TACKLING INSURGENCY, IMPROVEMENT IN POWER SITUATION- TIGHTENING THE NOOSE WITH AN EFFECTIVE LEADER'S BODY LANGUAGE: THE VITAL LESSONS OF LEADERSHIP

By Editor

An army of sheep led by a lion will defeat an army of lion led by a sheep- this is the whole answer to the leadership conundrum that plagues every organization and nations of the world. The first ingredient of leadership is integrity, the second, firmness, the third, respect, the fourth, action! All of them are predicated on leadership by precepts- you can't take people to where you have not been and you can't tell a follower to do as you say whilst you do as you like- we all do as our forebears do! Strangely, love and goodness are in distance tenth and eleventh.

A leader does not need to be loved, but he must be respected and even feared. When a leader is not feared by even his subordinates, his subjects make a mockery of him, everybody does everything and anything and nobody can ask anybody anything and his tenure becomes a floppy free-for-all...

If there was anything that characterized the fallen government of Former President, Goodluck Jonathan- It is the utter lack of respect for his person, his lack of personality and barrenness of firmness which translated into the regrettable rebuke of his highly exalted Presidential office. What you don't respect you can't believe in or support! Our Patriotism as a people flew out of the window because of the total lack of respect and acute lack of faith in the leadership of the former President.

Even his closest allies have no modicum of regard for him. He allegedly hired those he could not fire- accusations were rife from the camp of his detractors that there were five Presidents in Nigeria when he 'ruled' and he was the weakest of them all and he did practically nothing to change that evil notion. The media perpetually portrayed his regime as one on vacation, but he wouldn't care less. His self confession that he was a gentleman lamb incapable of rocking the boat or stepping on toes did not help matters too. A great leader of a wrongly wired nation of brutes and deviants like ours must not only be prepared to step on toes, but roll on heads! Not stepping on toes is tip-toeing into political oblivion and this witnessed a willful descent by his acceptance of defeat even before the final declaration of the election results that hallmarked his ouster from office. Indeed, a weakling is good at everything but leadership.

Fast forward two months after his exit, with the emergence of a new leader, President Muhammadu Buhari- a man whose prime selling force is his doubtless integrity wrapped in an unmistakable body language that supports everything but corruption. The fact that he has zero tolerance for graft was his major appeal to the electorate who were sick and tired of being sick and tired. They have refused to accept a deplorable condition as an unchangeable fate. They opted for change from the norm- 'business as usual' to 'business unusual' and they stood by a deviation from the continuous depletion of our collective national heirlooms, since the twin plagues of the Nigerian people has been traced to leadership failure and monumental corruption.

Thus, the direct bearing that effective leadership predicated on the fear of sanctions by a firm person at the saddle has most assuredly brought into the experienced difference is what has translated into the current spate of change, weakening of the wiles of terrorists, considerable improvement epileptic power situation, the availability of premium motor spirit and diesel witnessed in the country and the increased national discipline. This is painfully, but soothingly so as the President has rarely not made any remarkable policy statement since assuming office on the 29th day of May, this year.

Many have contended that If he is achieving all these without having constituted a cabinet, what will then happen when he now has his full team of wise men? Some jocularly wished he wouldn't even constitute a cabinet and continually perform this way alone, but then, that is not possible under any government, let alone a democracy. He is yet unable to unearth his much-awaited team of incorruptible and competent camp- his cabinet. Everyone has only been second-guessing his choices of human resources. His delay in appointing them is surely a worthy one as appointing irresponsible and corrupt goats will only spell doom for the nation's unguarded or wrongly guided barn of straying yams.

Admittedly, save a few bombings in the North East, with the repositioning of the leadership superstructure in the armed forces, the war against insurgency seemed to have received a reinvigorated boost as seen by sparks of commendably successful air strikes by our Air Force. Things are beginning to fall into place. External reserve was shored up. Civil servants are beginning to do the job for which they were paid. They no longer shell melons and watch Africa Magic alone. Public servants, as well as politicians are beginning to realize it's no longer business as usual. Banks no longer hold unto Government accounts. Dangerous marketing has subsided. Those who have stolen foreign currencies can't pay them into their Nigerian accounts or travel abroad with them. The fear of Buhari is now the final law. Those with inexplicable huge deposits can no longer spend or transfer their illicit petrodollars. People now queue and stay in line and wait for their turns...

