By: Stephen Ozi-Salawu, JP Consulting Community Mobilization Specialist/Public Affairs Commentator
The 2023 off-cycle governorship election in Kogi State has come and gone, but one major highlight of the governorship poll was the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Alhaji Ododo Ahmed Usman (OAU) who was returned as duly elected in the keenly contested election, adjudged to be free, fair and credible by close political observers.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared candidate Ododo the winner, having polled 446,237 votes to defeat the Social Democratic Party candidate, Muri Ajaka who scored 259,052 and Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party, who scored 46,362 votes, respectively.
The just-concluded governorship election saw a new narrative of how votes were cast noting that no ethnic section can all on its own win election without cutting across the three senatorial districts of the state.
The victory of the APC candidate was an emphatic expression of Kogi Agenda as against sectional ethnic agenda. Although both Ajaka and Melaye had rejected the outcome of the result, a reputable election observer group, YIAGA AFRICA, which deployed observers and the Process and Results Verification for Transparency methodology to observe the election, said the outcome of the poll truly reflected what transpired at the polling units.
Majority of other Opposition parties in Kogi State have commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its adherence to electoral guidelines, declaring the recently conducted governorship election as free, fair, and credible.
Prior to the APC primaries in the state, Ododo, who is the Auditor-General of the state, was not in reckoning or favorite at winning the ticket among other heavy weight contestants, including, Senator Smart Adeyemi, Deputy Governor Edward Onoja and the likes of Shaibu Abubakar Audu, Stephen Ocheni, Sanusi Ohiare, ex-Finance Commissioner, Ashiru Idris, Okala Yakubu, Abdulkareem Asuku (Chief of Staff), and Accountant-General Momoh Jibrin, among others.
It is noteworthy that overwhelming number of those contestants are Governor Bello’s kitchen cabinet members, however, Ododo turned out to be the preferred and anointed candidate of the outgoing governor of the state, Yahaya Bello.The triumph of APC candidate Ododo at the governorship polls has thrown up the question of political leadership and management of electoral victory.
What is leadership? Leadership is the ability of an individual to lead, inspire and guide to transform other individuals, groups, organizations or society for a good cause. It was Peter Drucker, who propounded that “Leadership is doing the right things, while management is doing things right.”A political leader is a public servant who works for the betterment of the society. Hence it is important as citizens, to elect the right leader having the integrity and willingness to stand up for what is right and who can create transformation.
Citizens should elect leaders considering their ability and capability to make a difference and add value to the society. Around the world, there are many aspiring political leaders but unfortunately, there are few leaders who live up to the ethics and principles of leadership. It was the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt who posits that, “The future lies with those wise political leaders who realize that the great public is interested more in Government than in Politics.
”What does it take to be a good political leader? A good political leader is one who is capable to take decisions, determined to work for the betterment of the people, has the willingness to manage & rectify issues and importantly stand up for what is right. A political leader should not be worried about his/her position, power and authority. He should always work for the growth of the society and should value his citizens.
Every political leader should inherit the skills and research capabilities to think and act towards future growth. A successful leader should have five major virtues: Discipline, Trustworthiness, Courage, Humaneness, and Intelligence.In Nigeria, most of our political leaders lack the basic and important leadership qualities such as accountability, transparency, availability and integrity. Some of these leaders even indulge in corruption and other illegal activities. In the present generation the word “political leaders” has a negative opinion on the citizens, which is not a surprise.
However, the present developments show us that the upcoming young leaders are gradually imbibing expected leadership ideals. We are seeing some positive renewed hope in Kogi politics as exemplified by GYB and his anointed successor, Ododo Ahmed Usman (OAU), which is welcoming.
Having responsible politicians in the governing body is important as they are the decision makers, having the power to manage and distribute economic resources, build relationships with stakeholders and make decisions that can have a great impact on the well-being of Kogi State.
As responsible citizens we expect our newly elected Governor to focus more on long-term plans for the wellness of the State than the short-term plans. Responsibility is one other most important leadership qualities. A leader who is honest, accountable and takes responsibility for his/her own decisions and actions has the quality to become a great leader.
Most political leaders point fingers at other leaders rather than taking the responsibility upon themselves. The incoming Ododo administration should from the onset, know that not all civil servants admire strong political leadership, but if you want to change things for the better, you however, need strong political leadership. For His Excellency, OAU to rise up to the task ahead, he must be capable of making tough and brave decisions for a better future of Kogites and should have the courage to stand up and say what needs to be said rather than just tell what people like.
He should work for people’s well-being and must listen to the people and represent them faithfully. In any society, leadership is instrumental for social change. Overcoming social problems or modernizing and abolishing social norms has been impossible without the right kind of leadership.
