By: Ochi, Maduabuchi
One political cycle has ended and we have come under the democratically elected rule of another for the next year.
I would like to first of all start with a big congratulations to those executives who managed to pull ahead of their opponents in the polls, coming out to be announced as the leadership of this great hall. All your efforts and toil have not wasted away but have instead borne fruit. It was not an easy fight but you emerged victorious. So once again, congratulations.
The positions you have come into, one of leadership, is not easily occupied. Shakespeare wrote, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, and it is clear that there is truth in the statement. We do not need to go far to see places where the effect of bad leadership has adversely affected the followers. So fresh in our memory, the recent policies pushed by the government have left many suddenly floundering in poverty. Governmental inefficiency has led to many strikes as people struggle to make ends meet. Even within these striking bodies, poor leadership often end up wasting the efforts made by these disgruntled members of the public, selling away longer-lasting gains for simple short-term pleasures.
It cannot be highlighted enough. You stand in a place of great power, of great influence, where each of your decisions could make or mar the experience that those who are following behind you are having. You must never forget that. You are to the great men of Independence Hall, what Moses was to the children of Israel. Leaders are meant to bring the people being led to a better place where they can be found — from Egypt, further northeast to Israel.
As such, you must never lose sight of those who have put you in the place where you stand. Do not be so enticed by the gifts and your treatment in the house of Pharoah that you turn a deaf ear to the complaints of your followers. Within the Hall, there will be times when you will be brought to a point where it seems like you can do as you will. You must resist.
As you are entrusted with the resources of the hall, keep in mind accountability, and keep in mind that you would be brought to answer for those moments. You will be held to scrutiny to know if you made the right decisions, and there will be consequences if this test is failed. Perhaps you may be able to insulate yourself from the consequences or do it so well that you are indeed not caught, but the consequences will still persist because you would have deprived Katangites, damaged the sense of brotherhood that exists between them and would have allowed the servant of Pharoah to end the life of the Israelites.
Don’t turn a blind eye when there is a breach in the trust of the people. Don’t forget that when one finger touches oil, all the others get soiled as well. You cannot separate yourself from the workings of others within your team, whether executive or legislative.
You have taken the admirable step to represent the students within the Great Independence Hall and you must be ready to take on this great task with a clear heart and eyes turned towards the people. Do not get blinded by the benefits of Pharaoh’s palace that you forget the place you’ve come from.
To the Wider Community
The student community is not limited to the Great Independence Hall alone. Other Halls of residence exist within the same space, faculties, and finally the greatest student body within the university, the Union. They contain leadership in whatever form they may take, and these leaders occupy the same position as our internal leaders. Men and women, entrusted with the sacred duty of representing the interests of the students who have put them in the position that they now find themselves.
The same challenges will come, the ones that plague leadership in general, and more specifically, leadership within the specific circumstances of student leadership within the university environment. It will come with the power imbalance that it presents to those who are trying to better the lives of their followers. They should be encouraged to keep those whose trust they have been given hold, in mind. Don’t forget that you have been called upon to work towards the betterment of the lives of students, and not just cultural enrichment, although that still has its place.
However, when you are faced with the situation as you would most definitely be placed, where you stand between those who have sent you forth and those whose authority you stand between, do not forget to keep the former in mind. Work towards the betterment of the lives of students and resist the temptation to hide within the palace of Pharaoh and deafen your ears to their cries.
Congratulations once again, and welcome to the burden, weight, and responsibilities that follow leadership like flies follow faeces.
