The Rt. Rev’d Festus Oyetola Sobanke is the Bishop of Omu-Aran Diocese, Ecclesiastical Province of Kwara, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion. He talks on the challenges of Nigeria and the solutions during the third session of the fourth synod of the diocese at the Cathedral of St. Paul, Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government of Kwara State. Uzo Nwogu captured it. Excepts:
Considering the current situation of Nigeria, how can the nation be transformed?
We can not run a transformation agenda without a transformation leader. The need of the moment for our nation is for leaders with the fear of God, leaders with Godly idealism, one with standards and convictions, with a tendency towards the leader, a strategist, and an alchemist, who will transform our arid waster into a blooming garden of pure delight.
In Bible terms, the search is for a servant leader who will combine in one, the multiple and varied roles of a shepherd, steward, seer, and servant. Such a leader will come, not with titles, honours, and accolades, but with service and sacrifice.
Nigeria’s recent history raised hard questions on the issue of political leadership. Here is a nation with vast, enormous, and indeed awesome potential for growth and development and a surface of human, material, and natural resources.
In the days of the attainment of national independence, Nigeria had some of the best leaders any nation could have. These were the titans – the great Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and the resources Sarduana of Sokoto, – men with empires in their minds, whose far-sighted vision excited our fathers and forbears.
Today, the picture that emerged is unflattering. The summary of Chinua Achebe (1983) is most apt here: There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigeria problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of time leadership.
What is the problem with Nigeria?
I am saying Nigeria can change today if she discovers leaders who have the will, the ability, the vision, and the fear of God.
The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.
Our theme for this fourth synod: ‘Raising Godly leaders: A necessity for our generation,’ is aimed at appealing to our leaders that they should remember God!
What is your charge to the political class?
Our dear President, Vice President, lawmakers, governors, ministers, and commissioners, heads of government establishments and parastatals, cabinet leaders, and all political stakeholders, let me make it loud and clear, Nigerians are suffering and Nigerians are wallowing in poverty. This nation is sinking. I know I am not saying anything new but I am doing it for the sake of emphasis and to trouble your conscience. You have not been fair to this nation.’
What more can we say, we have moved from worse to worst. You have made people to call God a liar. You have refused to allow our prayers to be answered by your selfishness and insincerity.
Crime has increased very rapidly in this nation. Kidnapping has become the order of the day, tribalism and nepotism are ruling our decisions, our roads are bad and fast becoming death traps, electricity in this nation is an apology. Nigerians are in pain. We entrusted our votes into your hands, even if some of us had done it based on what you gave, all the same, we trusted you to lead us aright but you have failed us. We can not continue to celebrate failure. You have betrayed our trust and you backstabbed the church of God.
In Nigeria today, being a Christian is a thing to dread. You are almost not safe for being a Christian in this nation. Go to North, see hundreds of attacks on the churches. In the eat, it is gradually coming up and our experiences in the South West are not palatable. Who has bewitched this nation? Where have we missed it? Who are the troublers of our Israel?
What has happened to employment schemes? Several times I weep for this nation, but weeping is not solving anything. Doctors went on strike, and people die on daily basis. It is time to think and act. For how long shall we continue in this? This nation is blessed but we have mostly ungodly leaders. And when someone is ungodly, you expect the worst.
Let me commend the few ones who have the fear of God in office. May your days be long and God bless your efforts. Please speak out among them, be bold, death is never the end.
Could you advise Nigerians?
My dear people of God, we are praying and God is hearing but the hour has come, the time has come for us to stand up and take the bull by the horn. If you don’t have a voter’s card, please go and get yours.
Our votes will count this time but you must be all out to vote. Let us vote out those who are perpetrating evil and giving unrest to this nation. We know them, they are ungodly leaders. They allowed killings and bloodshed. These are not signs of democracy, neither are they signs of godliness. They are signs of darkness. Please join in this campaign. Don’t let us miss it again. The N1000 given to us during the election did not solve anything. We have a long list of youths seeking employment and we are not seeing the jobs coming. Please let us do our best to save this nation, vote for the right persons.
Can political leaders be called by God?
