Type of Followership Determines Quality of Leadership – Commissioner

Zainab Tanimu

Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria

Permanent Commissioner, Peace Commission, Kaduna state, Hajiya Khadijat Hawaja Gambo, has stressed on the need to have focused followership as that will enhance good leadership.

Just as leaders hold it a duty to discharge their responsibilities for the betterment of the followers, so also do the followers owe it a duty to contribute to the success of enhancing good leadership.

 She emphasized this in her lecture, with the theme: Followership: A Required Compliment to Leadership delivered during NASFAT Zonal Annual Youth Week /Children Open Camp held at NASFAT Village Kaduna.

“There has been so much dwelling on leadership, such as, the characteristics of good leadership, qualities of leadership, duties etc. but little do we pay attention to followership.

According to her, there is need to look into the issues of followership because  the quality of followership affects leadership.

“Just as the quality of leadership affects followership, so also does the quality of followership affects the leadership.  It is verse versa. We cannot all be leaders and we cannot all be followers. Some will be leaders and some will be followers. So what is it that we need to do as followers? Who is even a follower and what are the duties and responsibilities that Allah SWT has asked of followers to do?

Analyzing the types of followership.

There are 7 categories of followers she said and according to what psychology says, most of them have their good and bad sides.

“Amongst these followership are the traitors and they are closest to the corridors of power.

These traitors are the closest in most cases to leadership.

They portray themselves as people who love them and are willing to die for them. But in the real sense of it, they hate the leader, they hate the public, and so, you see them misguiding the leader, you see them misrepresenting the leader before the public and so, these are the people that you commonly find in the whole corridors of power except if Allah protects such person. So they are traitors, they have no loyalty, they have no allegiance to anybody.

“Another category of follower is the loyalist. A loyalist can do what the leader wants him to do hundred percent but the negative aspect, one who is a loyalist cannot question even when it is wrong . He cannot differ advice.

“Then the realistic, which is the best one. The realist is he who looks, assesses the situation, look at the context and then agree when it is necessary to agree, differ when it is necessary to differ but at the same time offering some recommendations, alternative B, which will be better.

“There the cycopants, the opportunists, the observers. Also she talked about critics who see nothing good. They only sit and criticize whatever is happening but they will never tell you, what do we do?

Simply obeying of traffic rules she noted  is obedience to Allah because human beings cannot live without a system. Without an organization.

“And so, whatever the government or leaders put in place that is for the good of the public, when you obey it, you are obeying Allah and obeying prophet, SAW. And also disobedience to that, disregard to the rule of law is also disregard to Allah and disregard to Prophet Muhammed, SAW.

Still emphasizing,

“As followers whatever it is that is not harmful to us that a leader asks us to do, that will be beneficial to all, it is compulsory for us to follow. “And police don’t have to be there for us to follow it.

“We don’t need anyone to tell us to follow it, we must follow it as an obedience to Allah and the Prophet (saw). And whatever they ask us not to do, is also something we owe Allah, we owe the Prophet SAW and all the government and our people and our fellow country.

Citing more examples

 Queueing when we go to buy fuel, refunding what does not belong to you, eating from legitimate means, all these are set down rules not only by government but by Allah and Prophet SAW. So l feel there is need to dwell more on strong focused followership which can determine good leadership.

Lamenting, Hajiya Khadijat cited part of the reason why the nation is in its present predicament to the failure of having quality followership.

“Probably the failure of having quality followership has also contributed to some of the crisis we are having today. So all of us, the leaders, the followers we need to come together and do the needful.

However, good leaders should possess among others the following qualities.

“A leader, we need someone who is competent. We want someone who is honest and sincere. A man of integrity. We want a man who is courageous but again like l said , no human being can have all it takes. So the better if a leader identifies people with qualities that he does not have expertise. For example, he cannot be a security expert.

“The president and governor cannot be an expert in accounting in economy, cannot be expert in petroleum and all of it. So what does he need? To bring in people who are experts and competent. So he has to fear Allah and make sure that whoever he brings as expertise are not only the expertise but also has the commitment and love for the job. The passion to do it.

 “If he fails to or does not do it, then it is duty bound on the leader to disengage that one and bring somebody who can do it. So, leadership is not just one person’s thing. It is a team of a lot of people having two different or many things to complement one another so that we can have quality leadership. She emphasized.

“The youth is a transition from childhood to adulthood”.

 She charged them to make good use of their youth for better tomorrow.

“Apart from the fear of God which is the begining of wisdom we should also appreciate our parents. You have learnt so many things, take it very seriously and put it into practice so that it will impact on other people that are not here. Let us not take it for granted because that will nurture you to become a good leader in future.”