The Centre for the Study of Leadership and Complex Military Operations of the NDA Post Graduate school recently held its third grandaunts’  lecture, as part of activities lined up to graduate its third set of grandaunts of Masters and Post Graduate Degree Programmes. 

    The Commandant NDA, Major General MT Ibrahim who was the guest lecturer at the event, presenting a paper with the theme, ‘Perspective on Leadership in Nigerian Military Training and Educational Institutions.’ advocated that leadership was a service that can’t be seen or touched but can be felt.

 
   Major General MT Ibrahim maintained that leadership was of different styles and each style depended on situations and circumstances that surround the issues and the set goals and objectives. The NDA Commandant stated that a particular style of leadership that may suit a certain situation and set goal may not necessarily be apt for some other situation, circumstance or set goal.

    The guest lecturer contented that whatever style of leadership is employed, there must be synergy between the leader and the led and, as such, the leader, especially in military situations, must first win the hearts and trust of his followers by being a participatory leader who was ready to set achievable goals.  The followers, on their part, according to the NDA Commandant, must believe in the leader and be ready to, where necessary, offer suggestions to the leader.


    Major General MT Ibrahim also opined that the leader must be sensitive to prevailing situations and be ready to adapt to necessary changes and accepting dynamism without losing focus of the set goals and objectives. He equally was of the view that belief in a Being higher than oneself (Spiritual) helps to keep the leader focused on the goal and not digressing or becoming power drunk and becoming a tyrant leader.

    Major General MT Ibrahim further advocated that a leader should develop a strategy of Reward and Punishment to deserving followers while at the same time, employing the art of power delegation, which he believed would create the concept of order and chain of command in the whole Leader/Follower structure.

    Major General MT Ibrahim enumerated the features of leadership to include, integrity, truthfulness, risk taking, management of resources, time prudence, courage, intent, putting duty before self, having a goal oriented mission, among others.

    In his remarks, the Academy Provost, Professor AS Nwankwo, who was represented by the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor OE Tangban, thanked the NDA Commandant for availing his time and intellect on the topic, in spite of the short notice and his tight schedule. The Academy Provost equally congratulated the graduants and urged them to not limit their thoughts to the classroom and the books they had read in the course of their various programmes, but to take their learning unto the streets and to various other situations, also to those  where their knowledge was mostly needed.

      The lecturer, third in the   series, was organised by the Centre for the Study of Leadership and Complex Military Operations of the NDA Post Graduate School.  The first lecture with the theme: “Leadership and Entrepreneurship’’ was delivered by the Academy Provost, Professor AS Nwankwo, while the second lecture with the theme: “Strategic Leadership” was delivered by AVM JON Ode.

 The event was well attended by Senior Military officers and civilian staff of the Academy and other universities.   



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