OBADIAH MAILAFIA: STEADYING THE SHIP IN STORMY WATERS: LEADING IN A DYNAMIC WORLD (1)

 By

Dr. Obadiah Mailafia

 Chief of Staff of the Organisation of African, Caribbean & Pacific (ACP) of States, Brussels, Belgium

Former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria

 Being Text of a Lecture Delivered at the 11^th Session of the National Economics Students Association (NESA) Conference at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

 (12–13 March, 2014) 

1. 1.    Introduction

I consider it an honour and privilege to have been invited to address this Eleventh Session of your Leadership Qualities and Entrepreneurial Development Programme (LQED). I recall that a few years ago I was invited to speak at your annual congress in Abuja; an event that I enjoyed tremendously. Having begun my career as a teacher, I have always had a soft spot for young people like you. As elders and parents, I believe it is our moral duty to mentor the younger ones and nurture them in the ways of excellence and progress.

Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and the ancient city of Ile-Ife have a special place in my heart. When I was a graduate student I often visited this campus for one conference or the other. I enjoyed walking with friends through the lush gardens and parks of this campus. Great Ife is easily one of the most beautiful campuses in Nigeria, and certainly one of the best universities in our continent.

I have always remembered that this university is named after one of my heroes, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo; statesman, economist, lawyer, philosopher and sage. General (Dr.) Yakubu Gowon, under whom Awolowo served as Finance Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, declared that he is yet to meet the equal of Obafemi Awolowo. The saintly Yakubu Gowon is still living among us; the Abraham Lincoln of modern Nigeria; statesman, quintessential officer and gentleman. We have to believe what he says about Awolowo.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo – one of the finest minds I ever knew

We must always remember that great people built OAU. There was Awo himself, the visioner. And then you had the great Vice-Chancellors; the distinguished agricultural economist, Professor Hezekiah Oluwasanmi; the Dean of Nigerian Economics, Ojetunji Aboyade; the philosopher Wande Abimbola; and the brilliant neuropsychiatrist Roger Makanjuola.

Aboyade was a first-class graduate and PhD of Cambridge University. He was a student of the famous Joan Robinson who was herself a friend and collaborator with the great economist John Maynard Keynes. The late Aboyade was a frequent lecturer at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) where I began my career as a Junior Fellow. He did work of original importance on capital formation. An electrifying intellect; his passion for the development of Nigeria was contagious. I have always felt privileged to have sat at the feet of this oracle of economics.

I note that the theme you have chosen for this year is, “Marketplace Dynamics: Realities and Opportunities for Emerging Entrepreneurs”. I want to congratulate you for the choice of a theme that is both timely and relevant. The specific topic that I have been asked to give a Keynote Address on is, “Steadying the Ship in Stormy Waters: Leading in a Dynamic World”. A keynote address is expected to be general enough to set the tone and captivating enough to inspire the audience. I will therefore highlight what I consider to be the essential principles while leaving the details to other speakers.

2.    Leadership as Steersmanship

The idea of “steadying the ship in stormy waters” has rather strong navigational connotations. The ship here would be referring to an organisation, an enterprise or even a country. The “stormy waters” would refer to the turbulent environment in which we live today, with its complexity, uncertainty and increasing probabilities of non-linear random quantum changes.

The notion of leadership as a form of “steersmanship” is as old as the Greek philosopher Aristotle. The modern science of cybernetics was invented in the 1940s by the MIT mathematician Norbert Wiener. It derives from the Greek word, kurbenetes, which means “steersman” and encompasses a framework of organisational thinking that links knowledge and information to different systems of command and control, from aeronautic engineering to computation.

 3.    The Saga of Joe Boyle

It reminds me of the story of a Canadian young man of seventeen by the name of Joe Boyle who decided to go on a sea-faring adventure. He wanted to see the world and learn as much as he could about shipping. This was as far back as 1884. The crew on the ship resented the fact that this fellow came from a wealthy family and took to sea merely out of a sense of adventure.

Boyle

On the course of the oceanic journey, it transpired that, off the coast of South Africa, the ship went into very turbulent weather. It began to rapidly take in water. The ship was about to sink. We are told that everyone had to help in trying to pump out the water; failing which everyone on board would perish.

After several days of working day and night, some of them began to weep. They were completely exhausted. Joe Boyle worked harder than everyone on board. He would often taunt his colleague, “I’m a better man than you are!” He also used a lot of humour. When his comrades were about to give up, he deployed some humour: “We can’t be shipwrecked here, there are no women on this coast!”

As everybody was giving up, Joe Boyle took over command of the ship. Because of the sense of initiative and leadership that he had, Joe Boyle saved himself and the rest of the crew and passengers aboard the ship. We are told that he went on to make a large fortune as an entrepreneur in gold and commodities trading. A lover of adventure, he was never afraid of adversity. He welcomed danger as an experience and an opportunity. He did not wait to be appointed. He always took the lead.

Joe Boyle had that rare ingredient of character that great leaders and entrepreneurs are made of. He had an insatiable curiosity and appetite for knowledge. He always made it a point to master his field. He radiated confidence and he led by example.

Continues tomorrow