By Lateef Giwa

Just as it’s been described, “Leadership is the ability to influence, inspire, and guide individuals or teams toward achieving a shared goal. It involves setting a clear vision, fostering collaboration, and driving innovation. Effective leaders enhance performance by fostering trust, developing others’ potential, and adapting to change, often empowering teams to achieve more than they could alone. Leadership is defined by 3 outcomes — direction, alignment, and commitment — and it’s a social process, where individuals work together to produce results that they could never achieve alone. Arrows all pointing in one direction, toward a shared understanding of the meaning of leadership and a research-based definition of leadership as social process.

To put more succinctly, leadership is often described by what a leader does or the capabilities they have. Yet, while the skills and behaviors of individual leaders are important, the true meaning of leadership is all about what people do together. Said in another way, everyone in an organization contributes to leadership. When people think of leadership or leaders, they often think of one person in a positional role of responsibility. Based on our decades of pioneering research and experience, leadership is a social process that enables individuals to work together to achieve results that they could never achieve working alone, regardless of position.”

Today in our present society, the State of our infrastructures, justice system, electoral system, religion, parenting, educational system, business, social life, security and intelligence, are all products of leadership that we set. Many cry of blue murder when its comes to judicial outcomes- often attached to miscarriage of justice. Electoral malfeasance is a common place during the conduct of elections. And again, infrastructures are built so as to lay solid foundations for today and the future to come. Social life- our mode of dressing, interaction and relationship with one another, the purpose of humanity and our existence, how will unwind, our emotional and adversity quotients, compassion, kindness, fellow feelings, empathy, aversion to corruption, are ways of leadership setting. In business, leadership is important- not defrauding customers or clients all in the name of maximizing profits, selling expired, substandard and adulterated products. It’s through leadership that pace is being set in business and other entrepreneurial endeavors. A business conglomerate with impressive patronage must have over the years built trust in its customers, and this is leadership in business.

As the only gateway to knowledge acquisition, leadership in education is essentially essential at all levels of education. In research and methodology, leadership is laid. In learning and in shaping character, leadership is bequeathed. Many higher institutions have lost the patronage as a result of poor or zero leadership. And in learning, leadership dictates the quality of the students. Because it is in this that discipline and character are embedded. Going by webometric ratings, the foremost universities in Nigeria must have cultivated the principle of sound leadership before being rated. Certificate racketeering is one of the ways in which academic leadership is considered. Some mushroom universities across the globe see this as a way of raking revenue- which is outrightly unacceptable.

Security and intelligence- leadership hierarchy in security architecture determines how potent and efficacious the safety of lives and property will be, and this should be the foremost priority of any serious government. A porous security system tells a lot about the leadership of those who manage it. The ability to gather/expiscate and withhold sensitive information connotes tight intelligence measures. Religious organizations and all other institutions like the the anti-graft agencies are certainly known for leadership building. The morals being taught in the religious organizations go a long in leaving a lasting impacts on the adherents. Leadership making plays pivotal role in many faith based organizations.

In Kwara, the administrative leadership of the State took an admirable twist in 2019- the O’to ge movement that liberated the state from the shackles and mannacles of political oppression, just as the people of like minds gathered together to liberate themselves from the age long political thraldom. This freedom did not just happen on a platter of gold- but the struggle of die-hearted individuals like Dr. Bashir Bolarinwa Omolaja, popularly known as B.O.B. He was the state party Chairman that mid-wifed the present wave of administrative fresh air that every Kwaran enjoys. During the struggle, risk were taken, lives and businesses were put on the line just to ensure permanent political emancipation. Come 2027, it will not be out of place for the man who oversaw the freedom of his people from a political fiefdom to consolidate on the leadership built in the last seven years.

In all ramifications, B.O.B. is eminently qualified to retool the administrative affairs of the State. He has garnered the cognate experience as a councilor, Chairman of Mainland local government, and two terms House of Representatives member in Lagos. He was not just a member, he served in strategic committees as the Vice Chairman, House Committee on Population, Air Force, Aviation, Communication and Information. Throughout his stint in the House, he was an avuncular voice known for championing the interest of the downtrodden. Back at home in Kwara, his appealing leadership qualities have necessitated his people who are clamouring for his administrative ingenuity for further development of Kwara. As a seasoned administrator who cut his administrative teeth under the tutelage of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there is no doubt that his emergence as the number Kwara citizen will turn the state into an eldorado of sort.

Barrister Lateef Giwa, lawyer and media consultant, lives in Abuja.