In contemporary history, leadership transcends the frontiers of one man ordering people around military-style. Leadership is about sacrifice, innovation, vision and ability to recognise that even the best of diamond was first coated with dirt and dust. Great leaders are therefore those who see opportunity in oppression, who turn adversity to advantage and those who see today what others will see tomorrow.
It took a life of risk and sacrifice in a moment of war for Americans to see the strong character of George Washington. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, confined to a wheel chair at middle age by polio, turned what others may consider an adversity to advantage. He became one of the greatest presidents of the United States, winning election for a record four times even on a wheel chair. He sacrificed his comfort to steer America out of the straits of the Great Depression.
Bring on the architect of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. Coming through the trauma of Second World War and the emotional bitterness of Japanese occupation and British domination, he sacrificially rallied his troop of young and resolute Singaporeans to birth a new nation with the full dignity of Singapore citizens restored.
Fashola
Fashola
It took the conscientious, conscious and selfless exertions of Martin Luther King Jnr and other Black activists for the world to witness a Black American president in the White House over four decades later. It is impossible to wade through the history of nations without finding bright dots and brilliant flashes of good leadership sometimes even in the midst of overly administrative tardiness.
In Europe, America, Asia and other climes, you find such leadership milestones in both the private and public sectors as blue chip chief executives, district heads, mayors, governors and heads of government. These are men and women who through innovations and visionary candour, wrought transformation in their stations. In Nigeria, we still find bright spots of purposeful leadership sparkling in the horizon like oasis in a famished desert.
You find them as local government chairmen, company executives, lawmakers and sundry public office holders. In this list of change-agents is Babatunde Raji Fashola, the governor of Lagos State who is easily accepted today among all political parties as the best-performing governor.
Fashola is a real outlier who during his working life in the private sector as a lawyer demonstrated a rare knack for excellence and professional enthusiasm garnished with uncommon humility. These have been the defining character traits of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who when he speaks reminds you that in spite of the culture of poverty of leadership in Nigeria, there are still men and women who have remained untainted by the miasma and putrefaction which embroider the garments of those in power.
Like all great leaders, Fashola has been consistent in character. He arrived at Lagos State Government House with a rich tool-kit laden with administrative dexterity, visionary élan and an imbued Jewish spirit complete with chutzpah, candour and unvarnished charisma. As governor of cosmopolitan Lagos, he wormed his way into the hearts of the people. His rich vein of people skills and unfeigned deployment of emotional intelligence stand him out as a puritan from the crowd of political jobbers and leadership jesters who daily crowd the nation’s political space.
He’s a man fated to success and it was no surprise that he emerged victorious in the 2007 gubernatorial election which thrust him into the centre stage of governance in his state. His trajectory from the private sector to the public arena and his seamless adaptation to life in the corridor of power owe so much to his social malleability and political flexibility.
In barely six years as governor of Lagos State, he has demonstrated without any pinch of doubt that good, qualitative leadership is still possible in a country widely perceived as destitute of such virtue. He is to Lagos State what Moses was to the Jews – a man ordained to set the captives free. Thus, guided by the invisible and sturdy hand of Providence, he has navigated Lagos out of the valley of gross darkness to the plains of socio-economic resurgence. A state once manacled to the tethers of indiscipline and a ready by-word for social disorder has joined the league of the world’s fastest developing cities. He has wrought exceptional transformation in the state even to the admiration and acclamation of his most acerbic critics.
He is the real Renaissance man. In Fashola, you wonder how a man can be so intelligent yet very humble; in him you see a mix of unassuming demeanour and intellectual opulence. And everywhere he goes, everything he does, he carries these virtues with him.
On Thursday in Lagos, Aka Ikenga, a pan-Igbo think-thank marked its silver jubilee with a public lecture delivered by His Lordship Rt. Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto. Kukah, an activist who has successfully travelled through the contours of the podium and the pulpit was his vintage self as he engaged the audience with eclectic poignancy. He was blunt and forthright as he tried to unravel the latent dialectics that foreshadow the nation’s collective attempt to overawe the challenges thrown up by Nigeria’s variant of democracy.
Kukah took the audience through the challenges of democracy in Nigeria. He acknowledged the diversities and complexities of the Nigerian nation but argued that such diversity ought not to be a liability but a strength. In his words: “the greatness of any nation lies in its ability to manage diversity and be accommodating to strangers”. Kukah’s lecture resonated with the audience as he wondered if the Nigerian problem was just ethnicity, corruption or a function of ‘fundamental error of attribution’. He described Nigeria as a country which progresses in reverse order.
