Leaders don’t need to preach
about humility, they need to demonstrate it. This is so because some of the
greatest lessons in leadership are seen and not heard. This must have prompted
David McKay to say, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.” Indeed, I
saw a sermon last Friday in Barr.Emmanuel Enoidem, AKS Special Duties
Commissioner and Engr.Etido Inyang,Special Adviser to Governor Akpabio on
Technical Matters.
On that faithful day, yours truly woke up with so much
enthusiasm to discharge my duties for the day. I made straight to the Akwa Ibom
International Airport to catch my flight to Abuja; the nation’s seat of power
in readings for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mini national convention.
The 7.45am Abuja bound Arik flight W3 532 was announced and passengers were
checked in. Needless to stress that the aircraft conveyed top ranking
politicians from the state to Abuja for the just concluded national convention.
On board the aircraft, before the final takeoff, a mild drama ensued. As a pen
pusher, yours truly was waiting for such. When Barr.Enoidem came on board, his
seat in the Business Class was occupied by someone else. The air host and
hostess were on hand to sort it out. After checking through the boarding pass
of the occupants of the business class seats, it was discovered that a certain
elder statesman wrongly occupied the seat. When the man was to be removed from
the seat as expected by other passengers, the honourable commissioner pleaded
that the man be allowed to seat there, while he humbly went to occupy the
economy seat.
Hardly did Enoidem settle down when Engr. Etido Inyang boarded
and like Enoidem, his seat at the business class was wrongly occupied by a
woman. Before the air hostess could settle the issue, Etido Inyang had gone to
sit at the economy seat. By these actions by our leaders, I saw a sermon on
humility. To my mind, good leaders don’t just preach about humility; they
practice it. Action takes precedence over accolades. I love and respect them
the more for their meekness. Juniors who respect their seniors invariably earn
their respect too. By their action, they demonstrated the adage that, no bird,
no matter how daring or how strong, wins praises for smashing itself up on the
rock during flight.
Today, it is almost common to see the young ones insult
their elders at the slightest provocation. Humility or meekness is a very
scarce virtue especially among members of the political class and the youths.
Yet, the society abhors pride and even God resists the proud, but gives grace
to the humble. We, the youths need to embrace humility as a virtue. We need to
take a cue from these two gentlemen because a person’s character is like
pregnancy; it cannot be hidden.
MANASSEH can be reached on
08065223311
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