“Understand this”, he told his audience, “the fallacy that ‘everybody has a price’ does not apply to you. You are made in God’s image and after his likeness, so how can you have a price! Never forget that a true leader seeks to serve and not to be served; he is other-centred, not self-centred. The Lord Jesus exemplifies this. That is why he said the son of man has come to serve and not to be served. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet just before the last supper. That is the origin of the concept of servant-leadership which the President has offered to Nigerians.”
Elder Felix Ohiwerei, former Chairman and Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc (non-Executive chairman till December 31), answered the call of Christian Men’s Network
Ohiwerei, one of the respected elders of the Redeemed Christian Church of Nigeria, one of the largest Pentecostal churches in the world today, was billed to speak on “Wanted: Men of Character” and he began by acting the man of character that he is by arriving the Sparkles Hall, Ikeja GRA venue of the event from his Ikoyi home a quarter hour before the schedule take-off time of 12noon. Of course that got everybody straightened out, as it were. And when he began to speak, you sought in vain for any airs; no posturing, no affectations; nothing but down-to-earth heart-talk from a father to those he saw as the hope of our nation. And what he had to say was so inspiring that on conclusion, the fifty-something or so men, who had the privilege of hearing him, gave a spontaneous prolonged standing ovation.
He began by stating what looked like the obvious, but which is certainly fundamental to the understanding of the subject. You are a man, he said, “you think, you speak and you act. What you think influences what you say and do. Your thoughts, your words and your deeds determine what you project; so it all begins with the heart.” He therefore defined character as “the personality of a man as determined by his thought, his word and his deed.”
Standing, as sprightly as ever, at the age of 70, Elder Ohiwerei took his audience down the memory lane. He recalled those days when it was his practice to simply leave the doors of his house open for an expected visitor while he leaves for work…when the most heinous crime anyone ever committed, to his knowledge, was the removal of the four tyres of a car while the owner slept blissfully in it!
He posited that the Nigerian civil war was the turning point; when all values nosedived and character became the exception, leading to a leadership crisis. This, of course, was not a rationalization of the state of affairs, but a simple statement of cause. Nor was his speech just a litany of what had gone wrong; this was a ministration about what needs to be done. It was not just a call for moral reawakening, but a call to return to God and His ways of doing things. So, inevitably notable examples were given from the Bible. From the Lord Jesus to Samuel to David to Joseph, the man of God, who is a top member of Redeemed Christian Church of God made a number of prescriptions.
Among these is the need to pursue only things of eternal value. “Understand this”, he told his audience, “the fallacy that ‘everybody has a price’ does not apply to you. You are made in God’s image and after his likeness, so how can you have a price! Never forget that a true leader seeks to serve and not to be served; he is other-centred, not self-centred. The Lord Jesus exemplifies this. That is why he said the son of man has come to serve and not to be served. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet just before the last supper. That is the origin of the concept of servant-leadership which the President has offered to Nigerians.”
Elder Ohiwerei climaxed his ministration with the forthright declarations of Samuel when he handed over rulership of
How many of our leaders can boldly stand before the people after their tenure and make such a declaration, he asked. How many can boldly declare that they have not stolen from the commonwealth; that they have oppressed no one; that they have met the needs of the people? About how many of our leaders can the people truthfully, honestly, without equivocation say as they did of Samuel: “Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.” The only charitable answer, you and I know, has to be “few, very few, indeed.”
The interactive session, which followed, afforded men in the audience the opportunity to ask questions and make observations. This proved really revealing. In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of
According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was, for some reasons, not available, and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment. Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history!
What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was, I did not just talk the talk, I walked the walk. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done. One of the most important components of character therefore is courage; courage to stand for what you believe; courage to pursue your dream and vision.
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