Our Fellowship Dilemma

By

Ogwu Paul Okwuchukwu

ogwupaulo@yahoo.com


Nigerians often complain that the problem of Nigeria is leadership. That is quite true but not the whole truth. Although leadership has a major role to play in the emergence of any just and equitable society, to attribute every failure, misnomer and problem to leadership is to blame every human failings and adventure to God. It is true purposeful leadership and other factors that most societies, establishment, organisations blossoms and prospers but that is not all. We are so accustomed to blaming leadership that we neglect to play our part in ensuring the overall progress and prosperity of the society and the country. There is no doubt that due to lack of effective leadership we face difficulty daily in the social, economic and political sphere. In addition, an effective leadership will ensure good environment for business and governance to thrive. Also effective leadership will provide the necessary framework that will help for policy formulation and implementation. Added to this, effective leadership would ensure good governance and an example for others to follow, but it would neglect our collective responsibility if we attribute everything to leadership and fail in our responsibility as followers. We fail as followers when we fail to do our part.

 

We fail as followers when we fail to obey and abide by simple traffic rules and drive in a manner that questions our commitment to life. We also fail as followers when we fail to obey the common law that governs the land and act in a way that is inimical to the progress of the society. Is it the leadership that encourages some of the students and their parents to encourage and abet examination malpractice? Is it the leadership that supports the idea of surrendering our responsibility as human beings to the whims and caprices of supernatural forces we do not know or understand ?We have learnt to attribute everything to leadership failure that we tend to even blame mosquito bites to the bad leadership in the country. We blame leadership as if it is the president that tells a police officer on the street to collect twenty naira from motorist and drivers. Is it the leadership that encourages the people to engage in all forms of crimes and things to the detriment of the society? I do not really know; if it is the leadership that tells the parents to leave the responsibility of imbibing morals and values to their children. Is it the leadership that promote hatred and disunity among the population? A situation where people living among friends in another part of the country for several years are hacked down to death over a disagreement that both parties are unaware of. The level of animosity among the different ethnic groups ,religions and among the different classes should not necessarily be attributed to leadership. Is it the leadership that encourages the disregard of our cultural and moral values from the family to the local level?  Is it the leadership that is debasing our morals, love and close family relationship that have always been the envy of the people from the western world? Is it leadership that encourages the people and the local population to encourage our leaders and those that are entrusted with the position of authority to loot and embezzle funds? As government appointee and political office holder, you will commit the greatest crime in the land when you refuse to use your position to better the pockets of your local community and population. The pressure the population mount on them is not to actually provide any tangible project but for their immediate financial and other benefit they we will get. Is it the leadership that encourages the people to collect money and vote for candidates that we know that are there to enrich their pockets? Is it not equally the youths that encourage and aid the politician in the snatching of ballot papers and the rigging of election? Also is it the leadership that tell us to take public goods and properties as no man’s property. Is it the leadership that throws litters in the streets? Is it the leadership that have elevated the act of lying and insincerity to a national culture?

 

 

Is it leadership that makes us to be disorderly in the conduct of affairs in public places and  abhors law and order. Is it the leadership that made it the norm for us to use every opportunity to defraud, lie, and show lack of commitment and sincerity in almost everything we do?  Is it the leadership that encourages the traditional institutions to award chieftaincy titles and honours to questionable character?  Is it our leadership that encourages the citizenry to engage in crimes within and outside the country? We the followers’ should also bear some responsibility for the calamity we are witnessing daily.

 

 

We should be able to reduce the ego of our so-called leaders by making them appreciate the importance of the fellowship. The followership sells itself so cheap that the leaders do not appreciate their worth. When we ignore them and make them to realise the importance of doing things in a formal way, they would realise the enormous power the followership wields. We should learn to question their judgement in what ever they do. They should realise that they are leaders because of the followers. Moreover, some of the people recruited from the followership most times end up committing the same atrocities we blame the leaders from.

 

Although we need leaders to provide the necessary framework and enabling environment to ensure the sustenance of the society, we also need the followership to play their own role. The leadership should also serve as examples for us to follow but they are part of the whole. It is also important the leadership provide the necessary political will to drive the values, vision and mission of the society.

 

They are several things we do that we blame the leadership without taking time to reflect

 on the role we would have played as individuals to improve the life of our community. We should all strive to make a difference or to make our own contribution to our families, local communities and not to blame the leadership in every mishaps, actions or inactions that affects us. It is akin to somebody shifting his responsibility and being in his own comfort zone

 

The leadership has as much stake as the followership. They are both contending forces fighting to eclipse the other. They are constant conflict between the two. In as much as the leadership are failing in their function, the followership has also not lived up to their expectations. Let the followership join hands to fight for or defeat the opposing force and establish the kind of society we want. Nobody surrenders an advantage to play a second fiddle. We fight over things if we want to have an advantage. The fight starts from the family to the national level. The leadership in Nigeria have shown over time that it cannot reform itself so it time they are made to do so. The time is now.

 

Our leaders have failed to reform or transform themselves; the followership needs to reform her selves. We can only do this by uniting, being patriotic and obeying the law, demanding for the right things and doing the right things in our little corner. We need these and other positive traits to confront the leadership.