We blame leaders; what about followers?

Last week, police stormed the Nigerian National Assembly. Across the country, the polity is being heated up. Why? Elections are round the corner.

Have you noticed that in many parts of Africa, some things have to happen each time elections are around the corner? 

The police and the Red Cross have to be on high alert because of the possibility of trouble. Hospitals have to ensure they have enough blood.

The development of a nation is a product of the socio-cultural environment that must be spearheaded by leadership.

Often when this fails, the problem really is with the followers who gullibly allow themselves to be used.

I have on many occasions talked about leadership development. Maybe we should put the spotlight on the ignorant followers.

What has created such a bunch of gullible people, or, like a mentor of mine would say, such volumes of “people with unadulterated ignorance?”

First, followers, be they of political, corporate or spiritual entities, must realise that personal development is not an option. It is mandatory.

No matter who you follow, if you do not develop yourself, you are an endangered kind. 

MENTAL CAPACITY
Until we take our personal development seriously and not just academically, our surroundings will change faster than our mental capacity.

And when things are changing outside faster than they are inside, the situation gives birth to victims.

Complaining is the language of victims and following blindly is their practice. No level of encouragement can stop a person with a victim mentality. It’s a state of mind.

It is one thing to blame the scheming leader for taking advantage of the clueless people, but that is an effect, and not a cause.

What environment has created this culture of cluelessness? Progress is impossible if we blindly and stupidly follow the path that got us to where we are.

A society where it is a taboo to question authority or where transparency is not entrenched in the culture will not progress because it gives birth to

unaccountability at the top.

Once that has been entrenched as a culture, leaders will thrive at the expense of clueless followers.

ACCOUNTABLE LEADERSHIP
Great leadership should see accountability as a route to shine and show that they are real leaders. Accountable leadership is the first sign of a progressive entity.

If we do not rebel against some senseless elements in our culture, we will consolidate stupidity for generations to come. We must never preserve the past at the expense of the future.

Any society, be it a geographical or a common values society where personal development is not a key agenda, will produce lazy, dependent and ignorant followers.

Quite a number of African leaders, from political to religious, have thrived and benefited greatly from this silent perpetuation of ignorance among followers.

In fact, the wealth of valueless leaders has often been built on the poverty and ignorance of clueless followers.

This sums up a lot of the African problem – the more ignorant the many, the more prosperous the few who lead them.

RETROGRESSIVE CULTURE

Poverty of the clueless masses and a system of unaccountability  sets the stage for exploitation.

Who then do we blame; the lazy ignorant follower or the leader who takes advantage of the ignorance of the follower? After all, capitalism is the ability to capitalise on opportunities for profit.

It is complex, but my submission is this: If following does not bring transformation in followers over time, then there is a problem. 

The day we begin to question retrogressive culture, demand accountability and place a premium on individual growth and personal development, progress will be near.

Leaders who do not change the status of followers for the better have no business being called leaders.

We don’t need leaders to stay where we are, and certainly, we don’t need them to be worse than we are.