Since 1960 till date,every Nigerian Leader or Government official that ever sat in public office falls into one of these leadership types: The Visionary-The Manager-The Scavenger .
No Nigerian leader or government official can be neutral from any of these three leadership types.Just close your eyes and picture any public office holder you know and you can process them into any of the above.
Before I declare what I don’t like about Sunday Dare, I want to build my case so you don’t accuse me of false accusation; I want to be very objective and technical as I vent my view.
The Visionary Leadership type is that leadership mindset that focuses on building lasting systems, structures and processes that will outlive him or her. The Visionary leader is a master of time.Leaders in this category are specialist at ‘time mining’,they see beyond their noses and plan for ten twenty and hundred years-they are focused on the general good of the people and State.
This kind of leader is configured to endure pain and discomfort so as to birth a legacy of true development cultures and outcomes.
The Leadership of Dubai in UAE is a classic example of Visionary leadership: about three decades ago,Dubai was just blessed with sand ,sun and struggling oil wells. Today Dubai is the social and economic hub of the world.
The Leadership of Dubai saw beyond the realities of their setbacks and traveled into the future making decisions and sacrifices that turned sand and sun into gold several years later.
China is known for its long term planning leadership style, hence they recently pulled eight hundred million people out of poverty with proofs to show.
Madiba endured nearly three decades in the prison because of what he saw about the new South Africa; today ,South Africa is building and benefiting from the ideologies and systemic legacies of Nelson Mandela.
The Manager Leadership type is that leadership mindset that works strictly within the confines and boundaries of resources ,information and realities available to him or her. This type of leader is the typical ‘I no want wahala type of leader’. They are safe within the comfort zone of ‘Chop I chop’.
The Manager leader is concerned about distributing the spoils and gains of office so that everybody is happy. Don’t tell this type of leader about thinking outside the box,they are traditionalist to the core and are ready to use 1845 methods to solve twentieth century problems as long as it makes people around him happy.They hate innovation and new ideas-they dread it.
The once Great Britain saw younger nations overtake them economically and even military wise because the average English man is a conservative by nature and practice.
One of the driving ideologies behind the BREXIT campaign was the attempt of a new generation of the British people to adopt the Visionary leadership approach.
The Manager Leadership style has never sustained national growth anywhere in the world.
Finally before I tell you what I don’t Like about Sunday Dare let us consider the last and most dangerous Leadership type-The Scavenger.
The Scavenger is the leadership mindset that is all out to loot and damage the office of leadership all for himself without any care for production or replenishment.
This leadership style is typical of the average African politician who sees the public office as a once in a life time opportunity to fill their ban before they die.
With exception for some stubborn few, most public office holders in Nigeria and the entire political culture ideology has been driven by this ‘Scavenger software’.
Most times when politicians celebrate after winning elections, they are actually not celebrating for the good work they are set to do, rather they are celebrating the prospect of draining public resources.
Africa is backward today not because of witches and evil spirits but because of scavengers that have occupied public offices in recent times.
My problem with Sunday Dare, the current Minister of Youth and Sports development is the fact that he wants to exempt himself from the norms and pattern of the African political culture. He wants to do things outside what is ‘expected’ of him .
The first time I met him I was disappointed; He did not behave like I expected him to-He proved me wrong.
As a typical Nigerian that time and space has conditioned to live by the survival mode which celebrates the Manager and Scavenger leadership type, here are some key reasons I don’t like Sunday Dare:
He is too open and accommodating to a fault
He met me and my team for the first time in His office and risked missing his flight to hear what we had to say surprisingly with very detailed attention. He does not care about your political or social status; He sniffs out the quality of your ideas and opinion and responds with the mind of a Visionary leader.
He gave instructions for me to have His number because in split seconds He was able to travel into the future and see how one idea can benefit millions of Nigerian youths. He was ready to start spending personal funds to train some of my team.
I overheard him in another meeting giving directives to respond to the need of a youth that needed support for an idea He saw online
He is annoyingly Process driven
Despite our great conversations ,Sunday Dare still subjected us to a detailed process of legal and Civil service procedures .I thought He will just wave the magic political wand to give us what we needed. He rather exposed us to his civil service workforce who worked as if you were in an average European country.
