21/09/2017
A tip of the iceberg.
CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH LEADERSHIP IN RURAL BATTALION AND STATE COUNCILS IN NIGERIA.
1 DIFFICULTY IN DELEGATING RESPONSIBILITIES: Leaders of most Battalion and State Councils in Rural Areas lack the will to execute the authority they have to ensure effective distribution of Labour. According to a famous economical theory, “DIVISION OF LABOUR BRINGS ABOUT SPECIALIZATION AND INCREASES YIELD / PRODUCTIVITY”. If the administrative heads of a Council delegate responsibilities appropriately, each Officer irrespective of his level of experience will have a role to play and a place to feature. There are lots of unexplored grounds in the Boys Brigade. So we employ leaders of Councils to understand that one of the factors undermining their output is large land mass and small work force, thus they should engage Officers based on their level of training and IQ.
2. INADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE: Leadership is not all about having a noble and respected position in a Council; it’s all about having the authority and knowledge to lead your subjects aright. A leader without adequate knowledge of his field is like a BULL WITHOUT BRAINS. He can rage and whale when though times come, but never win any arguments, dialog or fight. Wisdom is the principal thing in any field. This is the reason why some Companys, Councils and Organizations fail; because the leader’s only focus is power and not knowledge about the organization. We employ head of Councils to put more effort is understanding the ethics of leadership and knowledge about the organisation. They should attend trainings, meetings and workshops to gain formal knowledge of the Boys Brigade and make off with pride and low self esteem.
3 LACK OF INTEREST: Due to societal and financial pressure, most leaders have lost interest and zeal to lead. Some breed “I DON’T CARE SYNDROME” amongst his Officers thereby making things go haywire within his jurisdiction. Some echo within their hearts that “IT’S A VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION AND NOT PAID”, so no need for me to stress myself out after all my name is NEITHER WILLIAM SMITH NOR ALEXANDAR. This leads to poor attitude to work and collapse of the Council. Interest can be rekindled by making the organization attractive by introducing real time fun, varieties, picnics and craftsmanship into the organization. Healthy competitions on sports and other social activities can also be used to spin the interest of youths.
4 DENOMINATIONAL PRESSURE: Denominationalism has a special role to play in the development of most Council in the Boys Brigade. In the well developed regions, most of the denominational heads are well trained and knowledgeable about the ethics of the Boys Brigade because of the training the acquired as members or students during theological experience. In the rural areas, most denominational heads are semi-skilled and lack adequate knowledge. Thus they use their apostolic power negatively by enforcing some uncultured practises into the Boys Brigade. Practises which contradict the Object and Constitution of the Boys brigade. These they do just to satisfy their selfish desires to move their denomination forward rather than the KINGDOM OF GOD which is the principal aim of the Boys Brigade. This pressure have grown beyond the bounds of leadership in Councils through: Trainings, Enrolment services and Uniform accessories in use.
A lecture presented by UWAKWE CHIMAZU in 2015, during the Patrons /Chaplains Workshop at All Souls Ang. Chapel ALVAN stated the following points about denominationalism in line with the scheme of the Boys Brigade Nigeria Constitution and National Council meetings thus:
◈ Denominational fellowships in BBN shall be encouraged.
◈ The fellowships shall function subject to the constitution of the BBN.
◈ No denominational fellowship shall take any actions or conduct any program that maybe inconsistent or conflict with the objects and constitution of the Boys Brigade Nigeria.
In Nigeria, most denominational fellowships have chosen to use their groups to run a parallel government against the higher body, violating decisions of the National and State Councils; thus during the 36th National Council held at Sokoto, it was agreed that the fellowship guidelines shall MAN the operation of denomination fellowships.
That:
◈ Such body shall NOT be eligible to plan and implement any type of enrolment in whatever disguise.
◈ Such a body is NOT authorized to organize any training course or issue training certificates but can have yearly fellowships pursuant to advancing Christ kingdom in their area.
