Noon Inspiration: The "Leader" in "You"

The cliché definition of a leader is someone who leads others; this definition is correct but too basic. I prefer the definition by Wikipedia, Wikipedia defines leadership as a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Leaders are everywhere, in our homes, churches, mosques, private and public organizations. They say “some were born to lead and others were born to follow”, I think this saying has built the foundation for a lot of ills society faces. People tend to mind their business and always leave the responsibilities for leaders. I see this attitude in my everyday life; I used to be that way. If the issue does not affect us directly, then we should just remain pessimistic and careless.

There is a leader in everyone, we say the Government is not good, the Government is corrupt and they are supposed to be our leaders. I cannot defend people in power but there are little things that we can do as citizens to make our immediate community a better place. A common ill that we face in Nigeria as a result of the “carefree attitude” is flood caused by blocked drainage systems. We tend to litter the environment with our petty wastes like pure water sachets, snack wrappers, plastic bottles e.t.c, when the rainy season comes; we are faced with floods or high level of water on the ground.

Once, while I was still in school, I entered a public taxi headed for Uniport, I was thirsty, so I bought a bottle of lacasera from one of the hawkers on the road, when I was done drinking it, I threw the empty bottle out on the street, next thing I hear is the voice of a handsome man saying “You look intelligent, I am disappointed that you just did that”, I apologized. At that second, I knew the apology meant nothing to him but would mean so much to the environment, so I repented. My hand bag is usually a mini waste bag until I find a public bin; I neatly wrap my waste and keep it in my bag. If every citizen was responsible enough to show a little bit of leadership, we would have clean and free gutters; rainy seasons will come and go without any issue. Once, I told my friend to stop throwing his petty wastes on the streets, He said “he needed a reason to be patriotic and be different”, my reply? Every action starts with an individual. Your actions can affect one person and that individual can affect more people. I admire my street, the gutters are clean, and residents on my street make a constant effort to clean the gutters, when it rains in Port Harcourt, we have no issues but I can’t say the same thing for the city as a whole.

Leaders don’t have to be just the people at the helm of affairs handling critical issues concerning the economy. We could all be leaders in our own little way, assisting and playing our parts as responsible citizens. The man or woman who leaves his or her car during a bad traffic situation and controls the traffic is a good leader, I have seen a lot of people do this; they don’t sit back in their car and start blaming the Police or cursing the Federal government. Truth be told, most times when we complain, we end up getting a headache, every problem we face is simply calling for your attention.

Many a times, we see the young people who break stones to fill the “potholes” on our roads, these are leaders, they may not be wearing suits, or getting ready to head into a board room to address employees but they have managed to help a lot of people by the simple act of leadership. Sometimes, people say they do it because they are unemployed but they also could decide to be blind on purpose and say “it’s the Government’s responsibility’’.

What change are you bringing to your immediate community, country, and the world? Are you going to keep blaming every single bad thing happening on Political Leaders or will you ignite the “Leader in you” and start a revolution that will contribute immensely to the society and the world? Ponder a little.

Our world is constantly affected by a lot vices, the people who rule us are not enough to bring change to our door steps. We have seen a lot of young people leading with excellent projects that help others, one of such projects is “SLUM TO SCHOOL”, the founder of this project saw a societal problem, He saw slums with children who had no access to quality education, he decided to solve the problem and that gave birth to “Slum to School” and there are other inspiring stories of people standing up and impacting their society directly or indirectly.

Leading your country is unrealistic when you have no intention of becoming a political leader but you can be a leader in own little world called “your mind” and then change the world positively. Wake up, love your country genuinely, be inspired and realize it’s your responsibility to create the world that you want to see and be part of. Activate the “Leader” in “You”.

…Chioma Olamide Udom…