Your Excellency i na-eme ife i na-ekwu” – Enugu Anglican Cleric Says To Soludo

MAZI EJIMOFOR OPARA 

You know this thing about trailing closely behind your Boss at public functions, you are bound to stumble on all sorts, from empty praise singers to sincere and spontaneous reviews; all of which form important feedbacks for corporate governance.

Just yesterday morning in Enugu as I accompanied Gov. Soludo to the Burial of a dear friend in far away Udi, Enugu State, I gleaned another important feedback from a random Anglican Priest, who seized the opportunity of a quick exchange of pleasantries with Mr. Governor to drop his instant review. If you translate what he said in Igbo language to English it loosely means, “Your Excellency, you are doing well. I like the brand you wear and the fact that you drive the Innoson Vehicle as your official car. You have been consistent and you do what you say”.

This simple review underscores two things for me. First, is that the people are watching and taking copious notes about leaders. They may be ordinary but quite instructive and symbolic. The second is that the character of a leader is everything required to drive positive change. Where that is not available every other thing collapses.

In many ways than one, Soludo has continued to demystify leadership and bringing back to the consciousness of the people that leaders must be held by who they say they are in private and in public.