The Burden Of Leadership & Responsibility Of Followership In Nigeria — Gbenga Daniel

Former Governor Of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel (OGD) writes on the leadership, responsibility of followership and future of Nigeria.

Below is his writ in full:

“The Burden Of Leadership And The Responsibility Of Followership Seeks to take us through memory lane and clear doubts as much as possible.

“Let me start that from my own vantage observatory tower no one in Nigeria today (not even our dear President) can correctly with any high degree of certainty predict where our country is headed. The parameters keep varying and the goal post keep changing. In such an environment of uncertainty, the burden of leadership is to lead sometimes take positions that are bold but unexpected having considered all and communed with his God, especially once the Leader persuades himself that his position is for the general good and not for pecuniary interests. That is the responsibility of responsible Leadership.

“On the other hand, responsible followership must appreciate the limitation of their exposure and the limitation of the information available to them (and after perusing the environment doing their due diligence and deciding on who they recognize as their Leader), must also learn to follow that Leadership at critical times. Any other theory has not worked in the polity.
Many will argue that Leadership also has a responsibility to carry followership along.

“This is correct but sometimes not feasible and in most cases it will lead to no decision as the followers’ opinions can be as many and as diverse as the number of followers especially in an educated environment.

“I am writing this response in between flights from Akure to Abuja where I have gone to attend a meeting with our leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti without any premonition of what the agenda was. There, Pa Ayo Adebanjo was pronounced as the Acting Leader of Afenifere. Without any hesitation all of us have congratulated Pa Adebanjo and encouraged him.

“On our part, that is responsible followership. Other issues and reservations will be resolved later. That does not mean we are zombies, with our caliber, age and experience, we cannot be.

“The above is a brief caricature of what we need to adjust in our body politics in order to make progress as a people. In the latest scenerio, I as a Leader of the structure have consulted far and wide, travelled to Abuja, Kaduna, Abeokuta, Lagos, Ibadan, Dubai, spoken with Sokoto, Katsina, Minna, Asaba, Enugu, and had several meetings in Sagamu, Ijebu Ode etc etc in the last few months accross political divides and came to the conclusion that of the 4 options open (the 2 major political parties, a new political party and continue to siddon look), I remain persuaded that the right decision have been taken.

MOST RECENT HISTORY:

1. Dateline 2001 to 2003; Grand coalition gave us VICTORY
2. Dateline 2011; House divided largely because followership started independent calculations and concluded it can be done without the Leader. Result FAILURE
3. Dateline 2015; Despite all entreaties for a need to join forces to gain strength for the Party which led to returning all back to PDP, agreements were breached because some people felt they could do it alone. Result was FAILURE despite the fact the the seating Governor have become quite unpopular then.
4. Dateline 2019; Despite all entreaties by the Leadership to encourage unity of purpose in the polity, some people felt they could run it alone. It was even so bad that despite the fact that Atiku had secured the ticket some people discouraged PDP members from joining the Atiku Train but when The Atiku “Mobilisation” came, they were quick to visit Asoludero and they did not reject. No sweat. The result was there for all to see. FAILURE.

“Let’s shift the gear to national, despite all attempts by the opposition to win national elections with various platforms, they only won with a grand coalition in 2015.

“What can one say to the current ongoing in the party that we all built to a winning machinery?
If you write exam on 3 occasions 2011, 2015, 2019 and got the same result and there is yet no sign that any lesson have been learnt with another election barely 2 years away, do we need a soothsayer to predict the predictable outcome?

“Can anyone be more pained that my humble self quitting a party that I built with others to win elections even when there were no moneybags to help? The burden of leadership is to lead as I enjoin all our faithful followers who are yet to register to please go and register immediately while the opportunity exists.

“To the others who are yet unpersuaded, we will remain friends as we watch the unfolding scenerio and whenever such people are ready hopefully before the boat departs, we will welcome them with open arms.

“I will write in future on the desirability or otherwise of a near one party state in a developing economy like Nigeria. Well wishes to all.” he concluded.