IGBOMINA YOUTH LECTURE DELIVERED ON SATURDAY 27/4/2013 By Prof. S. A. Ibiyemi Leadership: The Brain-box for Sustainable Economic, Political and Cultural Development of the Youth Leadership has very many definitions and emerging concepts that change virtually on daily basis. Because of the rapid changes, I rather wish to avoid the use of a long staff to kill a young snake, for this reason I will save myself from making any effort and the problem of dwelling on any form of definition and concepts or principles of leadership. Rather I have selected therefore to go down a memory lane to justify the topic for today. I seek the indulgence of you all, particularly those who are more exposed in pragmatic/ partisan politics than I and the youth who organize this discussion that I be brief in my treating the various past leadership styles. Leadership was instituted by God and it is intended to provide order and development of human beings as a social organization. He made the man the head of the first family. As the population increased there was need for prophets and then kings to provide leadership. There were wars arising from failed leadership, even with this there was need for emergence of leaders in the various ranks in fighting wars. Later, there was a leadership type by Christ with His disciples; among the disciples there was an instituted leadership type even when Christ was with them and after His resurrection and in the implementation of His commandment for the propagation of the gospel for an effective and successful missionary assignments. Similarly, Mohammed established his leadership system for the propagation of the Islamic faith. Colonies/empires belong to foreign invaders who practiced a form of leadership style different from those highlighted above. The leadership which seemed to have about the same style even by the various and different colonial masters from different countries governed their subjects in each colony/empire with about the same style, dictatorship with divide and rule camouflaged with deceit. Each indigene of the various colonies invariably had to struggle with the colonial masters for self rule to gain the freedom for the nationals. In most cases the struggles were revolutions, which was either peaceful or indeed bloody depending on the natural economic endowments of real terms highly valued by the colonial masters. Had the British government discovered the petroleum deposit in Nigeria in the right quantities by the 50s, the nation, Nigeria might not be as amalgamated as we have today and the independence of the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones would have taken a dramatically different dimension. Nigeria by this stroke of luck, that the British government was ignorant of the petroleum endowment had a mild form of struggles compared with South Africa to earn its independence. The desire for self rule made a few persons like Awolowo, Sardauna and Azikwe prominent leaders because of their stand in the struggle to persuade the British leaders to allow Nigerians enjoy self rule by the people. These leaders and their lieutenants were convincing to their people and the British lords to be steadfast, honest and reliable. Each of them committed his time, intellect, resources and integrity to the struggles. Each had a region and peoples he represented but then they joined forces that earned them success in spite of their diversity in language, culture, level of education and general religious faith; it was possible that they succeeded because they set a goal for the nation and prosecuted the objective and goal with determination. While they were in the board rooms negotiating with the British lords, the youth, particular the elites of the university college, Ibadan and colleges of science and arts in Zaria, Lagos and Enugu provided supports that inspired them to keep the flame for success burning and alive. The era symbolized leadership in harmony between the elderly and the youth. Nigeria had the first military coup in 1966, this brought a new type of leadership in igbomina land by the creation of West Central state and Col. David Lasisi Bamigboye emerged as the first Military Governor of the state. One major assignment that may have been carried out by him, possibly sub-consciously, which may have been by share routine of his service that followed the splitting of the country to 12 states instead of the 4 regions, remains a milestone achievement i e the splitting of the state into LGAs. This was a military/ dictatorship leadership. This singular assignment remains the most significant success of the fruit of leadership that accelerated the development of the state in all ramifications; education, economics, social and political. He used the military background and acted without recourse to wide, if any, consultations. This is a peculiar leadership style not easy to practice in a democratic setting. Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki held sway in the leadership and politics of Kwara state for upward of 35 years. He had a properly articulated vision and mission for his political pursuit. He invested all his resources, including spiritual, physical, mental/ intellectual and financial. He was resolute in his pursuit for success and remained undeterred. This is a type of leadership that is self propelled and sustained. It is expensive and could be derailed in the face of stiff competitions. We have had local/ ethnic leaders each of whom performed with a fairly closely related style. In Igbomina we have had Ekunrin, P B Olatunde, Simon Ifabiyi, today it is E O Oyeyipo. In between these we have had Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo. Each of these has his peculiarities we all are familiar with and so I rather play safe by not making any comment on the living among them. In Offa, Josaiah Sunday Olawoyin carved a niche for himself in a similar manner as Ekunrin. Each suffered various humiliations including imprisonment in their fight for the rights of the less privileged members of their communities. Each dared the government on his own perception of the wrong doings of the government against justice in their communities. Theirs were genuine sacrifice and risk taking for the rights of their people. Their actions were spontaneous so needed neither the input nor encouragement of the people. This was sacrificial leadership. It may also be highlighted at this point that each of these two persons was encouraged by the reactions and sympathy of the people. Furthermore, there were no distractions by other people in the communities seeking a type of rivalry recognition, as the prevailing case today. In fact, each of these two had a team of people working to promote their ideas in the liberation struggles for the communities. Please grant that I expatiate briefly on the collective responsibilities under the leadership of one past leader, Chief P. B. Olatunde; In 1979, Chief C. O. Adebayo was to contest election into the State House of Assembly at the request of the gubernatorial candidate, Chief J. S. Olawoyin, from the same South Senatorial District. Chief J. S. Olawoyin approached the igbomina committee meeting in Chief Olatunde’s house with his request that Chief C O Adebayo be considered to contest the state election so that Cornelius shall serve as the Speaker in the House when he was to be the governor. The committee under the leadership of P. B. Olatunde gladly endorsed the request in a meeting where it was presented without any ado. At the same meeting another person was