“Nigeria is a great country but it is hurting badly”. Yes, Nigeria hurts. It hurts the majority who feel erroneously profiled as power grabbers; it hurts the minorities who feel emasculated in the political space. It hurts the poor, the girl-child, the rural dwellers and even the urban drifters including the very rich. Everybody is hurting. The Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and the multitude of minority entities. But most times, people hurt because they misconstrue what true nationhood is all about; they do not understand where they are coming from and where they are going and most times they hurt because they do not understand who their real enemy is.
A section of Ndigbo has been hurting. They are unhappy with Governor Fashola for ‘deporting’ a handful of their kinsmen from Lagos to the South East. Officials of Lagos State insist that those affected were not randomly picked from the streets and shipped home. They were men of no tangible means of livelihood who were rehabilitated and made to acquire some skills by the state. It was upon their graduation from vocational training that they were ferried home.
It was on the basis of this ‘hurt’ that Fashola mounted the rostrum after Kukah’s lecture. He prefaced his remarks with these words. “I do not have a problem with the Igbo and they know that. The largest herds of cattle I received during my father’s burial was from Ndigbo. They are my kindred and my people”.
“I have come here first to say thank you for the honour done to my family and the memory of my late father.
“I have also come here to make an explanation as to what happened. Some people who clearly do not understand the actions taken and words spoken are those I owe an explanation. I cannot take the Igbo for granted because we have built a relationship based on tolerance, mutual respect, love and trust. That relationship was built by our ancestors and I put a lot of value in that relationship.
“I offer an unreserved apology if the actions taken had been misunderstood. But I think the basic issue Aka Ikenga must address is why people feel compelled to migrate from one part of the country to the other? Is it the case that some lack the resources to develop or perhaps some parts are endowed with enormous resources but not adequately managed? How can development be so difficult from the zone that has produced people like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alex Ekwueme, Ike Nwachukwu, among others? A day like this calls for deep reflection about issues of our loyalties. Are we more Igbo than Nigeria or we are more Nigeria than Igbo?”
A deafening ovation followed Fashola’s remarks not just for his forthrightness, show of courage to say it as it is but for his humility in apologizing to those who read the script wrongly. But the laudation for Fashola should not drown the squealing voice of his posers. Why is development difficult in the South East, South –South and the North? Has anybody ever wondered why Fashola has grown more grey hairs since becoming governor than all the governors in other places put together?
Leadership comes with its peculiar burden and responsibility. Lee Kuan Yew, in his personal account of how he salvaged Singapore from ruins gave insight into how he stayed up late thinking and strategizing; how he held several meetings in a day with diverse groups and people and how he invested his emotions into project Singapore to birth what is today one of the most flourishing nations in the world. The real issue is not for Ndigbo to vilify Fashola but to ask questions of their governors or other governors for that matter why they cannot create oasis of development in their respective states in spite of the abundant resources in such states.
· SOURCE
Former Miss World Agbani Darego looked stunning at the traditional
wedding of Daisy Danjuma’s son, Yuki Omenai, which took place today at
Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos.
Angelo Collins arrived in Nigeria today to spend some time with his BBA
boo, Beverly Osu. Other BBA Housemates Bimp and Bassey are also in town.
They are here to attend Beverly Osu's birthday party which will hold
tonight at Aura Night Club. Check out more pics..
The
deportation of Igbos to Anambra state by the Lagos State Government a
few months back was what sparked off all the Igbo/Yoruba bashing that
happened online recently, most popular was the piece written by
controversial former minister Femi Fani Kayode, which led to him being
'sued' by one prominent Igbo lady..:-). So anyway, yesterday governor
Fashola apologized to the igbos for the incident...and FFK doesn't think
he should have apologize. Read what he wrote below...
There
can be little doubt that the relocation of the 19 igbo destitute from
Lagos state a few months ago was a lawful exercise and that it was done
in the interest of Lagos state. Consequently I do not believe that
Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola ought to have tendered any form of
apology whatsoever to the igbo for what he did. The only redeeming
factor is the fact that the apology was obviously designed simply to
calm frayed nerves and I commend Fashola for that gesture if nothing
else. I say this because my understanding is that he apologised NOT for
the deportation itself but for ''the misunderstanding that arose from
it''. There is a world of difference between the two. I also commend him
for admonishing the igbo to develop their own region and to decide
whether they are ''igbo before they are Nigerians or Nigerians before
they are igbo''.