Secular leaders must be called by God if they are actually godly leaders. How can you just surface from nowhere and say you want to lead the people created by God, without God’s backing? That is the result of what we are experiencing today. Because you have been a good service boy on errands for politicians, now it is your turn to lead. What an amazing way of becoming a leader? Or perhaps, he was a member of a different party or his father was very good in politics and needed to be compensated or perhaps, he had been contesting for this office long ago, let us allow him to lead. Is that a call to lead the people?
How many of our leaders today can sincerely say, come and see the situation this country is! But rather, they feed us with lies and unrealistic assurances, simply because they are not godly.
Only God knows how many times our soldiers have conquered the still existing and killing Boko haram sect! Only God knows how many times the Abacha government looted funds have been paid back into the government of this nation, yet we still go about borrowing and lending.
What do Godly leaders do?
Godly leaders always seek God’s vision even in difficult times. Prayer is the fundamental act for people of Godly leaders.
As much as the churches and Christian bodies pray for our leaders, but a larger percentage of our leaders are fetish and into idolatry especially when they want to go into offices All manners of rituals, killings, sacrifices, just because they want to lead in office or in-state, if such acquire the said office, do you think, their loyalty will be to the Almighty God? Absolutely no. That is why today our leaders now avoid church services and programmes because they know they don’t belong to God.
How can Nigeria now get Godly leaders?
If we have failed in raising leaders, the only situation is to go back to the drawing board and see what must be done to raise godly leaders. It amazes me when the leaders of this nation are arrogating the problem of this nation to the past government. I asked myself who were those in the past government? Are they not our senators and governors today? Were they not the governors and lawmakers yesterday? This is just to tell us that if we continue with these kind of leaders, who don’t fear God, this nation won’t succeed. In all sincerity, we need God-fearing leaders.
So what must be done to raise Godly leaders?
To raise godly leaders, you must embrace your role: Leaders are stewarding God’s gift. Selfishness must die. The building of mansions, estates, that will lie in waster after your departure on earth must stop. It is selfishness, having houses in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, even across seas, at the expense of our roads, employment, and feeding of the common man. This must stop. You are not of your own. You were called and entrusted with this office. Your role is not to make money. No, it is not! It is not all about money, money, money. The role is to lead and influence others positively. One day, I asked myself who is leading this nation? The government, the cabals, Boko haram, Fulani herdsmen, the Islamic sect or who? Because all the aforementioned are independent of the law of our land and not held responsible for their actions. Godly leaders must embrace their role. You have a mandate, you have a charge, you are not there accidentally. The scripture says, “Nobody gets a position except it is given from above.’
To raise godly leaders, tough decisions must be made: The doors of our churches and our pulpits have been opened to worldly leaders. They must be flushed out. Our country has been exposed to ungodly criminals in leadership positions, they must be removed, tough decisions must be made. But how do we flush them out and who does the flushing? I want to re-echo it again, if we must be liberated from this menace of ungodly leadership, you should be ready to do the needful, pray and fast and do not deceive yourself and then get your voter’s card and be ready to vote into office those who fear God. This country needs you not to save us. And for our churches, please cry to God, the owner of His church to save His church.
To raise godly leaders, we must lead by examples: One of the best ways to raise godly leaders is when you do lead by example. Peter said, “We are to follow in His steps.” 1 Peter 1:21. Christ led us by example. He was human. He wept. He fasted. He was hungry. He suffered trials. He was beaten. He suffered persecutions. He went through all that we are going through, today and still want us to follow in His steps. A godly leader knows that we do not do things for ourselves but for those who are following us. Anybody that is after self must not venture into a leadership position. Leadership is not to exploit or victimise. Leadership is not to rule or lord it over, and leadership is by example.
What are the qualities of a godly leader?
A godly leader must be disciplined. To raise a godly leader, you must be disciplined. One factor that will assist and encourage leadership is to be an example in the area of discipline. Paul said if eating meat will make me a bad leader, I will rather stop taking meat. Discipline is missing in our leaders today. An ideal leader must be able to discipline himself.
