By Mohammed Yabagi
A large section of Nigerian public overlook the quiet achievers in leadership positions, especially in state government houses at their peril:
Such quiet achievers as the Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello and a few others who are intelligent, not necessarily introverted but industrious, are however regularly overshadowed in the political environment by their more radically vocal colleagues.
Northern Nigerian public spaces in particular, tend to notice and applaud behaviour that is characteristic of extroverts,
Negative sociability, false confidence and a penchant for noise make extroverts Governors of northern Nigeria states stand out from the crowd, while their quiet achieving counterparts hum away in the background, getting the job done.
Quite is the power of introvert leaders with confidence and a knack for networking silently in a nation that can’t stop talking, but the societal examination at large is biased against.
Our political environment, most important institutions, our schools and our workplaces, are designed mostly but wrongly for noise makers and for extroverts’ need for lots of stimulation because the society mistakenly interpret a quiet achiever’s reticence as a lack of proficiency in their role.
To be candid, leaders such as Niger’s Bello, prefer to perform satisfactorily but silently not so much that they don’t have an idea, or they don’t have a suggestion, but rather that they want to be able to process and reflect on what they think is a valuable thing to say, without the usual noise and mess that ooze out of most government houses.
Progress in today’s global relies solely on the knowledge and productivity of such quite achievers in leadership and industry but their contribution is often taken for granted in the Nigerian context.
While it is an important standard of democracy to call out leaders who do not perform, it is however far more important for society to celebrate those who achieve albeit with dignified quite.
As things stand, Governor Bello is typically silently tackling the burning issue of security and public safety by beefing up local security outfits in Niger state to compliment the efforts of conventional security agents.
Without the need for the traditional noise and media blasts, Bello having analysed the security situation in the state, came up with necessary but brilliant plans and strategies that involve strengthening the local security outfits that have have otherwise been overstretched and overwhelmed.
Yet, the world got to hear of this effort well in its advanced stage, and only when the Governor, in his usual humble nature, devoid of unnecessary bravado and boasts, mentioned it after he interacted with relevant community leaders and the new General Officer Commanding (,GOC), 1 Mechanized Division, Nigeria Army.
He has already embarked on a process of restaffing, reequipping, and training of the local security agencies which as it were, are understaffed and overstretched because of the size of the state and manpower deficit.
From the point of view of the reasonable section of the public therefore this bold but necessary initiative put in place and pursued quietly but diligently by the new generation Governor comes with the full assurance that the situation will normalize very soon.
(Yabagi, a public affairs commentator, writes from Bida, Niger State)