This is a fundamental question that I believe that we
must all determine in our hearts and minds whether we are of igbo,
yoruba, hausa/fulani or ijaw stock or anything else. For the purposes
of clarification the debate that has been raging in the land for the
last two months, though sparked off by Fashola's relocations, was more
about the curious claim that Lagos state was ''no man's land'' which the
igbo jointly own with the yoruba and which they had developed, and are
indeed still developing, with their money and nothing else. It was that
assertion, and not the plight of a handful of igbo destitues, that many
of us from west of the River Niger took issue with. Fashola and others
have said publicly that it is ''absurd'' and ''insulting'' for anyone
to call Lagos state ''no-man's land'' and that is good enough for me. As
long as he did not apologise for saying that I have no problem with
whatever he may or may not have said about the deportations even though,
had I been governor, I would have handled it differently. The truth is
that the yoruba way is to apologize not only when you are wrong but also
when you are right if you believe that the other party has been badly
hurt by your actions. It is a generous and kind disposition which is
borne out of the yoruba concept of the ''omoluwabi spirit''- a good
heart and a clean spirit that desires, above all else, peace, joy and
harmony. Yet to those from outside yorubaland that do not share that
disposition, that do not understand that spirit and that cannot even
begin to comprehend it, an apology is nothing less than an admission of
guilt and wrong- doing and a trophy of triumph to those whom it is
offered. It is for this reason that I believe that it was wrong for
Fashola to apologise and that it is important for us to consider the
long term implications of what he has done. The truth is that in life
perception counts for everything. And rightly or wrongly the perception
that most people have, particularly amongst the igbo, is that Fashola
has indeed apologised for the deportations. This perception is supported
by misleading newspaper headlines which were drafted and written by
journalists who did not bother to read the text or properly decipher the
statement. Whether anyone likes it or not this latest development is
viewed as a great triumph for the hardline igbo nationalists and the
Governor Peter Obi's of this world who honestly believe that the igbo
have some kind of special rights or special status in Lagos and indeed
in yorubaland. They say and do things in Lagos and other parts of the
west that they dare not do in the north and that they will never allow
our people to do in the east. This is because they fear the northerners
who have often put them in their place when they cross the line but they
have nothing but contempt for us. Fashola has now given those within
the igbo community that have this mindset far more legitimacy, strength
and confidence. In any case now that dishing out apologies is the order
of the day and he has set the precedent, the question has to be asked-
will Peter Obi take a cue from that, be a gentleman and apologise for
deporting the people of Akwa Ibom from his Anambra state as well? Is Obi
that reasonable or charitable? Do those that think like him believe
trhat what is good for the goose is good for the gander? I doubt it very
much. Again will Fashola apologise to the numerous northerners that he
deported from Lagos as well and will he apologise to his yoruba kith and
kin from Oyo and Osun for deporting them too? I really do wonder how
far this new-found large-heartedness and seasonal expression of regrets
will go? Will it be spread everywhere or is it exclusively reserved for
the igbo? More importantly, in the spirit of this new rapprochement,
will Fashola secretly conceede portions of Lagos state and yorubaland to
them as well? Will he take my dear egbon and former cabinet colleague,
Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe's counsel, and wholeheartedly accept the
interesting notion that the igbo have ''married all our daughters'' in
idungaran and isale-eko and that we should therefore give all our land
and territory to them? Will he give up the patrimony of his people all
in the name of trying to appease the igbo and get their votes for the
APC in the upcoming governorship election in Anambra state? If that is
the plan I doubt that it will work because they are a pretty unforgiving
lot. The more you give the more they will ask for and at the end of the
day you will end up losing far more than you gain. Governor Chris
Ngige, who is an amiable gentleman and one of the most decent,
accomodating, liberal, detribalised and civilised people that I know
from the east, will gain nothing from this and sadly the person that
will gain from it will be the hardline, igbocentric Peter Obi and his
APGA candidate in november's gubernatorial election in Anambra state.
People like Fashola need to undersatand that sometimes in trying to play
the generous statesman and the kind-hearted omoluwabi we end up being
taken for granted and making fools of ourselves. You only apologise to
those who will appreciate it, who do not necessarily see it as an
admission of guilt and who will not misconstrue it as weakness. This is
because the display of weakness by any leader, no matter how well-liked,
only attracts impudence and aggression from those who have a hidden
agenda. A word is enough for the wise.
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