Do you know why Bola Tinubu is always pushing the envelope on presidential powers and ignoring calls to end pervasive hardship in the country? First, let’s get a textbook explanation for this question. Students of Management are familiar with this case study: It’s a common complaint in which managers of a knowledge-based company grumbled that the Chief Executive Officer couldn’t get his engineers to think like a leader. As it’s in corporate organisations so it is in politics. But behind this complaint lies an uncommon important question: What does it mean to think like a leader? Sadly, little attention has been paid to that question in Nigerian politics. Most of our politicians have become so enamored of ‘leadership’ that ‘management’ has been pushed into the background to the extent that nobody aspires to be a good manger anymore.
Everybody feels it’s his turn(‘emilokan’) to be a leader, a president. That’s the point former President Olusegun Obasanjo made last week in his keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University , USA. He said Nigeria’s failing status under the leadership of Tinubu “is confirmed and glaringly indicated and manifested for every honest person to see”. Truth is, in leadership position, knowing where you are going gets you there faster. And without that thought, that vision, a leader can’t transform anything, no matter how hard he tries. In other words, leadership without understanding management encourages a disconnected style.
Now this is where I’m going. Of recent, many notable Nigerians, including Mr Peter Obi, two former vice presidents, Atiku Abubukar, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, former military Head of state,Gen. Abdusalami Abubukar, legal icon, Chief Afe Babalola, among others, have urged president Tinubu to heed calls and act fast to end economic hardship across the land. Mr Obi and Atiku have repeatedly expressed their concerns so many times about the way the country is drifting, and Tinubu apparently unconcerned has often labelled Atiku and Obi as “sore losers”. But Nigerians know who won the 2023 presidential election and who lost.
But beyond Obi and Atiku, look at the concerns expressed by Gen. Abdusalami, Osinbajo and Babalola. Abdusalami had in September advised Tinubu to act fast, that things “are getting out of control”. “Everybody”, he said , “is crying about this hardship, people cannot afford three square meals anymore”. He listed hike in fuel pump price and its effect on transportation fare as making life unbearable for many Nigerians. Just last week, Osinbajo who is not given to too much talk, spoke out at the 2024 Women in Management, Business and Public Service(WIMBIZ) conference. He said, “the cost of living is overwhelming Nigerians’ hope for survival”.
He also called for a stronger support from government to ensure that basic needs are available. For Chief Babalola(SAN), Tinubu policies “are making Nigerians look like beggars”. He tasked him to secure our farms for food production, adding that those who protested about hunger recently did so sincerely, because, “a hungry man can go to any length to show his anger”. So far, the President is not listening to those calls, and you ask why? The answer is not far-fetched. These are the facts behind Tinubu’s underwhelming performance. He didn’t seek power to accomplish any real agenda that will improve the welfare of the people. His drive for power is inseparable from what he has wanted power for all along – to dominate others. That’s why he has remained insensitive to calls to address the challenges that have brought untold hardship on the citizens. As you perhaps know, power reveals more than it can hide.
Beyond that, the President is yet to break the habits that are not doing him no favours. According to American billionaire entrepreneur, Warren Buffett, “habits either move us forward or hold us back”. One of the habits that is not doing Tinubu any favour is his ineffective communication. If Buhari was bad, Tinubu has become much worse in this area. It can’t get better even if he appoints a thousand media aides. Besides, Tinubu lacks the five essential mind-sets of an effective leader and manager of men and resources. As experts in leadership say, “action without reflection is thoughtless, and reflection without action is passive”
In real terms, every good leader has to find a way to combine these two mind-sets – to function at the point where reflective thinking meets practical doing. Mind-sets are like threads and leaders like weavers. In other words, effective performance in political office means wearing each mind-set over and under the others to create a fine, sturdy cloth. Therefore, asking why Tinubu has remained passive, unconcerned about making better things happen to Nigerians revolves around this scale: he often acts alone, with little or no consultation, not thinking or reflecting deeply before implementing any of his reforms. If you are still looking for one of these thoughtless policies, “subsidy is gone” is one of them.
A leader who acts on his impulses can run the country aground. The consequences of this action have gone, perhaps beyond what Tinubu thought, yet he has no remorse. He has refused to admit that most of his policy somersaults are inexcusable errors of judgment. For example, the ill-advised unification of the foreign exchange rate has left the naira in a free- fall, from N461/$1 that he inherited on May 29, 2023 to N1,900/$. In leadership, admission of error is a source of strength, not weakness. But not Tinubu. Now, the International Monetary Fund(IMF) is washing its hands of the economic policies of his government. Last week, IMF said his “reforms are not working”.
Maybe, the chickens have come home to roost. It’s about insight without self-knowledge. These are the mind-sets that Tinubu and his team have refused to follow. Lack of insight promotes hubris. We are familiar with the destructive power of hubris in politics. That’s what has afflicted the present government. There may be no way out of the hole until this administration acknowledges its mistakes and initiates policies that will mitigate the suffering that Nigerians are going through. The president’s wife, Oluremi, last month in Ibadan, urged Nigerians to be patient, that things will begin to look up in two years’ time. That’s political demagoguery meant for the next election in 2027.
As optimistic as one should be in life, things may not improve until this President begins to see Nigeria as a collective entity, not as a regional entity where other geopolitical zones are given crumbs from the master’s table. A collective entity achieves common purpose when the cloths of its various management are sewn together as useful garments. What we have seen in 18 months of Tinubu presidency is an uninspired style of leadership that has deadened activities in every sector of the economy, driven away foreign companies and potential investors. The government has also disconnected itself from the people except a small group of politicians and business associates who are feeding fat on the misery of the larger population.
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ONWUKWE is with the Editorial Board of The Sun, for which he originally wrote this article.
