-
Plato’s Idea Of ‘philosopher King’ And Nigerian Leadership Crisis
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 5]
Page 5 of 5
-
-
-
LEADERSHIP
Should
our society be without leaders? If such were to be possible, then chaos
and anarchy would ensue, resulting into nothing less than the Hobbesian
state of nature. In view of this, ‘a scrupulous leader’ must man our
society with a proven moral integrity for the full self-actualisation of
man in the same society. Now the question is, who is a leader?
From the point of view of etymology, the term ‘leader’ stems from the
Greek word “proagw†(proagoo) meaning ‘ I lead forth’ or ‘ I go
before’, and the Latin common noun “dux†–leader.
Various authors have attempted a definition of this word in different ways. According to Julius Gould William,
Leadership
denotes the occupying of a statue and the active performance of a role
that mobilizes more or less organized, collective and voluntary effort
towards the attainment of a shared goal and objective.[10]
This
implies that the activity of a leader should be directed towards
attainment of something greater. To buttress this, Sumbye Kapena in his
book “How To Be A Wise Leaderâ€, asserts:
Leadership is the process of
directing the behaviour of another person or persons towards the
accomplishment of some objective. This leadership is exercised whenever a
person influences the behaviour of another person or a group of people
towards achieving an objective. [11]
Generally, leadership
could be seen as directing, mobilizing and controlling the activities of
a group of people with a common interest. It is the pathfinder of the
people or society.
Leadership could be associated with any
organized group, ranging from family, peer group, social and religious
organization, state and country. And the crux of its problem centres
substantially upon the soundness of the leader’s goal, purpose and aim.
In human society, leadership is a polyglot process involving ‘knowing
the way, showing the way, and going the way’. [12] We can see that it
involves one in toto. Such is the case because, “one essential demand
of leadership is to be like a waste-paper basket, a dustbin where all
dirt and rubbish are heaped.â€[13]
Leadership does not mean wealth,
great education or position, says J. Keller. Rather, it means
initiative, willingness to serve, and an idealism rooted in divine
Truth.
[1] C. Achebe, The Trouble With Nigeria, Nigeria: Forth Dimension Publishers, 1998, p.1.
[2] A. Oyebola, Blackman’s Dilemma, Lagos: Board Publications 1976,p.110.
[3] C. Achebe, Op Cit., p.1.
[4] C. K. Ekeke, Nigeria world Feature Articles-‘Nigeria still crawling at 45- the urgency for National core values’
[5] J. Okpe, “Rusty Symbols Of Nationhood After 40 Years†in Lumen Vol 4 No 4, April 2001-March 2002,p. 19.
[6] C. O., Ojukwu, The Ahiara Declaration, Geneva: Marl Press 1969,p.30.
[7] Early Greek Lecture Notes By Amedatur: Igwemmar, D.C.O.
[8] C. B. Okolo, Philosophy And Nigerian Politics, Uruowulu - Obosi: Pacific Collage Press, 1985,P.1.
[9] Development, Issue32 Fourth Quarter, 2005, p.8.
[10] J. G.W. Kolb, (ed.) A Dictionary of the Social Sciences: New York Free Press, 1965, p.380.
[11] S. Kapena, How to Be a Wise Leader; Paulines Publication Africa, 2000,p.13.
[12] J. Keller, How To Be A Leader, New York: Christopher Books, 1962, p.2.
[13] C. O., Ojukwu, Because I Am Involved, Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 1989, p.172.
[14] J. Keller, Op. Cit., 1962,p.3.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 5]
Page 5 of 5
-
