Koleoso at 79 and the burden of leadership

TODAY is another day of celebration and meditation. Celebration for the grace of The Lord so far in the journey of life, and meditation on the state of our nation as the bell tolls towards eternity.  Life is a paradox in very many respects. Man will do everything to conquer the world and dominate his environment, but despite his vainglorious pursuit, he must end up in the bowel of the earth either as dust or ashes. Why then the needless pursuit of the burden of materialism to the brink of the grave? What an irrational rational being!

I decided to dedicate this piece in celebration of one of the few remaining progressive icons to interrogate one topical issue in the country that has defied rationality, but which resolution is critical to the greatness of our nation. It is called leadership.

Leadership has been the bane of our nation and despite its importance to the socio- economic development of the nation, it has received the least attention with the result that leadership is being purchased at the black market with its attendant unpredictability.

Whilst followership determines the quality of leadership, leadership determines the quality of life the citizenry enjoys. It goes without saying therefore that followership and leadership operate in a symbiotic relationship with leadership being the spinner.

An auspicious moment like the celebration of one of our icons in progressive politics calls for a re-evaluation of our ideology in a changing clime and the need to reposition, lest we bid a final goodbye to the spirit and purport of progressive ideology.

The use and abuse of ideology in contemporary politics in Nigeria calls for concern for the fading ideologues of progressivism by whatever name so called. Ideology remains an important tool in nation building, despite the proclamation of its death by a renowned philosopher. Apart from the political rhetorics that enliven political campaigns and the hopes it gives to the electorate at such momentous occasions, it is a canonical creed for practical delivery of social goods which governance entails.

In many societies, leaders are elected and held accountable by their ideological pretensions and persuasion, and many times, particularly in seasons of social anomie, ideological petulance assumes personification or reification of truth.

Adebayo Williams, in a paper titled Awolowo and the Longest Goodbye, said about the doyen of progressive politics in Nigeria: “In an inspired and magnificent tribute, General Ibrahim Babangida once described Chief Awolowo as the main issue in our political life. Eighteen years after it was made, and 17 years after Awo’s translation to eternal glory, that statement remains as valid as ever.

“We are talking about a man who pushed himself beyond the threshold of imaginable pain in every sphere of human endeavour; a man who dared and defied all odds; a man who turned adversity and misfortune into weapons against the outrageous slings and arrows of fate,” he said.

The above encapsulates the temerity a leader in progressive politics must exhibit to justify his/her calling.

It is unfortunate that those of us who subscribe to the progressive ideology appear to be diminishing by the day due to the insensitivity of the older generation to the onslaught of competing conservative/capitalist ideology of the worst form.

It is, therefore, a crime to be poor in an overtly materialistic society led by a chauvinistic and acquisitive leadership propelled by self entrenchment and selfish interest. It is no wonder then the unbridled aspiration for wealth or fortune, no matter the risk and whatever the cost. The toll on the mentality of ordinary Nigerians and the demand of leadership could better be imagined.

The irony of governance in Nigeria is that the people are impoverished to the extent that their leaders luxuriate in undeserved affluence. The political leaders wear thick coat of affluence that insulates them from the biting cold of poverty and deliberately foster ignorance through a neglect of the wellbeing of the masses on whose shoulders they rode to power.

The allure of political office is so irresistible that politicians could do anything to curry power without regard to the burden of leadership. Pseudo leadership deliberately foist poverty on the people as a means of perpetual control, such that a bowl of porridge will be sufficient to hoodwink the masses into thrusting their destinies into the hands of wolves in a sheep’s clothing. This twist of leadership should spurn more than scorn from reasonable men as this trend has the propensity of driving away our best hands in the task of rebuilding the broken fabric of governance.

Leadership carries with it the burden of sacrifice, selflessness and commitment to the common good. It calls for continuous self-development in the overall interest of community development. It calls for deep knowledge as against mere literacy. It requires a deep knowledge of situations, facts and figures moderated by a sublime theoretical grounding necessary to correctly interpret and execute the workings of government.

However, due to the unfortunate rejection of ideology and sometimes its repudiation by conduct in contemporary Nigerian politics, we are yet to overcome the challenges of governance. Nigeria is blessed with enormous human and material resources, yet we are so poor in the midst of abundance. The missing link remains a resurgence of the progressive ideology complemented by a committed and creative leadership capable of transforming our collective dreams of a life more abundant into reality.

The dream will remain a mirage until we are ready to source our leaders from the pool of our best and brightest instead of the cesspool of the dregs of the society. We must reject the aspiration for leadership based on profile-building and enhancement of social status, and promote leadership as a platform of social engineering. This is where the revival of ideology really matters. Solving the leadership conundrum will be a major step in our efforts towards building an egalitarian society where competence rather than patronage will be the major requirement for the recruitment and training of leaders.

And as our political icon once said: “It is only the deep that can call to the deep.”

A revival of ideological prisms and formulae in fashioning a blueprint for development is a sine qua non to offsetting the leadership deficit that has hindered our collective aspirations so far, and unless and until we are able to confront this problem head long, we are not ready for serious business of governance.

This is a mission that our leaders must promote and ensure becomes firmly entrenched in our polity before they join our common ancestors.

Once again, happy birthday to Babalaje of Sakiland, as we look up to you to provide the leadership that this time demands.

• Adedeji, a former House of Representatives member from Oyo State, is an Abuja-based lawyer and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.