As the question of what makes a godly leader is pored over and examined further by business analysts, law enforcement, and educational institutions, new developments arise in leadership theory and methodology. The one thing that remains the same is the understanding that leadership is the catalyst under which all elements of an organisation work together.
What are the key elements of leadership?
Transparency: When leaders are transparent, they are challenged less by those they oversee. Godly leaders use transparency to help those around them embrace change which can be accomplished with a combination of communication, informed debate, shared decision making, and reaching a consensus. People should know why and how a leader has come to a decision and in what ways it will affect them. Transparent leaders are not micro-managers. They give credit to others when success occurs and take the blame for failures.
Trust: One of the core principles of leadership is trust. In the past, leadership was scare and special, a function of powerful people. In the modern-day, that vertical model of leadership is less effective. Today, success is attained by being able to collaborate with someone a leader has no power over in pursuit of common goals. In other words, a godly leader no longer trusts in power, but places in his faith in the power of trust. Additionally, a leader is a trustee in any relationship and in order to be effective, must be trustworthy as well as willing to take the risk of placing trust in the people around them.
Confidence: A godly leader embodies confidence. No one will follow a leader that is not self-assured, and people can see through a facade of confidence. A leader who can articulate their goals and stand by decisions is far more effective than someone trying to hide their insecurities behind a mask of arrogance. Even after failure, a godly leader is able to trust his gut and take on any decision. Confident leaders are generally happier, create a better relationships, remain open to risks, accept feedback, think for themselves, recognize success, and are more motivated.
Decisiveness: A godly leader weighs a decision carefully, but once they make up their mind, they are not easily put off course. This shows commitment, which breeds consistency. Both of which are traits that pay off well in leadership. Scott Hoffman, owner of Folio Literary Management, told Entreprenuer.com that he often looks back on advice he received from a mentor when learning how to officiate basketball games. “make the call fast, make the call loud, and don’t look back,” he said. He went on to note that many times, wrong decisions over trivial matters made in a decisive manner yield better long-term results and a strong team mentality than ‘wishy-washy’ decision that ends up being correct.
What are the other qualities of a godly leader?
Humility: This trait is important to keep leaders grounded and connected with the people around them. Being honest, having integrity and listening to your followers will only help gain their respect, which will pay off when it comes time to exercise decisiveness. The best leaders possess an open mind and flexibility, and are able to adjust to new ways of thinking or alternative methods when necessary. These leaders take criticism in stride and view it more as an opportunity for growth than an assault on their character. While it is true that everyone loves confidence, humility creates likable personnel, making others more comfortable with their position.
Creativity: Many decisions a leader will encounter will be unique to the business and will require more thought than simply throwing a canned solution at it. Teams will often look to a leader for innovative thinking, so being able to tap into previous experiences and a treasure chest of new ideas will pay off any leader. For Aubrey Marcus, founder of dietary supplement, company, Onnit, innovation is a key element of survival in the modern business world. ‘The innovators are our leaders. You can not separate the two,” Marcus said in the Entreprenuer.com interview.
While leadership styles may need to be tailored to suit specific situations and businesses, these seven traits can provide the tools necessary to steer an organisation down the path of success. Some people may be born leaders, but these are characteristics anyone can display with the right amount of determination and we will have God-fearing leaders.
What is the church doing on the war against drug addiction?
At the standing committee meeting of the Church of Nigeria in Lagos, which was held between, 20th and 24th September, The Church of Nigeria War Against Drug Abuse and other addition was launched. This body among other issues is to address and help us in fighting the menace of drug addiction which is destroying the destiny of our youth. Drug trafficking and drug addiction are becoming a monster affecting our nation. So many youths, both male and female have been exposed to this monster. They church actually commended the effort of. President on the appointment of Gen. Buba Maruwa as the leader of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency team and we also commend his (Buba Marwa) efforts so far but then in our local community, we have to step in.
Therefore the Church of Nigeria through our visionary leader. His Grace, The Most Rev. Henry Chukwudun Ndukuba, The Archbishop Metropolitan, and Primate of all Nigeria has joined in the campaign. It is our prayer that this monster will be defeated in Jesus’ name.