By Christy Anyanwu
Triune Foundation recently held the 3rd Nigerian Leadership Colloquim to honour the Senior Pastor of the Trinity House Church, Lagos, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo 62nd birthday.
The event held in Lagos with the theme: “A New Nigeria: Leadership Imperatives for Radical Growth and Transformation.” It had in attendance crème de la crème in politics, academics, business, among others. The cleric spoke with Sunday Sun thereafter.
What will the Nigeria of your dream be?
A Nigeria where first of all there is peace; secondly, there is harmony, tolerance, live and let›s live. Thirdly, there is security; fourthly, there is opportunity for every Nigerian to succeed according to merit. If you have these four things, the rest will take care of itself. There will be roads, there will be rail, there will be infrastructure, there will be light, and there will be power. There will be education. If we have a society where you can aspire to become anything as long as you are ready to work hard, you can become governor or president of Nigeria as long as you are ready to work hard and play fair. Not that some people will say, this is our own, you can’t come here, why? The earth is the Lord and all there is. Let us all compete according to the rules and compete daily and if you win, win graciously, if you lose, lose with maturity and even in winning or losing, work ahead together and cooperate. The election is over, I won, you lost, come be my commissioner for finance. Let’s work together, it is up to them. You have skill be my head of treasury, be my head of these parastatals because I saw you, you competed well. It is just that God chose me let’s work together. Tomorrow you want to compete against me again no problem, resign in six months ago and compete. May the best man emerge.
Nigeria is currently going through a lot. How do you see leadership generally in Nigeria?
Leadership in Nigeria is near failure; let me be honest with you. A lot of people don›t understand how Nigeria is still surviving with the kind of things it has been through. But I think it is the grace of God. The quality of the resource space of Nigeria and the quality of the people depends on their resilience, their creativity, and their ability to survive has kept the country going. But it could have done a lot better if we have had very single-minded, very honest, very ethical, very compassionate leadership that cares about Nigeria and the average Nigerians. I think the problem of Nigeria is about three or four problems. Number one, we are not quite a nation; people do not quite feel that they are Nigerians. They feel that they are of a certain tribe. We have not been able to wield ourselves together into a nation, thinking nationalistic. We, first of all, think tribal. And that tribal thinking separates us a little bit. Then, they try to introduce religion into it. I pray they don’t succeed because I grew up in a family where my grand uncle was Muslim, my grandfather was Christian, my aunties were Muslim, my uncles Muslims, some were Christian and we all lived happily together so we must not allow that. And we must also know that all the tribes are related and we need one another to survive. The second problem with Nigeria is the foundation that the British laid. The British colonial masters deliberately did not want to live behind a strong Nigeria or a strong Africa; they wanted an Africa that they will continue to control and influence. And since we didn’t want them to be our colonial masters anymore, they did the next best thing in their interest, to give us leadership that is not capable, leadership they could manipulate, the leadership they could blackmail, the leadership they could threaten and leadership that was corrupt. And use that corruption to continue to exploit our resources. One of them, Herbert Macaulay said in 1584 that if you can make the Africans think that everything Africa is inferior and everything British is superior then we can control their minds. And that is how we think today, that is why I am wearing suit, and we are wearing shoes here and there. That is why we prefer straight hair and wigs, and that is why we prefer using fork and knives. Everyone, once they make some money want to buy a house in London because we have been programmed to think that Mango Park discovered the River Niger. The Captain Brothers were the ones who did this or that. Lord Lugard was a good man, was he a good man, was he acting in our interest? They manipulated our history, they manipulated our sense of value, they manipulated everything and now we just don’t think like we should be thinking. The third problem with Nigeria is the selfishness, greed, the ignorance, of the average Nigerian. They are very, very self-centered people, selfish people, and greedy people on average. Apart from our creativity and our hard work, the average just wants things for themselves. So that culture of not thinking for everybody, allows us to rule badly when we have the opportunity to rule. We come into leadership with our selfishness, our greed, with our corruption and we rule like that. We sort ourselves out before we deal with the people. So average Nigerian thinks like that and it keeps breeding that kind of leadership. The fourth problem in Nigeria is that there are a few ethical people, who know right from wrong. They are very few; they are getting fewer by the day. Because of this culture that is evolving and those who are few, a lot of them are abroad in the Diaspora and those who are around are not courageous enough, or bold enough to face the leadership that has emerged. At the end of the day, they get weary, they get tired, and they go back to their tent. So corrupt leadership has held the nation hostage, what you call state capture and they continue to reign.
So, what is the solution?
