Livinus Ukah
How can you say you have made it in life while you lack personality profile? Is your personality judged by the latest cars you drive? Is it by the size of your house or office with all modern equipment? Is it by your huge bank deposits or by your professional efficiency? By the beautiful wife you have? Is it by the number of children you have, many in America or Europe? No! No! No! This can’t make you a paragon of excellence in the world of today. It can only make you a local champion according to the village standards. Personality profile goes hand in hand with power; power to heal and unite not to destroy.
Good personality profile shines in you and it is recognized by the contributions you make to the world and your passionate care for the wounded poor of the world. Bill Gate has a global view of what is happening in the marginalized world. He is rich in giving, developing persons, reaching out to people, knowing the problems of the world and finding solutions to them. You can’t be rich for only yourself, families and kinsmen. This is an old fashion way of defining wealth. Those who move heavy cash around should take note of this. Such definition of wealth is no longer fashionable, it is only when your wealth is used to help dislocate poverty, uplift the peripheries and build a community of peace and love.
Personality profile and responsibility go hand in hand. Can you speak in your town hall meeting? If you can’t, it is because your education did not help you to be so. You were glued to your subjects to enable you get good grades and qualification to overcome poverty in your family. Is that all? Are you relevant in the society? Can you live without God? What contribution do you make in your church? Can you speak to raise the consciousness of your colleagues to become the engines of community or church economy to help make a change? What motive do you have when coming to the church?Do you come to church to be a part of the number and hide yourself from the community you are a member of? Doing so is hiding behind your shadow making you unrealizable of who you really are, masking yourself in an anonymous world! How can you be happy? When you have come out from economic doldrums and you tend to rusticate in your own little world without expressing yourself in a bigger world.
With your dazzling personality, you should dine with kings and the intelligentsia! Where the educated go, can you go? Do you see that the University did not brush you up properly and only taught you how to do your job without morality and ethics at your work place just to make money? Look at the history of St Gregory College Lagos. Look at the caliber of principals and how their students were shaped to become relevant to the society. From white principals to now; black priests’ principals. Look at St Patrick’s college Asaba and hosts of them. The Church has contributed a lot in shaping and producing leaders to develop Nigerian society. After that era, what is happening now? Your guess is as good as mine!
People now are technocrats, aiming at amassing wealth without ethics in businesses, no ethics in schools. The University is no longer a sanctuary for social responsibility. The University produces people who will get jobs with no moral equivalence. We have heroes and heroines but they are only social heroes with no moral compass! When a person is not built on high values, he will be incomplete. He will not function well but can only brag over the ephemeral things of this world which give only instant joy but lack finesse. Look at the recent elections! Can some those that claimed “victory” feel a real sense of achievement? Come on! Victory is not achieved through foul means. What is victory in Nigeria may not be victory in other countries.
When the Inner self is not touched, then what type of personality is that? Look at the president of the FREE WORLD. He has everything money can buy. His money has brought him into power, he did not see happiness in wealth but looked for a better place to get fulfillment then he landed into power and yet the inner self is not touched yet. He is still struggling and the world is experiencing the resurgence of America coming up with a new ideology; populism- a disoriented ideology from democracy. His policies are American oriented without global outlet and appeal. Trump has become his own country’s sales man by saying “Come and invest in America”.
Even though he feels he is doing well in the economy, there is a cloud of dust on his way. He has to get rid of drug epidemics in America, listen to the cries of the youths on gun control and restore faith in citizens and trust in God. With that his personality would shine and build appeal to the public. There is no unity but Divisiveness in an attempt to establish a white society. To have a dazzling personality profile, he has to get rid of divisiveness in America and make America a home of democracy again. Without that, he makes nonsense of his personality profile which he has been aspiring to have in spite of his wealth; this is the reason he ventured into politics to reach the peak of greatness. Today the impeachment saga is hanging on his neck. This applies to all the people seeking for personality profiles in Leadership.
Many African presidents lack good personality profiles. Nigeria that is the giant of Africa needs it more than other African countries. Trump and Buhari share the same ideology; the blame syndrome. Trump can’t do anything without blaming Obama while President Buhari and his party always put the downfall of Nigerian economy on Jonathan.These are their likeable.Any party that lacks social ethics is heading to rubbishing their leader. What is the personality quotient of Nigerian and African Leaders? What we have now are pugnacious leaders that intimidate and terrorize the people into submission against their wills. We need leaders with great personality profiles, who would come into power on merit so that they can bring peace, development and justice to the country not division.
Very Rev Monsignor Livinus Ukah
Parish Priest; St Kizito Catholic Church Alaba-Suru/Oro Lagos.
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