◈ Such body should submit their program to their various state councils and where there is a clash, the state councils program supersedes that of the denomination.
◈ Such body should NOT award any form of certificate to individual/member.
◈ Such body must acquaint themselves with the organizational set up of the Boys Brigade (BB structure).
◈ Such body will NOT be allowed to use any other colour with the Boys Brigade colour party.
◈ Each denominational fellowship must be represented in the battalion, state and National council.
Also at the 46th National Council meeting held at Kano in 2006, it was revolved:
That any denominational fellowship wishing to continue their fellowship out of BB structure should:
a. Cease using BB colours alongside their denominational colours.
b. Cease bearing the same name and objective with the Boys Brigade.
c. The registration of member companies should be revoked and all their churches be notified.
Despite these stated rules, some denominational groups have thrived breaking the said code of operation without any form of penalty or discipline.
5 COMMUNICATION GAP BETWEEN COUNCILS: A very huge gap exists between most Battalion Councils and governing State Councils. In most cases, the State is unable to communicate effectively with Officers and leaders of the affected Battalion Councils (either through direct contact, mails or calls). This gap widens when the Battalion makes a little or no contribution to the financial growth of the State Council or is in bad terms with the State Secretary organizer or President of the said Battalion Council. Due to this, the Battalion Council in question crawls out of the circle of information and an uninformed man is a deformed man. If the communication gap becomes electrified, the Boys/Officers/Companys phase out because when TWO ELEPHANTS FIGHT, THE GRASS SUFFERS BUT NEVER THE ELEPHANTS.
6 LACK OF FINANCE: Finance is the life wire of all businesses and organization. Inadequate finance affects production and planning. It makes the Councils cut their cloths below their under-garments. In most cases, inadequate finance encourages the sniffing of organizational income/capital for personal gains. Patrons and high ranking Officers in the society should support the councils in the rural areas to help them send enough manpower for training and meetings in the State and National Council levels.
7 POOR MOTIVATION: Leadership ad followership is all about interest and motivation. In the absence of proper motivation, people do things half-hazardly and lack the zeal to fire the team to the next level. Motivation can come in form of reward, finance, belief and words. Leaders must apply transactional leadership style in such cases to improve output.
8. INADEQUATE MANPOWER: Poverty and the quest for quick money have moved the labour force from the rural areas to the urban centres. The urban centres now become overstocked with persons while the rural areas remain deserted / dry. Some Council don’t even have enough Officers to form a quorum for meetings. Some take over leadership positions today and migrate the next minute to the cities for green pastures in either academic or business in other to excel in life.
9 ILLETRACY: An illiterate is any person that lacks the required knowledge in a particular field. Some Officers are so high that they can’t even read or write. They have Brigade manuals, letters or books but can’t make anything out of it.
10 POOR ROAD NETWORK: Poor / Bad road network have hampered the growth of most Battalion Councils. For example the distance between Urualla and Obodoukwu both in Ideato Battalion Council of Imo State is N1,000 to and N1,000 fro. This makes it difficult for most leaders to reach out to weak Companys within their area of operation. Some of the region is not limited by distance between the two Councils alone but also by the unmotorable nature of the roads. Most are only accessible by motorbikes which charge exorbitant prices.
11 POOR TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES: Despite the billions being invested by telecommunication Companys in Nigeria annually, some rural communities remain inaccessible through phone calls irrespective of the network being used. This makes it difficult to reach these Officers through phone calls or sms during emergency meetings or trainings in the State and National Council.
12 ETHNICAL / TRIBAL CRISIS: Nigeria is divided into 250+ more ethnic groups. These have contributed little or nothing to our growth as a Nation but have promoted tribalism and ethnical jingoism amongst political warlords. This ill have also grown in our organization through corrupt political practises and self interest. In a State Council where you have more than predominantly three tribes, the most powerful tribe tries to mask the growth of other councils through intimidation or criticism. In my State council, this doesn’t pose a problem because we are PURELINES / TYPICALLY IGBOS.