At a point I told one of the Directors, “You guys don’t work like the typical civil servants”. She smiled and continued working.
From my traditional Nigerian point of view, I thought I was dealing with the average politician who will just make everybody happy without concern for due process.
I and my team passed through the process instructed by the Minister himself.
From my interaction with the people working in the Federal Ministry of Youth and sports, they are operating on a completely different work culture ethic that is strange to find in an average Nigerian government office.
He is too technology and innovation oriented
Analog ways of doing things is the trade mark of the Manager Leadership style. It makes it easy to do illegal things without being traced or monitored.
Why can’t Sunday Dare do things the analog way?
But Sunday Dare is directly and indirectly Linked to hundreds of functional technology driven innovations related to youths and sports in Nigeria.
Our investigation shows that no Youth and Sports Minster in the history of Nigeria has promoted ICT or tech driven innovations and activities among young people like Sunday Dare.
The new tech culture He is nurturing will outlive his tenure in office that is if the next minister after him is not a scavenger or Manager.
Here are some of his Tech related achievements:
-DEEL(Digital skills acquisition Employability, Entrepreneurship Leadership & Mentoring
-NOYA(Nigeria Online Youth Assembly
-DIGITAL APP of Nigeria Youth Policy
-60 day App challenge
-Adopt an Athlete program
-Adopt a Sport program
-Adopt a Pitch program
-Adopt a Sport Center program
AWS(Athletic welfare scheme)
-Choose Life Challenge
He has put systems, structure and processes in place creating a mindset shift in the sport sector
We run a trial and error sports administration protocol in Nigeria before now. We just go into completion without a wining plan or strategy.
We just want to go to the Olympic and win seventy-seven gold medals and thirty-three silver. We also want to just clone footballers together to go and win the world cup.
Countries that are consistent in wining laurels have a formidable sport system and structure that will keep them wining for another one hundred years.
Sunday Dare has paid the price of popularity and instant gain by putting up administrative and economic systems and structures in place that will drastically increase winnings in the local and international sports arena even after he lives office.
His approach to sports psychology is amazing. Before the Olympics, most of the members of team Nigeria got most of their inspiration from their personal encounter with the Minister and His team.
Wining is about mindset, not just physical training. That was why Americans super gymnastic Simone Biles pulled out from several games in Tokyo citing mental health concerns as her main reason.
In Nigeria they will tell you,’just try-atall attall na him no good’. But Sunday Dare is chatting and inspiring Athletes before and even during the games-He thinks this is Oyibo country?
The bad thing about putting up structures and systems in Africa is that time is involved and Africans hate to wait for time because we are also like scavengers –we just want to eat without the thought of production and replenishment.
Here are some strategic collaboration and partnership Sunday Dare has activated which will put us on the consistent parts of victory in the nearest future:
-IBM
-MICROSOFT
-WILCO
-JUNIOUR ACHIEVEMENT NIGERIA
-INDEPENDENT YOUTH TELEVISION (IYTV)
DANGOTE
While I don’t like these things about Sunday Dare, I have no option but to start adjusting to this new normal of Visionary leadership.
In Nigeria emotions and sentiment are sponsored more than objectivity, once you don’t like somebody even his dog and cat becomes your enemy. That is an anti-development way of existing.
Sunday Dare, I don’t like your visionary leadership approach because it does not bring quick quick result as we want it ,but I will have to change my mind because of some of the amazing and emerging proof of concept we are seeing that our twisted minds don’t want to admit.
Sunday Dare,I suggest you do not to give up even if you make mistakes or not see expected outcomes, it’s your human right not to be perfect but it is your responsibility to serve your country, your principal, millions of Nigerian youths and your God.
Sunday Dare,I am not alone oh-there are many people that are not liking you because you are not a scavenger leadership styled Minister,but I hope we will all tilt our minds a little as the universal laws of process unfold a lasting development protocol you have activated .
Amb. David Ibrahim
Reporting for
Independent Youth Television
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