The solution is first of all prayer to God, asking God to help us, because God can help us, he can take a David out of the wilderness and put him into leadership as he did for Singapore with Lee Kuna Yew. He can take an Elisha or a Moses. Apart from God, the next solution is that those who know better should come together, unite and fight for the soul of Nigeria. In this last election, 18 people wanted to run for president of Nigeria, I can tell you straight away that 14 or 15 of them knew they were wasting their time and wasting our time. They knew they couldn’t do it, some were capable, but they didn’t have the network, and some were not capable. So why were they wasting everybody’s time? And telling us they were candidates. I don’t know what they will benefit from it later on. Maybe somehow, there is some benefit for them later on, maybe they will put it on their CV, that they are ex-presidential candidates, I don’t know. But as far as taking a strong and realistic run for the presidency of Nigeria they were not capable and we’re wasting their time. And I was saying to myself why don’t they all come together and unite, work together? If they had come together, they would have achieved much, they would have chosen one of them, to represent them. If he becomes president or whatever, the other ones can get various positions and if God gives them long life, they all build together and then can take their position later on but they won’t do it. The Christian leaders won’t unite and speak with one voice and fight for Nigeria. The knowledgeable Nigerians won’t unite, speak with one voice and fight for Nigeria. Even the political class keep fighting one another all over the place, then the strongest or the most corrupt, or the richest, or the boldest of all of them all takes it all and rows it according to how he likes because he took it by himself.
So in all of these, what exactly are the religious leaders doing?
Religious leaders should first of all be true to themselves. Some of them are not true to themselves. Some of them have got into the calling for their reasons, personal aggrandizement, well, they are human beings, they are Nigerians, and they have done it. So, the first thing is letting them be true to themselves. Are they truly serving God and helping the people or are helping themselves? Those who are true to themselves should then have a process of speaking the truth and also training according to the ways of Christ their followers and their disciples. So, that they can bring to birth, more serious capable competent truthful sincere people. They should invest in training their people and exposing their people to lead and if possible power. They should unite, come together and look for how to help, bring about competent leadership in Nigeria by being a sincere pressure group, and evaluating what other leaders do. Like Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, they speak, so that people know that we can›t behave anyhow there is a group of leaders, Christians and even Muslims that are watching. The reason David could not misbehave was that Nathan was willing to come to David and say David you have behaved badly. The reason Moses had to change his strategy was that he had a father-in-law called Metro, who came to Moses and said Moses you weary yourself, you stress the people. Appoint other people to help you. We need in Nigeria people of truth. People that can speak truth to power. We need them to come together to select leaders, you want to run, no, no, no where are you coming from? What is your background? They should collectively talk, you will know, that you are capable. But as it is now, I think maybe they have one or two godfathers that are doing that, that is selecting people to work with, but it does not sit well with the people. Isn’t that like saying what is not supposed to be?
We have leaders in political parties now, one or two leaders that select candidates for a position, they simply term it godfathers, people do not exactly like that, what is your take on that?
Well, let’s be realistic, leaders breed other leaders, and nobody lives forever. David brought Solomon, Moses brought Joshua and so forth. Godfathers whether you like it or not are there. The problem with the Godfathers we are having today is two problems. Number one is the quality of the godfather himself. There are mafia godfathers, there is Pope godfather; there is Mother Theresa’s godmother and so forth. The problem we have is the quality of the godfathers. The second problem is the overbearing influence of the godfather. A godfather needs to know when to back off and say I have done my job. Let me go and be an adviser and let us not have two kings at the same time. David installed Solomon, he backed off. The Oni of Ife came here today, he is my nephew.
We supported him to become Oni of Ife, but I am not sitting with him at the palace, telling him what to do and how to run his palace. Once in a while when they say pastor talk to Oni for us, I will talk to him. Once in a while when he does one or two things, I say Oni how did that go, what happened here and he will explain. Then once in a while when he had something good, I say well done, Bauru you have done something great. That is the role of a godfather, not an overbearing influence, but a moral conscience as to how things should go. Every society has them. There is a leadership election process and, therefore, that is the role that the Church must play. I am not saying that they should become politicians; I am just saying that they should have comments in terms of politics and leadership. People must be able to fear somebody. In those days, they say we don’t vote into a position of power someone whose parents we don’t know, what they are saying is that someone who doesn’t have a check and a balance, who we can report if he misbehaves you don’t give him unfettered power. Because when the power gets into his head, who will talk to him? Above all, we all must have the fear of God, it is what guides the behaviour of man, when at the end of the day, you look around, the Jews wear something on their head called the kapok, I asked them why they wear that thing on their head, they said it was giving to them by instruction by Moses. That when they put those things on their head especially if they are leaders, they know that there is God on their heads and look down into their brains so they should fear God. So, even if they wear a black hat under that black hat, they have it there. Saying that If you don’t fear man, God is watching and that is exactly what we should also do, fear God.
So how does the failure of leadership affect the people generally?
The Bible says that when the wicked rule, the people mourn, but when the righteous are in power the people rejoice. One of the greatest examples of leadership in modern-day history is the leader of Dubai; he says a leader’s job is to make his people happy. The Bible said that everywhere Jesus Christ went, he was doing well. Somebody the other day was thanking a leader, that when he was sick, the leader paid his medical bill, I said that is okay, the problem is that the leader took the money that he would have used to provide free health care for you, your wife, children and unborn children took it and then gave you only a bit of it to pay your medical bills. The people are in pain when a leader does not consider the people. The reason David was a great leader was that he loved his people. The people were broke, the people were in trouble, they were broken, and the people were destroyed. The people had no hope, we were those that ran to David and within a few years, he turned them into mighty men. So, if you have a good leader, he will build good hospitals, good schools, and good roads. He will not overtask the people. He will exploit the resources, he will make sure that every child has an opportunity to live, he will make sure like they do in Dubai, that once you graduate they will give you some money, once you get to a certain age they will give you a building, and they encourage you to be educated.