Nigerians are gradually keying in on his zero tolerance to indiscipline and the tag 'I will report you to PMB' is trending when a corrupt act or improper omission occurs. Those who stole from Nigeria are scampering for safety- some have booked limitless hospital beds in far flung corners of the world to escape prosecution, whilst some others are afraid of getting a hotel suite in the gaol. Judges are scared to obtain bribe, public servants turn the blind eye to kickbacks. All these are happening without a statement from Mr. President- this is the body language question. A body language that says 'This is where I stand on corruption'. This is sadly the point of marked deviation with his predecessor. In matters of style, PMB swims with the tide, but in matters of principle, he stands like a rock! Now, that's how to be a respectable, functional and an effective leader.

Even the President's unrepentant detractors willingly allude to the fact that there has been a remarkable and an inexplicable improvement in power supply across the country and the power cut that ought to take the PHCN and BEDC a minimum of 4weeks to fix took them less than 4days because of the apprehension of sanction. They are aware that the no-nonsense Daura Ex-General is not scared to wield the big stick as he has done in other agencies. All those improvements were achieved without a purchase of any additional power-generation equipment. Sometimes, we might need to show our children sample for the neighbours' children to take us seriously.

Strangely and Suddenly, the hitherto moribund petroleum refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna have received instantaneous surge to life. Most filling stations that reveled in hoarding fuel are now selling and the incidence of sabotage has dwindled.

There are so many questions on the lips of Nigerians? What happened in the space of 3 months? Was GEJ sabotaged deliberately to ease him out? Even If- Is that not an indictment on his leadership capacity? On whose table does the buck stop? Are we just reaping the fruits of his transformational efforts? How did it happen that things seem to be working under the new Leader? All these questions border on the body language question.

Nigerians like most people of the world would most likely do the right thing If they are certain there would be consequences If they do wrong! The average human is prone to evil and impropriety and would plunge into wrongs where there is no sanction. Most people will do bad If they are certain they won't be caught. The greatest incitement to crime and corruption is the hope of escaping punishment. Change is here- Stealing is now corruption.

There is no Midas touch snowballing into this laudable magic wand beyond the fear of the consequences of short-changing the country by those we appointed and elected to lead us as Nigerians. Nigerians are indeed easy to lead, so far the leader shows the way and goes the way. Our problem as a nation as often been identified as the lack of political will to execute the laws, rather than a dearth of sanction-inflicting legislations.

The marked distinction between the former leader and the instant one is that whilst the former was a good man, the latter is a feared man. The former was a lamb, the latter is a lion. The former was unforgivably indulging, the latter is unhideously 'vindictive'. You always know where you are with PMB, same can't be said of GEJ. Even If GEJ wasn't directly corrupt, his body language which tolerated graft by not swiftly removing his indicted Ministers gave him away as one of them. This was his greatest undoing. This saw him out of office more than anything else. It will be insensitive and incorrect not to ascribe some developments to his transformational strides. PMB therefore can be said not to have won that noteworthy election until GEJ lost it to his lack of firmness and assertiveness. Indeed, whatever you attain by chance and do not sustain with competence and maintain by firmness, you will lose to change.

Any leader that will be successful must learn how to put his foot of firm stance down and say NO in the times of compromise. He must possess the abiding faith to say YES to honour and NO to character infidelity. What GEJ didn't do, but which PMB seems to be doing which heralded the current notable improvement in our national life is having a body language that screams firmness in policy statement and execution of laws with the unwavering hands of applicable sanctions as deterrence to prospective culprits. If my boss is in prison for corruption, I will most likely avoid every appearance of graft if I don't desire a suite in Kirikiri maximum prisons. It is that simple.

The last President seemed to have no charisma for the exalted office he occupied. He deemed it humility, but to the discerning mind, it could seem a lack of presence and grace. He was quite timid, disdained and disrespected for such a high office. He reigned, but he forgot to rule. He lacked the requisite political will to assert his authority and make his subjects queue behind him. The hood does not make the monk, the monk makes the hood! If the personality is not there, the position is a wasted nullity! Power is a sham, you require presence, firmness and form to take authority! Buhari on the other hand as a former military ruler is conversant with dictatorship and pristine order. This is where he is already making the mark. His remarkable brain child 'War Against Indiscipline', WAI assisted by Maj General Tunde Idiagbon in the early 80s remain indelible on the minds of Nigerians.

