Leadership has been defined as a process through which a person influences and motivates others to get involved in accomplishment of a particular task.
Therefore there should be two forces. The leader and the led. The leader should be able to convince the other to achieve things without much coercion or force. There must be an intrinsic willingness to follow without a presence or cosmetic intention to do so. With this definition at the back of our minds we then try to juxtapose this to political leadership.
A political leader, or a politician, can be anyone who has taken up the responsibility of leading a tribe, city, state, region or even an entire nation. History has given us a plethora of political leaders, both good and bad, who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of their countries and the people living in the country. Political leaders are not just people who govern nations during peace times but also during times of crisis. They are people who are responsible for making and implementing strategies and policies meant to better serve the interests of the country they govern.
Barack Hussein Obama II is a politician from the United States, who went on to become the 44th President of the country in 2008 and is considered to be an iconic figure in world politics for becoming the first African-American person to become the US President.
He said and I quote, ‘’
Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. He also said If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.
The thoughts here is that we must be the change we want and life is change itself. There’s no harm in trying a progressive positive change that we need.
This is also seen in a man celebrated the world over up on till now. He was a good leader of every generation.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born an ordinary boy with a determination to excel at what he did. After completing law from London, he became the most important part of the Indian freedom struggle against the colonial rule. His policy of non-violence and protest through civil disobedience eventually succeeded when he led his country to freedom in 1947. His main characteristics were resilience, knowledge, people-skills, motivational approach and leading by example.
Julius Caesar
Easily one of the greatest military leaders of all time, Caesar was also one of the best political leaders the world has ever seen. He led several campaigns with numerous victories and was single handedly responsible for the expansion of the Roman Empire. He was also responsible for reforming the Roman government and thus laying the foundation to a great empire. His greatest traits were his decisiveness, boldness, eagerness, motivation, opportunism and strategic planning.
Fidel Castro
Castro was the leader of the Cuban Revolution and later went to become the Prime Minister of Cuba. He also became the President of Cuba from 1976 to 2008. He endured many crisis, invasions and assassination attempts and took them in the stride. His vision for Cuba still stands and he has proved to be an effective leader and commander. His traits of courage, strategy, hiring the right people and dissemination of duties made him the leader he was.
Winston Churchill
Prime Minister of Britain from 1940 to 1945, Churchill led Great Britain against the Nazi Germany during the World War II. He teamed up with allies and consequently led to the defeat and downfall of Hitler. His tenure as the British Prime Minister was in a time of fear and destruction caused by Hitler and his allies. Churchill was known for his fearlessness, determination, unyielding perseverance and undying devotion to his goal.
I had to consider these leaders and tried to bring out what traits or qualities or characteristics that made them outstanding during their times.
For Ghandi, his main characteristics were resilience, knowledge, people-skills, motivational approach and leading by example;
What made Washington great was his foresight, vision, strategic planning and his ability to lead people to success;
For Mandela His main characteristics were his determination, persistence, focus and will.
For Julius Caesar he was apart from other achievements responsible for reforming the Roman government and thus laying the foundation to a great empire. His greatest traits were his decisiveness, boldness, eagerness, motivation, opportunism and strategic planning.
WHO IS DISTINGUISHED SENATOR. PROF. IKE(OHA) EKWEREMMADU
Vanguard newspaper Nov 4 2010.
Governor Chime who is from Enugu West Senatorial constituency in seeming approval of Senator Ekweremadu’s representation said: “As his constituent I had no choice but to be here. I had no choice because he is doing well and if he were not doing well I like many others would not have been here,” Governor Chime said……….
Among the booty delivered by Ekweremadu to the people of Enugu West as disclosed in Udi were roads, appointments into federal offices, micro_credit grants, scholarships awards among others.
Senator Ekweremadu since his first tenure in the Senate between 2003 and 2007 used the Ikeoha Foundation as a vehicle to deliver democracy dividends.
According to Ben Nwoye the APC State Party Chairman Enugu State. Sun Newspapers 8 January 2020……….. Enugu Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr. Ben Nwoye, has lauded Ike Ekweremadu, former deputy senate president, for the developmental projects attracted to his constituency…… He said although they were of different political parties, it was important for politicians to emulate Ekweremadu’s strides as a politician……
Igwe Nwoye (the traditional ruler of Amauri) described Ekweremadu as a successful politician who had worked tirelessly to bring happiness to his people. (Also published in Africa Today News; New York January 8 2020.)
Dr. Njoku, a health and safety specialist, wrote from Dallas, Texas, USA.
GENERALLY, I rarely venture into Nigerian politics and its goings-on but three news stories in recent months that appeared in Thisday, National Mirror, and The Sun, titled “Ike Ekweremadu I Know,” caught my interest. The focus of the two stories was on the leadership and associated accomplishments of the Deputy President of Nigerian Senate Ike Ekweremadu. One of the news stories described the Deputy Senate President as “leadership personified”……. My approach to leadership is a combination of realism and idealism. Realism in the sense that leaders inevitably make mistakes, and idealism in the sense that politics should be subordinate to ethics, power to responsibility, and pragmatism to the demands of conscience. Most decisions made in all occupations involve value judgement, and value judgement may in some cases lead to ethical dilemmas……… In the case of Ekweremadu, I assume him to be not only leadership personified as described above but ethical even though I have not met him in person. The basis of my assumption is predicated on the consequences of several actions and decisions he has made in Enugu State. For example, 700 youths in Enugu State are now acquiring basic skills in information technology as a result of his efforts. In addition, through the efforts of Ekweremadu, more than 34 road and development projects have been completed or nearing completion in Enugu State, including the construction of a national youth development center. (Vanguard March 30 2014.).
Ekweremadu has the capacity to lead Nigeria – PDP
Daily Correspondence May 12 2017.
The Ahmed Makarfi led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed its belief in the leadership qualities of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; …….. We are indeed proud of his achievements as one of the pillars of the PDP, working with all the stakeholders to revive, rejuvenate and move the Party to greater heights. We believe in his leadership qualities and urge him to continue with his services to humanity.
Ekweremadu, Author of the Doctrine of Necessity,……. However, what is clearly known was that a certain Senator Ike Ekweremadu from Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, who was also the Deputy President of the Senate of Federal Republic of Nigeria, was the first to draw the attention of his colleagues to the constitutional aberration of President Yar’Adua’s prolonged absence from his duty post without notifying the National Assembly and handing over power to his vice in acting capacity….Senator Bala Mohammed, one of the prime promoters of the Doctrine of Necessity, which birthed the Jonathan acting presidency, would reveal Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the author of the Doctrine of Necessity…… I have decided to celebrate him less for the love, faithfulness, truthfulness, fidelity, kindness, warmth and generosity that define my personal relationship with him. I shall instead focus on his accomplishments in public-spirited service to the Nigerian people.
As a lawyer, legal scholar, administrator, politician and parliamentarian who has served Nigeria in various capacities, from local government chairman of his native Aninri Council to Chief of Staff and Secretary to Enugu State government before his election to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for a record fifth term beginning from 2003, Ekweremadu would be remembered more for his legacies of quality public service and much less for his good deeds to his family, friends and associates.
(Sun Newspapers 13 May 2020)
I can’t end this juxtaposition of great leadership qualities of the past great leaders with the inherent qualities of Ikeoha N’di Igbo cause the characters and traits of this great, good leader has finished, No! he’s like a river that do not have a beginning and or ending. Comparing the characteristics and traits that made up those great leaders above with the former DSP one will say……..That’s the man IKEOHA N’ILE EKWEREMADU.