By Bayo Oluwasanmi
No one has to wonder about the enormous political and economic consequences of Britain’s leaving the European Union.
After a contentious referendum campaign, Britons voted by 51.9 per cent to sever the country’s 43-year membership of EU.
The outcome of the referendum was like an earthquake with tremors across and beyond Europe triggering financial market turmoil around the world. The British pound dived to a 30-year low. Britain’s big banks took a $100 billion battering with Lloyd, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Scotland plunging as much as 30 per cent.
Power intoxicates. No one can lead without first acquire power. The greatness of a leader lies in how he uses power. Leaders use power differently and for different reasons. Some use power to further their selfish greed. Others use power as an imaginative visionary tool to achieve great things for people and to improve the well being and welfare of their people. For those who use power for selfish ends, they are ruthless, manipulative, devious, and out to exploit the weak and the helpless. Power reveals the true leadership of a leader. When a leader gets to power and doesn’t need anybody any more, then we can see how he treats people, and what he wants to do and accomplish with power.
Some people want to be leaders, but few are leaders in the use of great power for great purposes. President Lyndon Johnson who was skillful in amassing and wielding power, once said: “I do understand power, whatever else may be said about me. I know where to look for it, and how to use it.” Indeed, he knew how to use power. He used power to change the world. He initiated far reaching changes in civil rights and the brought about the Great Society. A leader is a giver not a taker. Many people desire power for power sake. They have no agenda but to dominate others, to ruin people’s lives, to impoverish people, to steal from them, to turn people into slaves and zombies, to destroy people, and to eliminate political opponents and business partners through assassination and other brutal killings.
To save Britain the agony of a bruised and battered PM who had staked his principles, beliefs, and popularity on the referendum which turned out against him, David Cameron resigned immediately. An emotional Cameron said: “The British people have voted to leave the European Union and their will must be respected. I want to thank everyone who took part in the campaign on my side of the argument, including all those who put aside party differences to speak in what they believe was the national interest and let me congratulate all those who took part in the Leave campaign for the spirited and passionate case that they made.” Cameron who remains gracious even in defeat said: “The will of the British people is an instruction that must be delivered. It was not a decision that was taken lightly, not least because so many things were said by so many different organisations about the significance of this decision. So there can be no doubt about the result.”
In contrast, Bukola Abiku Mesujamba Saraki Nigeria’s Senate President has resolved to immobilize the Senate from doing its work. Mesujamba as the Senate President is similar to some of the Roman conspirators who were determined to bring down mighty Caesar in Shakespeare’s play. Cassius manipulation of Brutus joining the conspiracy is similar to Mesujamba’s manipulation of the system and the willing stooge senators such as the buffoon Dino Melaye, the morally bankrupt Ike Ekweremadu and the other members of the Evil Alliance into joining the conspiracy to defend and prolong the tenure of a senate leader reeling from assorted crimes.
Leadership is behavioral, not positional. Positions and titles don’t define great leaders. Great leaders define and leverage the power of their positions to have a positive impact. The capacity to integrate, motivate, and mobilize others to bring a common aspiration to life is what leadership is all about, not holding positions of formal authority. Each day a leader is called upon to make decisions, and each decision he makes is a test of his performance. “I have also always believed that we have to confront big decisions, not duck them,” says Cameron. “But the British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path and as such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction,” Cameron explains why he’s stepping down. “I will do everything I can as Prime Minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months but I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination,” Cameron assures Britons.
The most critical problem facing the Nigerian Senate today is leadership vacuum. The senate is dying due to lack of strong leadership. In this time of uncertainty and restlessness, the senate has actually lost its purpose, role and influence. The primary reason is leadership. Nothing is more important than leadership. As Thomas Jefferson proclaims, “In matters of fashion, swim with current. In matters of conscience, stand like a rock. The Mesujamba Senate has lost it. Mesujamba is a leader who goes his own way and seeks to benefit only himself. Every time a leaders has compromised his leadership under the weighty accusations of fraud, forgery, and looting, and bluntly refused to quit, he’s not fit to lead the people and he must resign for the sake of the institution and for the love of the country.
Mesujamba is a leader without a vision and lives completely in the present. He could not see beyond now. His shortsightedness prompted him to give up the ultimate for the immediate. His limited vision is causing grieve and humiliation to himself and to the nation. He’s completely devoid of a strong sense of security, a strong sense of identity, a strong sense of empathy, a strong sense of purpose, and a strong sense of perspective. These are the leadership attributes displayed by Cameron to call it quits after a devastating referendum that left him paralyzed as a leader. And that’s the lesson in power Mesujamba should learn from Cameron. Battling two criminal cases and to show that he’s learned something from the example of Cameron, Bukola Abiku Mesujamba Saraki should resign TODAY and stop the leadership hemorrhage in the senate.