson here is, when leaders prioritize personal enrichment over public service, they subtract value from the people, destroy morale among subordinates, and deepen citizens’ cynicism toward governance.

(to be continued)