ICSAN, stakeholders seek transparent leadership

IN as much as corporate governance will entail a synergy between leaders and the led, the imperative of leadership is that those in position of authority, especially in national life, must show capacity and transparency in order to elicit attitude change in the followers.

This was the view of speakers at the 2015 yearly public lecture of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) held in Lagos, with the theme, “Governance: The Synergy Between Leadership and Followership.”

The guest speaker and President, Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE), noted that “synergy between leadership and followership in both political and corporate governance is inevitable if the nation must create “the strong platform for the needed quantum leap in development.”

According to him, beyond the change in government and the persons in leadership, “the only change that can bring about sustainable development is that of the human person.” Stating that the core thing in leadership is “upliftment,” he noted that it is in helping people to attain higher levels of accomplishment in moral, intellectual, spiritual and material life that the true mark of leadership is expressed.

Though both are interlinked, “good governance is more desirable than credible elections, as the staggering wave of violence, insecurity, crime and economic recession are attributes and hallmarks of poor leadership and government, which ultimately affects followership,” he noted.