If you want to go to school, they allow you to go to school. Awolowo gave us free education, he gave Cocoa House, Awolowo gave the WNTV, he did a lot of roads in and out of the whole place, he did what we call the WNDC today, or Odua group that created industry and employment and all that, till today, they still consider western Nigeria to be the intellectual powerhouse of Nigeria. it was the leadership that created free education that brought that to bear. We heard Professor Oyebode today, he said he was a beneficiary of free education and through him, he has a lot of lawyers in his family, and I am sure he is talking about himself, one or two of his brothers, whom he educated, his two children who are lawyers, maybe one or two of his children’s wife or in-laws that are lawyers. There is also a family in the North that is like that. They have about 32 PhD or second-degree holders.
Japa is the trend in Nigeria today, what is your take on that?
It’s a natural reaction. It’s a difficult environment. Anytime when environment is difficult for man, man looks for another way out. There was a famine in the land in the time of Abram, Abram left Mesopotamia where he was, he went to look for succour first of all in Philistine and then in Egypt, so people have been japaing for a long time. It was Japa that brought the whole tribe of Isreal into Egypt because there was no food in Canaan and there was food in Egypt. What happened is that our leaders have created a very hostile environment for the average ethical, hardworking, right thinking Nigerian. So, any right thinking , hardworking, ethical person who wants to work and be rewarded by merit leaves Nigeria because they cannot survive in Nigeria that we are in right now . The Nigeria that has lost merit, that has lost ethics, that has lost morality. But when I was growing up, we had ethics, morality, and sense of direction. I didn’t know anybody to go to King’s College. I did the exam and I passed. They took me. They took me in Government College, they took me in Loyola, and I was lost with choice. In those days, you apply for jobs anywhere. If they see your CV, they like you, they invite you for interview. In those days, you come out from school you apply to the civil service; they will take you if you are qualified. In fact, in those days before you graduated, jobs were waiting for you, plus car, plus rent allowance. After a few years, you get house loan on your salary as a civil servant and you built house. Government would give you government land allocation and you pay over 10 or 20 years. You didn’t need to know anybody. Your pension was paid as when due. Now, it’s totally different.
How did we get here?
It started with the military intervention based on the foundation that the British laid. As soon as the military came in, the basis on which we negotiated Nigeria coming together they cancelled it. They call it now a unitary government. We negotiated Nigeria based on regions, each region was self-sustaining, they have a big centre by Tafawa Balewa, Awolowo controlled the West, the late Akintola, then Sarduana controlled the North, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Michael Okpara controlled the East. Virtually, the Midwest was Osadebe . We negotiated a Nigeria based on regions so that each region could develop its own natural resource, work at its own pace and run good governance. But when Aguiyi Ironsi came, he came and cancelled that saying the centre is stronger than the regions and he wanted a unitary government. Whereas military people have a unitary command, they don’t know how to negotiate. How can your first battalion or your GOC negotiating with your commander in chief. He takes instruction. That destroyed the basis on which a lot of our resources were developed and harnessed. Gowon continued that, turned us into 12 states, and put military governors who had no commitments, no interests in the states they were meant to govern. Some of them came from that state but they had no commitment, nobody could check them. Nobody could balance them. They did whatever they wanted and, of course, when there was a bit of corruption they became corrupt. Virtually Gowon left and then Muritala Mohammed came and started putting governors anywhere. One Yoruba man can to go and be governor in Katsina, one Katsina man can be a governor in Abeokuta; one Akwa Ibom man can be a governor in Benin. Military movements here and there and people were doing whatever they wanted. Again, there was this urge of the civil service, which now eroded the strength and the competence of the civil service. People like Gowon could do reasonable well, there was a strong civil service, Ashiedu, Ayida, Dansida, Joda , all those people , these were the good civil service culture , checking them, telling them that there are some things they cannot do. The rolling plans, development plans they were running in those days , not as efficiently as they could have if they have regions, but they were doing their best but as soon as Murtala Mohammed did that purge and eroded that crop of civil servants , the civil servants started becoming corrupt. That was the backlash. They now said to themselves, what’s the point being a good civil servant, let me just take whatever I can take because any day somebody can come and sack me. Not only that, the best civil servants fell in that purge because some of it was a witch-hunt by the civil servants themselves. The best left, some people died prematurely, one or two committed suicide because they didn’t know their careers would end like that. So, that destroyed the civil service. So, by the time the first republic came in 1979, the politicians that came now professionalized corruption and built on that military platform without having any thoughts or desire to develop Nigeria. So, they were pocketing most of our resources. The military came back again with more vengeance, more corruption and all that. By 1999 we were already in a hole that was difficult to come out from. So, it’s a progressive set of very, very, not very capable leadership in a nutshell.
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