By Suleiman Saidu Usman
There is a long tradition of defining leadership by virtues. It was the standard approach of philosophers and orators, widely attested in literature, inscriptions and personal correspondence from classical times, through the Roman Empire and Middle Ages, and down to the present.
Today, benefactors and heroes are praised for their virtues on monuments and plaques in our own cities. Therefore, no matter how we look at leadership, for a leader to be loved by his people, he must possess some positive attributes MJ Barde has long become a phenomenon in the polity of Gombe and Nigeria at large, as an emerging statesman, an astute technocrat.
He is now the toast of social media headlines. In fact, if you want followers in Facebook today, write something about him. 99 percent of views content extracts about some group or team are fabricated around his person or presumed aspiration {having not heard from him}. Most times it appears he is the only brand that is seen as a contention come the next electioneering season.
The real reason he has become a hit political sensation is his speaking attributes and its habitual “Talk and Do” character which endears him to the masses and the political elites. He is humble, honest, trustworthy, generous, prudent and above all God fearing. One of the major setbacks of leadership in the world is honesty, or the lack of it. It accounts for the many demonstrations, protests, and even calls for the demotion of leaders at different stages and in various climes.
This situation stems from the attitude of a leader who lies. True leaders act ethically and are committed to the needs of the people. Everyone require their leaders to be trustworthy and leadership is essentially based on trust. Because many people choose to follow leaders they trust, they have a sense of basic trust. It’s basic honesty too. Without honesty, a leader can’t lead with integrity. It is therefore logical, true and trite to conclude that it is the uncommon honesty of MJ Barde that made him an acceptable brand.
For Danbarde to rise from the position of banker, considering where he comes from, it can be attributed to his addictive sense of honest and you cannot say you know a man until you have handed him billions to manage and he does it without being fraudulent.
MJ Barde’s honesty is what exulted him at the Bank where he had worked and back home, he has transferred the rare virtue to the admiration of all.
His show of honesty endears him to all and sundry and that is why moral leadership is very strategic because it determines the success or failure in achieving goals. Honesty is the most essential characteristic of a leader and the most easily seen. Honesty is the basis of every action leaders take. If leaders can’t show others that he can be trusted in word and deed, the leader will have no followers.
Honest leadership is regarded highly in any clime aiming to develop at top speed. That is why statistics show that places where corruption index is low, more development takes place. Transparency is an effort to enforce honesty. With transparency, participation in monitoring the entire government will be accommodated so as to minimize the potentialities for dishonesty.
The direct consequence of a conduct that is not transparent is political corruption, the abuse of public office for personal gain. Corruption can be expressed as a dishonest act. Muhammad Jibrin Barde has over the span of his career displayed this transparent honest. It is worthy of emulation and trust. Humility is defined as the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance. Words that are considered synonymous include humbleness, meekness, diffidence and unassertiveness.
We are well aware of the perils of hubris, we are taught from an early age that pride comes before a fall, but is there not an inherent tension, or indeed contradiction, between being truly humble and being a leader? How does humility square up with leadership? Is there a place for humility in the practice of leadership? And can a truly effective leader be truly humble? Too many people remain enamoured by the view that leadership is really about control, but in fact great leaders demonstrate again and again their humility by influencing, inspiring loyalty and providing support.
They do so however from positions that are not necessarily to the fore. In fact they lead from behind, putting others in front especially when there are things to be celebrated, and then only coming to the fore when there are dangers to be confronted.
A humble leader does not create class of association, he wines and dines with the low and high with no sense of red lines in class. Every humble leader is a practitioner of servant leadership which is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better governance and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.
A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid”, servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.
This is one of the virtues embedded in the life of MJ Barde that has confirmed him a servant leader administrator and this has made the people to accept him unconditionally.
The great wise one Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that “A great man is always willing to be little.” Prudence comes from the Latin “prudentia,” meaning foresight and sagacity; in Old French, “prudence” means wisdom to see what is virtuous, suitable and profitable. Prudence is knowing when to hold them and when to fold them.
In working with leaders, prudence applies in at least three areas: Wisdom, insight/foresight and knowledge. Prudence is an orientation to one’s personal future, a form of practical reasoning and self-management that helps one to achieve long-term goals effectively by considering carefully along the way the consequences of actions taken and not taken.
The prudent person does not sacrifice long-term goals for short-term pleasures but instead keeps in mind what will eventually produce the most satisfaction. The prudent person makes “smart” choices as opposed to no choices at all. Prudence is not paralysis. It is the strength of character when it leads us to do things in a judicious way. Alh. Muhammad Jibrin Barde is a prudent man , whose dignity has made him great through wisdom and integrity.
It is his wisdom that earned him a productive career as a banker and is the same vein which made Gombawa to demand for his service to come and usher in the service to the land of his birth. He has continued to endear himself to the people.
————
Suleiman writes from Kumo, Akko LGA, Gombe State. (ViaMBE)
