The Gospel Of Not Too Young To Run Part 2
Part 2
One of the more enduring challenges for leadership in Africa remains the example of Nelson Mandela, a man fired by the zeal for his fatherland. At great personal risk, he put his life on the line to salvage his people from bondage to colonialism, apartheid, poverty and want. He paid a great price - nearly thirty years in the gulag, dehumanized, brutalized, scandalized and thoroughly traumatized. With great patience, candor and humility, he paid his dues. The day came that he swept to victory on a groundswell of the people’s vote. The despised last citizen soon became the first citizen. He assumed power as President of the Republic of South Africa without any bitterness, without any hint of vindictiveness, and without any thought of revenge. He became the glue that held his nation together, a symbol that inspired young and old to great nobility of character and personality. Such was his popularity that if he wanted to be
President for life, it was easily within his grasp. But no, he declined a second term in office. He would rather that the younger ones were given the opportunity to grow; he paid the price, but held out the prize to his countrymen. When he was the anvil, he bore a tremendous lot; but when he became the hammer, he was most reluctant to strike. When Nigeria produces a Mandela, our national hurts and divisions will be healed.
Perhaps the most challenging task in this NOT YOUNG TO RULE, is the need to create and recreate values that will order and direct the citizenry.
As a professional Mathematician, I will liken Negative values to the mathematical symbol of zero (0). Whatever is multiplied with zero, becomes zero. One billion or trillion Naira in excellent planning and budgeting, when set in a multiplicative function against zero, is zero(Remember, anything multiply by zero is zero). Our national problem is thus, not primarily that of poor infrastructure, nor poor human resource development, nor even our mono-crop economy with its over-dependence on oil. Our problem is zero values and ethical bankruptcy in national life. If our infrastructures became the best on the African continent, with our upside-down values, they would soon become decrepit and run-down, monuments to crass inefficiency. If we had world-class industries, refineries and power-generating turbines, with wrong values, our Turn-Around Maintenance would be nightmarish and the edifices would soon become white elephant project.
Men without values constitute a blot on the nation’s psyche:
a) A Teacher without proper values will sell grades for sex and money;
b) An Engineer without sound values will build roads and utilities that will neither endure nor give real service;
c) An Architect without values will design buildings that will collapse and kill their occupants;
d) A Judge without values would be a stranger to justice, selling and buying exparte motions, and standing fair conduct on its head;
e) A Politician without values will be an opportunist in the corridors of power - greedy, malevolent, deceitful, master of double speak, dishonest and above all, dangerous to the nation’s well being; and,
f) An Accountant without values will substitute “expediency for priority, imitation for innovation, cosmetics for character, style for substance, and pretence for competence” (Covey, 2003). He soon becomes a terrible chef, good at “cooking” accounts books and falsifying records, an embezzler, a dealer in stolen goods, and a pretender who glories in the wealth of others. Little wonder, the Gospel of Not Too Young To Rule according to Prof Nanshin Emmanuel Nansak is craving for young leaders who will empower the citizenry and lift individual performance beyond our normal limitations. Such leaders must be connoisseurs of talent - more curators than creators, with a smell for talent, unafraid of hiring people better than themselves. They are ready and willing to abandon their ego to the talents of others. They are experts at management of relationships - trustworthy and consistent, providing the emotional glue binding followers and leaders together. Finally, the leaders Nigerians want may not necessarily have the loudest voice, but the most attentive ear; instead of bureaucratic hierarchies they have a structure built of energy and ideas; they lead people who find their joy in the task at hand while embracing one another; and they do worry about leaving monuments behind.
Without doubt, Nigeria’s need for the moment, the heart-cry of the citizenry, is for a young leader who:
▪ Is genuinely interested in serving rather than being served;
▪ Has the ability to create the vision, inspire and motivate followers, and through consistent, persistent and focused guidance, empower individuals to achieve results greater than they ever imagined;
▪ Will fundamentally alter and question the parameters of the status quo through providing a vision for the future and then investing the time and effort in having others share that vision;
▪ Will encourage creativity and innovativeness in subordinates, allow followers wide latitude of self-expression, and cut a clear path between responsibility for performance and the consequent rewards that follow;
▪ Models what he preaches, and whose claim to leadership rests on the force of his convictions, the elegance and style of his performance on the job, and the integrity of his life and practice;
▪ Unites rather than divide us, ennobles rather than demean us, truly transforms rather than deform us - who will diligently search out and celebrate subordinates better than himself.
In the words of Maxwell: I am talking about Young leaders:
Who know the way, go the way, and show the way;
Who inspire and motivate rather than intimidate and manipulate;
Who continue to search for the best answer, not the familiar one;
Who handle themselves with their heads and handle others with their hearts;
Who use their influence at the right times for the right reasons;
Who take a little greater share of the blame and a little smaller share of the credit;
Who live with the people to know their problems and live with God to solve them;
Who realize that their dispositions are more important than their positions;
Who never place themselves above others except in carrying responsibilities;
Who discipline themselves so they will not be disciplined by others;
Who encounter setbacks and turn them into comebacks;
Who follow a moral compass that points in the right direction regardless of
the trends (Maxwell, 1993).
