The General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, William Kumuyi, has advised Nigerian leaders to be symbols of good leadership, committed to building a better country.
Kumuyi gave the advice on Tuesday night at the grand finale of a six-day Global Conference organised in Port Harcourt, Rivers, by the Change Makers International (CMI).
The theme of the conference was: “Driving Positive Change and Social Impact”.
Kumuyi, who is the Convener of CMI, spoke on the topic, “Instructive pictures of change in leadership”.
He said that the portrait of a leader is like that of a shepherd in the bible.
He said: The picture of a shepherd is the leader, the shepherd who has sheep, his sheep could be the people he is leading and goes all out for the rest of the people as seen in Jeremiah 23:4.
“The shepherd needs to have the life of Christ in him.
“A shepherd can be a local shepherd or an international shepherd.
“The shepherd feeds the people and makes sure that the people they lead fear no more.
“This means that the shepherd will not be a timid person. He must have courage and confident as seen in Jeremiah 3 :15.”
The clergyman further said that the leader must feed the people with knowledge.
“He is supposed to know his goals and what to do,” he said.
He also said that the leader should be the preservative of the symbolic salt, meaning that leaders are people that should be regarded as the salt, Matthew 5 :13.
According to him, a leader is not useful to the people when he locks himself up from the people, he loses his salty taste.
“A teacher that is locked up is not a good leader.
“This is why leaders should make themselves available for the people they are leading, but there should be moderation so that they will not lose their taste.
“Leaders lose their saltiness when they have questionable character. 2 kings 2 :20.
“Things are already bad in the community and nation, therefore, we want a change.
“When we are talking to the people, we are talking to people in authority, the decision makers.
“We want senators, ministers, governors and leaders that will make a change.
“Leaders to show salt to their followers and not to show them pepper.
“Leaders should be the performance of the sun, Judges 5:14 to 16.
“Leaders are like the sun, you are the light of the world as a leader, when a leader comes in a solution will show up, let your light shine before your followers so that they will see your good works.
“Leaders are the perfection of a superior seer, 1 samuel 9: 9.
“A leader must be a seer, who can see what his subordinates cannot see and know what his subordinates cannot know. Isaiah 42:19.
“As the personality of a steadfast servant, he is not meant to be bossy to those he leads, Phillipians 2: 5,” the cleric said.
He also said that a leader should have the profitability of supporting staff, Hebrews 11: 21.
“A staff should not scatter his job, he should be trusted and dependable, 2 kings 7:1 to 2, staff members should not be doubters, they should not be deceivers, they should be selfless soldiers, 2 timothy 2: 3,” he furrher said.
The Director of Public Affairs and Protocol, Rivers State Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Aliyu Danliti, gave a talk on the qualities of a good leader.
Danliti said that it would be important that leaders pursue good governance.
He outlined the features of a good leader as respectfulness, honesty and integrity, adding that “while leadership styles may differ, all leaders must be respectful.
“This character must include truthfulness, trust worthiness, and a leader must know the repercussion of what he wants to do before doing it.
“The leader goes without bouncers, without security officers, knowing that God is the greatest protector and would protect him.
“Managers and executives have enormous commitment and challenges, so they should drive a positive change, as change makers, there should be collaboration among you and the people.
“A leader should have credibility, we should take people who are willing to make changes as leaders.
“They should have critical thinking, the leaders must work within the armbits of the law,” Danliti said.
He admonished the Muslim and Christian faithful to work together to make the country great and also better the values of the society.
“Leaders should be passionate, leaders should set goals and objectives, develop a template and strategies.
“We must represent our teams intermittently, leadership is a complex and challenging role.
“Whenever you engage as a leader, you must ensure that you make a change,” Danliti further said. (NAN)
