Idris Wada: Lessons of Leadership in Kogi

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Let us face it; Kogi state has waded in great agony through what qualifies as the worst epoch in its history because of failures of leadership and followership. Virtually everything of importance that our state touched in the past was in the dark, yielding rancour, hostility, poverty, conflict and bloodletting. But the Captain Idris Wada administration brought hope to the people of the state.

He ran an open-door government that was transparent, prudent and accountable. The economy of the state was in dire strait occasioned by the downturn in the nation’s economy. Wada, however, promised that though the challenges are surmountable, they do not require q uick-fix solutions, urging all Kogites to be patient.
He immediately embarked on strategic wealth creation initiatives and provisions of jobs for all, meaningful peace building platforms aimed at political/social stability, agriculture reforms and industrialization, relevant health and educational policies and a transformed environment through massive urban renewal projects.

These bases formed the thrust of the development policy of the Wada administration. The Wada administration did not carry the baggage of an accidental government like the incumbent. Thus, the Wada administration was prepared for the job.

Universally, leadership critical in the state building process and it should be understood in two important ways. First, the Wada administration understood that there should be the personal qualities of vision, integrity, honesty, commitment and competence of individual leaders at the top. Second, they also understand that there are collective qualities of common vision, focus, and the desire for the development of the elite as a whole. Indeed, the pattern and standards for recruitment and the performance of our individual leaders over the years have left much to be desired.

Wada believed that Kogi needs a leader who would not allow a small fire to become a large fire, but a leader with cognitive consistency to differentiate between symmetric warfare and asymmetric warfare. That is the type of leadership that Wada introduced. But beyond the qualities of individual leaders, however, there is the equally important question of the quality of the collective leadership offered by the Kogi elite.

The fact is that Kogites recognise good leadership when they see one. Nevertheless, followership must key into the necessary obligation of patriotism, dedication and hard work. This is because of the strong nexus between followership and leadership. Wada believes that leaders cannot lead without well mobilized and politically conscious followers, nor can followers follow without being led.

Wada demonstrated that when a Kogi leader by words and deeds, is able to convince a large section of the Kogi elite and the wider public about a vision for a greater tomorrow, then Kogi will truly be on its way to greatness. While our experiences in the past have been disappointing; today we have every reason to believe that the future of Kogi is likely to be better.

The building of a common citizenship has been an important aspect of our state building efforts. Wada reasons that we can’t have a common citizenship when the person in Idah has a radically different quality of life from the person in Kabba? Or when the woman in Lokoja is more likely to die in childbirth than the woman in Ankpa? Through the development of the economy of Kogi and the equal opportunities to all, or through the development of social welfare safety nets, an egalitarian state establishes a baseline of social and economic rights for all members of the state.

Wada shares in this philosophy because the absence of equal socio-economic rights implies marginalization of the people.

In Kogi, not only are many of our people denied basic rights such as access to education and good health, there is also serious variations in the enjoyment of these right across the state Wada administration understood the effects of these inequalities and formulated policies to reverse this ugly trend. The administration entered into a social contract with the people, which was essentially to meet the needs of the disadvantaged in society. Rather than resort to the divisive politics of indigenes against settlers as a means of accessing resources, a generalised commitment to social citizenship will create a civic structure of rights that will unite people around shared rights and goals.

The Wada administration believed that poverty and state building are strange bed fellows, irrespective of whether the poor are 20 percent or 85 percent of the population.

A marginalized citizenry increasingly crippled by poverty and the lack of basic needs can hardly be expected to play its proper role in the development of the state. States are built by healthy and skilled citizens. On ground of both equity and efficiency, we need to promote the access of the bulk of the Kogi population to basic education, health and housing. Kogi state needs a social contract today with its people as a basis for demanding their loyalty and support.

– Musa W. Itodo wrote from Abuja


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