13. LACK OF EXPERIENCED PERSONNELS: The net movement of youths from rural to urban areas for job and education have left the rural Battalion Councils with a handful of inexperienced Officers whom are supposed to be resting in their cocoons as members. This makes deliberation and positive thinking difficult because each might be speaking from a different point of view based on his experience.
14 PRESSURE FROM OTHER YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS: The modern age have given birth to many youth organizations which are either politically motivated or built for spreading ungodly conducts within the populace. Some of them allow all forms of misconduct like s*xually immorality, indiscipline and cultism to become the trend and fashion of the day. In the Anglican Church, if an AYF member is found with a Condom in a conference, it’s normal but when a Boys Brigade Officer is caught with one; he becomes the topic for sermon within the whole diocese. These have made some of our Officers to quit the Boys Brigade for other youth organizations where they will be free to express their youthful libido and energy.
15 CULTISM AND INFLUENCE OF SECRET SOCIETIES: Boys Brigade remains the only youth organization that wages a serious war against cultism and secret societies. During the commissioning of Officers and installation of Patrons/Chaplains in the Boys Brigade, an Oath of non-allegiance is issued to members to pledge their solidarity in the war against cultism and secret societies. On two occasions, Officers have been seen to die after reciting the oath during enrolment. This have scared some Officers away from the Boys Brigade into forums where cultism is encouraged because of their commitment with the world of darkness. This reduces the number of manpower available for work.
16 STYLE OF LEADERSHIP BEING PRACTISED: Five leadership styles have been discussed in 2.0.4 above. Each of these styles has its advantages and disadvantages; and must be practised appropriately. For example when chaos or indiscipline breeds, a leader should positively practise autocratic leadership style and not Laissez-faire leadership style.
17 IMPROPER USE OF FUNDS, MATERIALS AND HUMAN RESOURCES: Some leaders fail because they mismanaged the funds, materials and human resources being handed over to them. Just like in football, some coaches can handle upcoming players but find it difficult in working with super stars. Leaders should seek redress and advice when lost on along the way.
18 SELF – CENTEREDNESS AND SELFISHNESS AMONGST OFFICERS: Greed have consumed the mindset of most leaders making their mindset corrupt and money conscious. Some are only looking for the nearest means of making money through the ministry of the Boys Brigade because they have seen working for God as a personal business which gives lots of profit and turnover. This has been pointed out by most preachers to be the reason why we have many pastors and evangelist in this part of the world. Misappropriation of funds and illegal sales of Brigade materials is also a common trend amongst such persons.
19 GENDER BORNE PROBLEMS: A popular comedian in Nigeria once said “IN THE PRESENCE OF EVE, ADAM MUST MISBEHAVE”; most male Officers have lost interest, motivation and focus because of the presence of Lady Officers. Some in the quest to impress their admirers break certain code of conducts even to the point of using organizational money to buy gifts for the lady. It also affects their judgement and reasoning. I did say Bethshelda in the bible lured David into the scenes which lead to her husband’s death by taking her bath openly in a place where the King could see her contours and curves. If she did keep herself away from the King David’s sight, she would have saved her husband, the Kingdom and David too. This goes to all lady and male Officers in the Boys Brigade. Lady Officers are supposed to be matured or experienced women of proven integrity in age and training. These days we have juicy Lady Officers and under-aged girls whom are being enrolled into different sections (Junior, Company and Senior) of the Boys Brigade.
20. LANGUAGE BARRIER: Language has always been a problem between nations and trade in all corners of the world. Most Officers in the rural areas can only communicate with one language in Nigeria which could be Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba depending on the person’s tribe. They find it difficult to speak with English or address certain issues properly. In most cases, they resort to speaking vernacular which is highly prohibited right from our school days.
Thanks and God bless.