The battle hasn't ended, in fact, it has just started. Buhari is vehement in prosecuting corrupt people holding on to our collective patrimony and recover from them, Nigeria's stolen loot. He has held unto the plough and he is not looking back until he brings to justice and submission those who dipped their kleptomaniac fingers into our public till. To combat the graft which has become an integral part of our democratic culture and civil service's unwritten ethos, he set up a Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption headed by Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN to advise his young administration on the suitable modalities for the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of the requisite enabling reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, as well as develop comprehensive interventions for achieving recommended reforms. The 'born again' corrupt politicians in his party should therefore benefit from the recommendations of the committee's report and smoothly relinquish to national coffers the cash and belongings of the nation unjustifiably acquired in time past.

One can only advise Mr. President to learn from the gaffe of his predecessor and surround himself with only incorruptible men whom he can equally sanction without fear of losing political relevance. He has to choose his aides and Ministers carefully as that is the fastest route to ruining a fresh start.

Greatness must replace goodness and grit must be the gait of fluidity If a leader must succeed. The fundamental objective of effective leadership is performance- the only measure by which leadership is assessed. Being firm, unmoved, brave, assertive and possessing the political will to show any defaulting appointee the red card remain prime ingredients of success to any leader billed to succeed. He who asks what you will do must be shown your angst for others to sit tight. Most of all, the one who will fight corruption cannot afford to be corrupt. The father who smokes Indian hemp lacks the moral justification to advise his adult son on the health implications of smoking cigarettes.

The international community seem to be gazing at Nigeria once again with the spectacle of respect and the binoculars of dignity, their expression of willingness to partner with us in the fight against insurgency through sale of arms, logistics support and in the battle against corruption through the foreign security clearance of the Ministerial nominees, blowing the whistle of illicit foreign accounts by the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the rousing welcome given to the President on his international visits and diplomatic meetings all allude to this veritable assertion.

Emerging from a bitter past in the stranglehold of successive military regimes and most ruinous civilian reigns, Nigeria now seems to be on a sure-footed path to progress, recovery and development. The goats are now scared of romancing the yam. Unrepentant kleptomaniacs are running from pillar to post because of the fear of the respected anti-graft leader. Nigeria seems to be on the match into the vast ocean of prosperity once again.

Nigeria is on the road to greatness. The incurable pessimists aptly dubbed the wailing wailers should do well to embrace this unchangeable change that has arrived our shores.

Nigerians home and abroad should come together to support this effective leader of men to bring Nigeria out of the doldrums of stagnation and the woods of tainted image. We are not corrupt! We rise above name-calling into the priced peach of virtues. Let PMB's communicable body language continually convey his sure message to the people and the handlers of our national institutions.

President Muhammadu Buhari is busy bringing down our pillars of shame and tearing away our ugly fabrics of dented image. We must rest our faith in his unwavering convictions and align our patriotism with the clarity of his vision. PMB can change Nigeria like Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. He has the experience, the integrity, the will power and the greedlessness of such high responsibility. He is capable of wiping away our odious past with the dashing fragrance of a new future built on fidelity and trust.

Buhari is a firm, faithful and frugal leader, he can be followed to battle blindfolded without any fear that he would retreat midway- this is needed for loyal followership. His body language is abundantly clear regarding his mission as an effective, unbiased and focused leader with steel force who is genuinely committed to making Nigeria a great beacon of hope and Africa's giant once again. Indeed, as he mounts the rostrum of greatness in the years ahead with Nigerians clasping tightly to his capable unbending back, he truly belongs to everybody and to nobody.

Former President Jonathan, can be said to be a good man, the perfect gentleman, he must have learnt his lessons from his involuntary niceties to his overbearing subordinates which led to his ouster, history might even attempt to forgive him, but should PMB armed with his current goodwill, instant support of Nigerians and good start with his prevalent body language discouraging graft- (he has everything going well for him), If he fails Nigerians eventually in his strive to bring about the much touted change, history will NEVER forgive him.