Former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke

A former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke says we must demand loyalty from our leaders because they come to us, demand our votes and immediately they become leaders, they become tigers.

Duke gave the remark on Friday at a public lecture organised by the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star in Calabar, Cross River, themed: “Servant Leadership, the Might of Meekness.’’

According to him, a leader must understand and love the people.

“Loyalty is a two-way thing; it starts from the top and comes down to the bottom and when it gets to the bottom, what you get back is reciprocity,’’ Duke said.

“It is love that gives you the passion to keep going regardless of the challenges. If you are a leader whose entire outlook is for the betterment of his or her people, they will still look up to you even when you are not in the position of authority”.

Speaking on security, he said policing is the only way to ensure effective security in the country. He described policing as “a very local thing which requires a lot of intelligence and knowing the people who you work with.’’

According to him, anything that is central must be localised.

“If you send someone from Edo to come and become the Commissioner of Police in Cross River and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) is from a different state, how do you expect him to understand the peculiarities of the people?

“The failure of the military administration in Nigeria was posting someone from Sokoto to be an administrator in Cross River. It will take him a long time to understand the nuances of the people of the locality,’’ he said.

On concept of a servant leader, Duke said there was no better example than Christ who came from on high.

The former governor said Christ went through the humbling process of birth, growth and understanding human frailties and strengths in order to lead them back to his father.

Also speaking, the Nigerian High Commissioner to Uganda, Dr Nya Asuquo, noted the differences between prosperous and backward countries.

Asuquo noted that natural resources alone did not guarantee the prosperity of a nation but visionary leadership transformed people’s destiny.

He said that a leader must not only know where he is going but must have the ability to inspire people to go with him.

“Leadership goes beyond occupying an office of authority but being able to motivate the people with words and actions.

“It is important to state that the supreme quality of leadership is having an unquestionable integrity because without it, no real success is possible,’’ he said.

In his remarks, the Deputy Governor-elect of Bayelsa, Sen. Degi Eremienyo, said the most effective instrumentality for change was to imbibe the spirit of servant leadership reinforced with meekness and humanity. (NAN)