Please God, give us leaders!
One of the more enduring challenges for leadership in Africa remains the example of Nelson Mandela, a man fired by the zeal for his fatherland. At great personal risk, he put his life on the line to salvage his people from bondage to colonialism, apartheid, poverty and want. He paid a great price - nearly thirty years in the gulag, dehumanized, brutalized, scandalized and thoroughly traumatized. With great patience, candor and humility, he paid his dues. The day came that he swept to victory on a groundswell of the people’s vote. The despised last citizen soon became the first citizen. He assumed power as President of the Republic of South Africa without any bitterness, without any hint of vindictiveness, and without any thought of revenge. He became the glue that held his nation together, a symbol that inspired young and old to great nobility of character and personality. Such was his popularity that if he wanted to be
President for life, it was easily within his grasp. But no, he declined a second term in office. He would rather that the younger ones were given the opportunity to grow; he paid the price, but held out the prize to his countrymen. When he was the anvil, he bore a tremendous lot; but when he became the hammer, he was most reluctant to strike. When Nigeria produces a Mandela, our national hurts and divisions will be healed.
Perhaps the most challenging task in this NOT YOUNG TO RULE, is the need to create and recreate values that will order and direct the citizenry.
As a professional Mathematician, I will liken Negative values to the mathematical symbol of zero (0). Whatever is multiplied with zero, becomes zero. One billion or trillion Naira in excellent planning and budgeting, when set in a multiplicative function against zero, is zero(Remember, anything multiply by zero is zero). Our national problem is thus, not primarily that of poor infrastructure, nor poor human resource development, nor even our mono-crop economy with its over-dependence on oil. Our problem is zero values and ethical bankruptcy in national life. If our infrastructures became the best on the African continent, with our upside-down values, they would soon become decrepit and run-down, monuments to crass inefficiency. If we had world-class industries, refineries and power-generating turbines, with wrong values, our Turn-Around Maintenance would be nightmarish and the edifices would soon become white elephant project.
Men without values constitute a blot on the nation’s psyche:
a) A Teacher without proper values will sell grades for sex and money;
b) An Engineer without sound values will build roads and utilities that will neither endure nor give real service;
c) An Architect without values will design buildings that will collapse and kill their occupants;
d) A Judge without values would be a stranger to justice, selling and buying exparte motions, and standing fair conduct on its head;
e) A Politician without values will be an opportunist in the corridors of power - greedy, malevolent, deceitful, master of double speak, dishonest and above all, dangerous to the nation’s well being; and,
f) An Accountant without values will substitute “expediency for priority, imitation for innovation, cosmetics for character, style for substance, and pretence for competence” (Covey, 2003). He soon becomes a terrible chef, good at “cooking” accounts books and falsifying records, an embezzler, a dealer in stolen goods, and a pretender who glories in the wealth of others. Little wonder, the Gospel of Not Too Young To Rule according to Prof Nanshin Emmanuel Nansak is craving for young leaders who will empower the citizenry and lift individual performance beyond our normal limitations. Such leaders must be connoisseurs of talent - more curators than creators, with a smell for talent, unafraid of hiring people better than themselves. They are ready and willing to abandon their ego to the talents of others. They are experts at management of relationships - trustworthy and consistent, providing the emotional glue binding followers and leaders together. Finally, the leaders Nigerians want may not necessarily have the loudest voice, but the most attentive ear; instead of bureaucratic hierarchies they have a structure built of energy and ideas; they lead people who find their joy in the task at hand while embracing one another; and they do worry about leaving monuments behind.
Without doubt, Nigeria’s need for the moment, the heart-cry of the citizenry, is for a young leader who:
▪ Is genuinely interested in serving rather than being served;
▪ Has the ability to create the vision, inspire and motivate followers, and through consistent, persistent and focused guidance, empower individuals to achieve results greater than they ever imagined;
▪ Will fundamentally alter and question the parameters of the status quo through providing a vision for the future and then investing the time and effort in having others share that vision;
▪ Will encourage creativity and innovativeness in subordinates, allow followers wide latitude of self-expression, and cut a clear path between responsibility for performance and the consequent rewards that follow;
▪ Models what he preaches, and whose claim to leadership rests on the force of his convictions, the elegance and style of his performance on the job, and the integrity of his life and practice;
▪ Unites rather than divide us, ennobles rather than demean us, truly transforms rather than deform us - who will diligently search out and celebrate subordinates better than himself.
In the words of Maxwell: I am talking about Young leaders:
Who know the way, go the way, and show the way;
Who inspire and motivate rather than intimidate and manipulate;
Who continue to search for the best answer, not the familiar one;
Who handle themselves with their heads and handle others with their hearts;
Who use their influence at the right times for the right reasons;
Who take a little greater share of the blame and a little smaller share of the credit;
Who live with the people to know their problems and live with God to solve them;
Who realize that their dispositions are more important than their positions;
Who never place themselves above others except in carrying responsibilities;
Who discipline themselves so they will not be disciplined by others;
Who encounter setbacks and turn them into comebacks;
Who follow a moral compass that points in the right direction regardless of
the trends (Maxwell, 1993).
Please God, give us leaders!
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