POLITICS! Nigerian Leaders, the Deficiency of Knowledge on Leadership and Accountability | Stephen Wise

It is germane to know and understand that leadership is an intrinsic value of human just as in other living animals but the different is that humans are endowed with special gift of intellect for reasoning and discernment, which made accountability to be espoused to the act of leadership. I am to write, using Nigeria as a case study, basing my article on my knowledge and experiences about leadership which is the number 1 problem that has kept Nigeria underdeveloped or developing. Every reasonable Nigerian will agree with me that right from the creation of Nigeria as a country she never experienced good leadership, and accountability has been zero in Nigeria. Even her colonial masters colonized and managed the country on the ground of the opposite of accountability. Let’s proceed to the definition of terms.

What is Leadership?

Etimologically, Leadership is as old as the hills but the actual etymology of the word is modern – the first known use of it dates back to 1821 when leader was combined with the suffix “ship” denoting position (as in the position of a leader). The word leader has an older pedigree – from the Old English lædere, “one who leads”, agent noun from lædan,” to guide, bring forth”. The closest word in antiquity relating to leadership is the Latin word ducere “to lead, consider, regard” and interestingly in modern Romanian language the word for leading and leadership is conducere.

Looking into the When one studies the etymology of the word lead, leader and leadership and its ancient relative Ducere, one can begin to appreciate why there is so much complexity and variance in our modern understanding of what leaders do and what leadership is.

Accountability:

it’s quite unfortunate that often times when we talk about the ACCOUNTABILITY some peoples mind runs to things regarding finance. Accountability according to Merriam Webster’s, is simply the quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or account for one’s actions

Now, for the purpose of this article, I will be talking about accountability and leadership, in other words, how accountability has been the big problem to the development of Nigeria. And Nigerian.

Accountability in leadership:

let’s talk about the slogan “The Buck Stops Here” which informally simplified that the responsibility for something cannot or should not be passed to someone else. "in the past you could spread the blame, but now the buck stops here". For those of you who love history, you may have known about the phrase "The buck stops here" - "The buck stops here" is a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office. The phrase refers to the notion that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions. 

in Nigerian society, if this slogan “The Buck Stops Here” should be accepted and personalize by every leader, Nigeria will be a better place to live in.

without accountability, even the most brilliant, hardworking, well-intentioned leader fail- they fail to meet their performance goals, they fail to develop their countries and teams, fail to see and hire top talent, they fail to effect their manifestoes, they fail to coach their employees, they fail to communicate clearly, not only that they fail to optimize performance, but they fail they entire system. Effective leadership requires real accountability.

Therefore, accountability in leadership entails that a leader should take personal responsibility and be willing to answer for the outcomes of their choices, their behaviors and their actions in all situations in which they are involved.

The problems:

Since I grew to maturity, Nigeria as a country never enjoyed accountable leader. It has been the leadership of “if you can’t beat them, you join them”. Or what Sen. Dino Melaye called “Government of the greedy, by the greedy, and for the greedy. Why? Because of:

1.     The Blame methodology: Accountable leaders do not blame others or predecessors when things go topsy-turvy. Rather, they make things right –they become fixers instead of blamers and complainants. Take for example what is happening in the present regime of APC government, they never seize to blame their predecessors. Accountable leaders should build and accurate understanding of their organization- where it excels and where it has opportunities. They step up standards to champion opportunities to succeed. They ask questions and find best answers.

2.    Individualism:  this is all about taking care of yourself; it’s the belief and practice that every person is unique and self-reliant. Individualism also implies that you believe that the government should bud out of your individual affairs. This problem was made manifest during the reign of Rochas Okorocha, as the gov. of Imo State 2015-2019. Accountability in leadership goes beyond individual actions and decisions. Accountable leaders assume ownership of the performance of their team and the society-just like Truman assumed accountability for the performance of his administration. Remember, “the buck stops here”.

3.    Lack of Honesty in Leadership: accountability in leadership starts with honest. But it’s unfortunate that some of our leaders in Nigeria bloody liars. They never told themselves truth let alone telling the masses. Often, accountability in leadership requires setting aside personal pride, admitting faults and mistakes, and completely being honest with yourself. Honest leaders become accountable by viewing their own role in the situation and devising reasonable solutions to resolve issues, conflict, and challenges in an authentic and genuine fashion. Honesty in leadership has cost Nigeria and Nigerians development since inception.

4.    Lack of Continuity: This simply means the unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over time. I mean the unbroken projects, the abandoning of ongoing project just because you are not the person that started it. Since you are not the initiator therefore it is bad so no need to continue from where Okafor stopped. This idea alone could bring a country back to zero in terms of development. And it is quite visible in the leadership of Nigeria. Successors do not like to continue the projects started by predecessors. So the era any accountable leader dares to start or continue from there the past era stopped in order to enhance growth.

5.    Avoidance of responsibilities: are you the type of leader who always run away from responsibility? Remember, “the buck stops here” works very well by personalizing this phrase. In accountable leadership, leaders do not avoid responsibility, they do not procrastinate, and they do not under and over commit they know when to say no and when to ask for more. Accountable leader does not hold firm to godfathers. Before agreeing to new tasks, new deliverable, new to-do’s, they review their schedule and know whether they have physical time required to complete the work on time and with quality. If unsure, they simply say no to the task and yes to the person asking for the commitment. It is in this manner that accountable leaders provide their own insurance won’t let promised projects go undone.

Conclusion:

Remember, from the first paragraph of this article to the last has been all about Leadership and Accountability being The Big Challenge to Nigerian Development. I have defined necessary terms here, explained the subject matter and I have outlined some of the problems that could be evident in any leadership that lacks accountability, not only in Nigeria but other countries of the world. Not only in a country, but in any organization and institution; accountability is a “sino qua non” when it comes to good leadership. Although, developing accountability could be challenging to some leaders, but that doesn’t negate the fact that accountability in leadership builds trust within countries and teams, creates respect between leaders and their subjects. It is all about the near-wins, not the wins. Accountability is all