Self Leadership

 Nigeria at 60

It's alarmingly worrisome that Nigeria is just aging but rarely growing. Only the sycophants of government would agree less. Our status quo is far from being commensurate with our wealth and resources. And to argue that still remaining as one indivisible country is worth celebrating, is a charade. Is like trying to draw fresh water from a bitter source. Leadership is jeopardizing living together as one entity. Our patriotism and resolve are being threatened and severed on daily basis.

Incidentally, the country's future looks bleaker now than before. Recent events raise more fear than hope. It is heart-wrenching to see that the number of people who are ready to steal is more than those who are currently stealing. Many unashamedly but braggadociously bent that they are milking the country dry on getting to the corridor of power. This pattern of junk thinking further intensifies my fear. I pray I don't reach my breaking point where I will give up hope on this country. I pray I'll never get to chicken out.

On the flip side, I want to point to a style of leadership we rarely talk about, Self-leadership. Self-leadership is having a developed sense of who you are, what you can do, where you are going coupled with the ability to influence your communication, emotions, and behaviours on the way to getting there. Leadership is a gift that we all have, nurturing it is the problem. This is because we have not taken a conscious effort to do so. Self-leadership helps us to reflect on their weaknesses and strengths and translate them into learning opportunities.

Do you know the spate of bad leaders the country parades is indicative of the deficit in self-leadership training in an individual's life? Since leaders emerge from the population pool, more often than not, the litmus test to ascertain the richness or destitution of the mind of the people in her leadership. So it is not incongruous to infer that a larger chunk of the populace has a similar mindset as our leaders. We are first self-leaders before we lead others. The probability is high that you can lead others if you can successfully lead yourself. 

How do we come to terms with someone who can't manage his own finances to manage the State's? How dare you say you can lead a project if you have never personally set a goal and achieved it? How on earth would you indulge in examination malpractice and look forward to wage antigraft war in the future? How will you relish in swindling people and hope to be in the position of upholding justice? How possible do you think it would be for you to respect the fundamental human rights of others when your disposition communicates a lack of respect for humanity? What assures you that you'll execute a contract to specification if you can't resist the urge to launder money as a class rep? How will you show apathy towards political issues and expect to lead the country?

Invariably, self-leadership is a learning process. They are the kernel of the antecedent to look out for in a candidate. It is where public leadership traits are formed and nurtured. You don't prepare for war on the battlefield, it is before its onset. Being a self-leader will help up identify your Achilles' heel early so that you can nip it in the bud. It is preparing for what lies ahead. It is fighting now the temptation that may raise its ugly head in the future. It is being the leader you want to see and become.

Like a lone voice in the wilderness, I'm urging everyone to be part of this Collective Rescue Mission.

Happy Independence.