Therefore, Ododo’s era should work for goodness of society, respect the people’s voice, create a positive and happy society, and keep the people motivated and inspired while focusing on performance. He should visualize the people’s needs from different angles and plan things accordingly to enable proper distribution of development and ensure productive results. However, a particularly important leadership quality is vision, along with the power to implement that vision. All these attributes and more are what make voters in an election, prefer a certain type of politician based on personality traits whether a leader will act in their interest and represent them well.
A candidate’s personality traits can therefore be used as a short-cut by voters to assess what candidates are going to do during their term in office. Kogi voters couldn’t have made the mistake of voting massively for Ododo but for his displayed personality to carry out leadership duties with exceptional traits that distinguished him from the other candidates. He displayed traits endowed with skills, not only to lead, but also to work effectively with the public and stay in touch with the people and not be isolated away in their ‘palace’.
Ultimately, voters expect from their elected appointees to reliably implement their manifestos and pre-election promises with a degree of strength and assertiveness to be hard-working, dutiful, self–disciplined, and display of high-quality leader characteristics.
Having gotten the winning votes, OAU should exhibit the qualities of effective leadership, which include; courage, strength, and ability to communicate effectively, knowledge, judgment, integrity, and interpersonal skills. Our new Excellency in Lugard House should also display social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, thinking before speaking, and display of apparent sincerity.
For leadership to be effective, the helmsman must possess self-awareness to garner credibility, have focus on relationship building, have a bias for action through exhibition of humility and above all else, empower your team to deliver on promises by presenting yourself as constant and consistent. Now that political leadership of Kogi State has been thrust on the shoulders of governor-elect, OAU, thanks to his benefactor and political mentor, the outgoing governor, GYB, has severally identified the qualities that endeared him to supporting OAU for the exalted position, among which are his honesty and integrity that make for a strong leader. Governor Yahaya Bello, himself a man who excel at holding to his principles and convictions of intents and vision, never hesitated to anoint OAU as his successor having identified in him as a man with a vision and purpose to accomplish the purpose of what is best for Kogi State based on sound judgment of the complexities of governing during times of uncertainty and change.
Having spent seven years plus with his political lieutenants, GYB has determined that OAU is the best man for the job. No doubt, some of the qualities GYB may have identified in OAU include the fact that he is said to possess the qualities and characteristics of a relationship builder with the greater community. OAU is said to be a team player and open minded about the position of others without dominating the flow of information or ideas.
He is also said to be emotionally mature to make decisions in the best interests of the governed with ability to withstand criticism. Another plus going for the Governor-elect is his disposition to being approachable by listening carefully to others with a desire to understand concerns, ideas, and perspectives.
It is no wonder that close associates describes him as a critical thinker who is disposed to considering the potential impact of decisions, coupled with his indisputable financial acumen with ability to evaluate budgets and financial statements to comprehend the long-term taxation and budget consequences of financial proposals and decisions.
Nonetheless, OAU, having served under the tutelage of his mentor and benefactor GYB, is coming prepared mentally to make decisions and committed to doing his job of governance with vital positive attributes, characteristics, and qualities that contribute to the short-term and long-term wellbeing of Kogi State into the future.
From the foregoing, OAU can be said to possess the characteristics of a leader, including character, charisma, commitment, communication, competence, courage, discernment, focus, generosity, initiative, listening, passion, positive attitude, problem solving, relationships, responsibility, security, self-discipline, servant-hood, vision, integrity, self-awareness, courage, respect, empathy, and gratitude. Similarly, Kogi citizens expect OAU and his team to be reliable, predictable, trustworthy, and to not engage in fraud or corruption.
Our new Sheriff in Lugard House need to have a lot of information, knowledge, and a high intellectual capacity to process available information, coupled with higher levels of intellect, imagination, and openness to ideas and available options to enable him choose the best.
Kogi citizens have no doubt, elected OAU as their Governor for the next four years with the responsibility of providing leadership to make the difference that citizens are looking for. For Governor Yahaya Bello, he is a hero treading where Generals could not by anointing his favorite candidate as the next landlord of Luggard House.
A recurring pitfall OAU should avoid is to be careful with people and wise enough not to allow spoilers pour ‘sand-sand” into his brotherly relationship with his benefactor and predecessor. The Governor-elect should be loyal to the people he represents and also be loyal to other leaders so that they can work together and face problems together to achieve the greatest good for the general public.
Ododo and his coming team should resist themselves from various temptations of the political arena and be humble and down to earth, with the hind consideration that he is just a leader and not owner of the people he represents.
The Governor-Elect, His Excellency, Alhaji Ododo Ahmed Usman (OAU), should extend a hand of fellowship to all political parties involved in the election in the spirit of Kogi Agenda, as building Kogi State of our dream is a collective responsibility. Kogi, the Confluence State, Go-Better!!!
By: Stephen Ozi-Salawu, JP Consulting Community Mobilization Specialist & Public Affairs Commentator