endorsed as a candidate for the senate. Thereafter a reason was adduced by a person who was not at the previous meeting where the positions for the elections were shared. The absentee at the first meeting raised objection on C O Adebayo slot. He was given a fair hearing and he was able to convince the committee for a reversal. There and then the positions for the candidates were swooped and C O Adebayo contested the Senate election, this made a history in the life of C O Adebayo. The major issue by this brief account is the essence of collective wise decision and our people respect for wise collective decision even if it ‘hurts’ any person directly and or indirectly. All along, the committee decisions were respected and they performed genuinely and faithfully. It is pertinent to note also that the era was noted to be free of inordinate hustle for position. Today, there are misconceptions or even no or wrong conception by our political class, most of who seek to be first among equals. Each seeks the “best” means to achieve his/her ambition which often is inordinate. The self motivated and possibly inordinate ambition has propelled many to seek unwholesome means pursue and to achieve their goal even when they know in their hearts that if somebody else does what he/she is doing to others, he/she will be grossly displeased, that not- withstanding, they still go ahead of their pursuit. The incidence of the 2006/2007 is typical and lingers in our memories. All along we sounded notes of caution on the evil consequences of such actions that will frustrate efforts of the leadership in position. This was not the case in the 70s. This self centered ambition rather than service inclined desire which is compounded by the political parties devoid of principles and philosophy, pitch the youth and even some elderly to display total disregard for leadership control in the state. These combined negative factors thrived in Kwara state politics in the last two decades. These also weakened the fragile leadership in the state particularly in the South Senatorial District. To worsen the bad situation, our leader in the recent past had needed to be firm and courageous in decisions making. This indecision empowered Dr. Olushola Saraki as he whole heartedly capitalized on the disarrayed situation among our people both old and young. Our sheep readily found pasture in his field, they were fed and sent home to ridicule their dependants. This I have highlighted to drive home my point on the critical role politics played in the true economics and development of the people in general and the youth in particular. A Feasible Leadership Option that is Capable to Positively Position Our Youth For 2015 There shall be a committee of the igbomina that will be guided by a framework of principles that shall include: A true, sustainable, and genuinely respected leadership that shall be provided by a group of people, each of who is respected in his/her local community not because he/she is a firebrand vibrant opinion person active in Ilorin. The committee shall have a person who is matured in mind, spirit and the body, fit intellectually, concerned for the people particularly the youth to serve as the chairman. Such a man shall be available to listen to ideas coming from the youth who have more challenges for survival than those with employment, self employed and married. The man shall have the charisma and wherewithal qualities to lead his committee to high places including state and federal government circles. In order for the leadership to grow and perform creditably, it is pertinent that the youth in particular and the political class shall recognize the committee and give it all time necessary supports. The youth shall do all in their powers to ensure that there shall be no splinter group that will constitute an opposition group to challenge the authorities of the new leadership that will emerge after this stake-holders discussion of today No human being organization can be perfect, but efforts shall be made to minimize errors and mistrust. There shall be transparency in all activities and utterances of the committee as a committee and individual members of the committee. This is to say, with deserving emphasis, that even though the committee that will emerge will not be super human with perfection so the youth must anticipate some degree of flaws in their actions while the committee will have as the guiding working principle the intention to be above board within human capability. The Way Forward My objective in this presentation is to provoke thought and pave way for the matured minds among the partisan politicians gathered here today to articulate on what shall be done to nurture collective leadership for the igbomina in the first instance; Igbomina with three LGAs among the seven LGAs in the South Senatorial District should provide leadership in the district and the district by progression the leadership in the state. In order to realize this objective and goal, it is imperative therefore that the emerging leadership shall 1) Have properly articulated vision and mission, goal and objective. 2) Make available for digest by people the roadmap of actions that will instill in the followers confidence and satisfaction. 3) Plans that show a determination for success. 4) Demonstrate good Intension to integrate with other ethnic groups in the district in the first instance and then others in the state. 5) Convocate a meeting of the tripartite of the committee of elders, the Exco. of Omo Ibile Igbomina and the 1st class traditional rulers to revive cordiality in the relationship among the three institutions. This will require that the Traditional Ruler Council meeting is revived and functional. At this point I wish to give room for brighter ideas from the special guests at this forum for a better hypothesis on what shall be done to ensure a new order in igbomina land that will guarantee the rights of the people and obvious economic and political emancipation of the people in the prevailing political dispensation whereby a vacuum has been created by the demise of Dr/Alhaji/Chief Abubakar Olushola Saraki. There is no doubt that he left a legacy in a type of leadership which he sustained for upward of 30 years. The first generation politicians at the national level also left a legacy which was of a different style compared with that by Dr. Olushola Saraki. Yet Olawoyin and Ekunrin had their own styles that were relevant and effective in their time. Today we may concoct a hybrid of these past styles that will meet the mood of the present type of democratic political dispensation where there is no outright guiding philosophy and principles for each of the political parties in Nigeria. Yet within our system we cannot afford to do away with sincerity, honesty and transparency that will instill confidence in the youth who shall benefit from the activities of the committee. I thank the Executive Committee of the Igbomina Youth Assembly (The Youth Group of Omo Ibile Igbomina) for the opportunity given me to present a working paper that will be thoroughly digested today and more carefully utilized thereafter by the more experienced partisan politicians who abound in igbomina. I thank you all for listening, I hope I have not bore you. God bless you all in our efforts to fashion out the best for the sustainable economic and political emancipation of our igbomina youths in particular.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:17:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015