Pat Utomi: Ochichi Na Odimma Igbo

Of Leaders and Leadership

Recently, a very good friend of mine, a scholar and director of a center for African leadership and development in an African university, inboxed my Facebook asking me to "couple up some words of wisdom on leadership [for him]--just half a page?--before the end of today." Oh my! Then he added for an emphasis a request for an African twist. "As usual, please pepper it with your ilu Igbo [Igbo proverb]."Here's what I "coupled up" for him:

Good leadership is the heart of any functional human establishment. It is, according to a Somalian proverb, like a good head that is the key to a healthy body; the vision, without which a people perishes (Proverbs 29:18).  The renowned Nigerian novelist and critic, Chinua Achebe, blamed the decaying state of his own people, Nigeria, on bad leadership. “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership,” he categorically declared.

The question of leadership has occupied humanity for millennia. From ancient histories to contemporary times, sages, philosophers, and social scientists have grappled with it. Theories abound in an attempt to distill its essence. Some anchor it on a leader’s traits, behavior, or style, while others situate it on the leader’s environment, management skills, or relationship with others. The different theories imply a nuanced understanding based on context and personality.