Chief Servant: A revolutionary leadership concept

However, right at the beginning of the book, the author makes the character of the Chief Servant, the Executive Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, an interesting one. Woven around the concept of servant-leader, the book traces the leadership qualities of the governor right to his primary school days. Perhaps his assumption of […]

However, right at the beginning of the book, the author makes the character of the Chief Servant, the Executive Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, an interesting one. Woven around the concept of servant-leader, the book traces the leadership qualities of the governor right to his primary school days. Perhaps his assumption of leadership at an early age—having been elected the class monitor of primary one around 1963—could have inspired him to coin the Chief Servant concept, which at best is an avant-garde term in  leadership in Nigeria’s fledging democracy. For Maina, “It could be argued that the process of making the Chief Servant started as far back as his days in primary school.

Besides, the author identifies brilliance, discipline and obedience as some of the qualities that were veritable ingredients in making the Chief Servant.

Again, at the College of Arts and Arabic Studies, Sokoto, where he studied from 1970 to 1974, Maina argues “the college provided the platform on which his ability to lead manifested” as he was elected the president of Muslim Students Society (MSS).

Another curious but interesting aspect of “the making of a Chief Servant” is the claim by the author that Dr Aliyu’s elder brother wanted him to be an architect but he preferred to be a teacher, as he (Aliyu) believed that teaching provided a training ground for leaders.

“The College of Education Sokoto constituted a critical part of the formative stages of the governor’s life as a politician. His election as a speaker of the student parliament may have helped him understood what it takes to win elections,” the author said. But his winning the Student Union Government (SUG) president of the college election appeared a more significant event, as Maina describes it as “watershed of his political activism.”

But like every other human being, the Chief Servant was not immune from the vicissitudes of life. On the 26 October, 1980, he had a fatal accident in which he sustained a fracture.

Perhaps, like his grandfather, Mu’azu, whom his teacher, a renowned Islamic scholar, Mallam Dan Takusa prophesized, “Whatever you do, wherever you go, your fortune and your living are in between the mountains of Minna and Bosso.” Mallam Mu’azu was the Khadi of Minna before he died in 1929.

Dr Aliyu’s leadership exploits did not stop at the school level as he was elected into the House of Representatives under the ticket of National Party of Nigeria (NPN). The author argues that the real Chief Servant was made when the governor was turbaned as the Talban Minna in 2001 and his election as the executive governor of Niger State.

For those who may be wondering what the governor meant by adopting the concept of Chief Servant in place of His Excellency, the author explains. “The Chief Servant has on a number of occasions tried to explain the concept of servant-leadership. In an address he delivered at the opening ceremony of the August 7, 2007 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Political Science Association, Mambayya House, Kano, he said he adopted Chief Servant in place of His Excellency because `We have consistently reminded ourselves and the people that being in leadership position is only an opportunity for us to serve and to make a positive difference i.e improve the lives of many and not to enrich ourselves or behave foolishly or arrogantly. Each time I am addressed as Chief Servant, I am reminded of who or what I am, essentially, the servant of the people, whose job is to deliver service sufficiently and with the fear of Allah.”

Maina strongly believes that “the concept of the Chief Servant is a revolutionary one, which if effectively executed, could redefine the idea of leadership in the best interest of the people.”