Nigeria needs leader, not dealers

T ELLING those who elected you into office that no matter what you do to them, you are still the authority over them is the statement of a ruler or lord not a leader. I felt a serious urge to write on this as a leadership specialist not only because of the statement but because of the leadership failure all over the nation.

Leaders should realise that being in a position does not in anyway make them superior to the people they are leading; it only places them in front to care for them and it is a privilege. Don’t you ever have a leadership mentality; it destroys any leader.

Secondly, once the welfare of the people you are leading is no longer your priority, you are no more a leader; you are now a dealer. You are in only for what you can get; you have lost your authority, and what you have left is only the office.

Thirdly, true leaders don’t demand respect; they command it. They command respect by influence, they command it by genuinely and sincerely loving the people they are leading. They command it by helping people to become their best. They command it by adding value to people’s lives.

The degree to which people will value you as a leader will be directly determined by how much value you have added or are adding to their lives.

Lastly, I think it’s high time those who clearly understand what leadership is all about began to participate actively in politics and stop sitting on the fence watching the dealers misleading this nation.

Nigeria deserves better governance than this. I know it’s biblical to pray for those in authority but I feel we need to do more than praying now because we cannot be praying for those who lack the knowledge of leadership to lead well.

What a man does not know, he does not know. You can only pray for the wisdom to correctly apply the knowledge you have, not to gain knowledge. Knowledge can only be acquired by seeking it. According to Abraham Lincoln, evil prevails when good men keep silent.

And most importantly, let us lead well anywhere we are in any little position. Exceptional leadership begins from that little position you are, therefore, begin to make it happen. We need leaders in Nigeria not dealers.

Nigeria will be great.

• Femi Komolafe, Ibadan.