EQUIPPING THE NEXT GENERATION: PASTOR ITUAH IGHODALO – THE 8TH EDITION OF RECALP SUMMIT, 13TH JUNE, 2022.

THE 8TH EDITION OF RELATIONSHIP, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CAREER, LEADERSHIP AND POLITICS (RECALP) SUMMIT 2022 (POWERED BY YAYA RCCG LP 19, REGION 11).

THEME: EQUIPPING THE NEXT GENERATION.

SPEAKER: PASTOR ITUAH IGHODALO (SENIOR PASTOR AND FOUNDER, TRINITY HOUSE LAGOS).

TOPIC: LEADERSHIP

DATE: 13TH JUNE, 2022

God Bless you all!

And I want to congratulate you on this Year’s Edition of RECALP Youth and Young Adult Program 2022 – That is designed to Change your thinking;

Because the Bible says that, as a man thinketh so he is or so he becomes – (DMC NOTES: Proverbs 23:7).

Not mainly the Youths, and of course the Adults in our Society, in our Great Church – The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and in Nigeria at large.

And it is very, very important, especially at this critical time in our Nation’s History; when we need right thinking people, mature people, focus people and people who think beyond themselves, to help Change the Trajectory of Nigeria.

I must apologize that I am not able to be with you Physically this Year (2022). I am hoping that God will Provide other opportunities for me to be there Physically.

But I want to thank my friend and my brother (our Convener) – Pastor Bisi Olowoyo (PICP, RCCG LP 19), for granting me this Privilege and allowing me this concession.

Also, Pastor Femi Aminu – The Provincial Youth Pastor, RCCG LP 19 – I want to thank you for all your energy and all your efforts.

My Co-Speakers – My Aburo (Meaning: Junior Brother) – Olusegun Adeniyi, Madam Gloria Bamiloye, Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe; I salute you and I greet you all.

And I do hope that the moments that we all will share with this Great Generation of people will help to turn Nigeria in the Right Trajectory.

Let me say categorically that, Nigeria needs help! – Nigeria is definitely not where it is supposed to be.

When we got Independence, that was almost sixty two (62) years ago now; we all were looking forward to a great and wonderful Nigeria.

Let me also say categorically that, sixty (60) years ago Nigeria was ahead of China – We were much more better than China and we had Greater Potential than China.

We were ahead of Malaysia Sixty (60) years ago – We were better with Greater Potential.

We were almost at Par with India – Okay?

But even then, because of our trimness and smaller size, people looked at Nigeria to be truly, truly outstanding because of the vast amount of Resources and the people we had, and the environment we lived in. And the relatively higher number of educated Nigerians.

As for Singapore, it was totally non-existent at that time – It was poorer than the poor. It didn’t even exist as it was part of Malaysia and nobody thought that it would survive.

It was in 1963 that the Malaysians, looking at that little Place called Singapore, thought that it would be such a terrible burden for them to carry this responsibility; that they decided to allow them to cut away.

But today, Singapore is one of the leading Economies of the world, with the highest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the highest Income Par Capital; and one of safest Place to live in.

In 1978/79, this area called Dubai – That a lot of you visit and go Shopping and do all sorts of things; this Area called Dubai and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) was poorer than the poor.

Their Airport was like a Strip in 1978/79 – Little, little Strip of Places. You know, the whole Place was largely desert and there was virtually no real Development there.

But between 1978 till date, Dubai has been totally transformed. And it is almost a first world Nation, virtually. And it has helped to influence the Trajectory of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Arab works in Particular. And it has become a Beacon and a Shinning Light for that area is the world.

… Unfortunately Nigeria has stood still almost on the same level.

I didn’t even bother to mention any African Country because they didn’t really compare at that time.

But it is a little bit of a tragedy that the whole of Investments are going into different West African and African Countries and jumping over Nigeria.

But the fact that we are still where we are is a Great and Mighty thing – It is a feat. It shows that Nigeria is not ignorable, neither is it avoidable.

So, it is good for us to be able to sit down and think, reflect and see which way and which direction that we are going.

And I am speaking today on LEADERSHIP.

… Because this is very, very important.

WHO IS A LEADER?

A Leader is that Person or Individual or Corporation or Group that has been given the right and the Privilege to show direction and drag the people to where they really ought to be.

A Leader is the Person that shows direction, drags, encourage, motivates and virtually determines what would happen to a set of people.

1. For Example Abraham was a Leader of his family.

And God Told him in Genesis Chapter 12 – Get out, go in this direction.

And Abraham led and dragged his people towards the area called Canaan; that God has told him to go.

… Again, Moses was Leader of his people.

2. And even before Moses, Noah in the time of the Flood; it was the Leadership of Noah that saved his family, put them in the Ark and rescued them from Flood that destroyed the entire Earth.
3. Subsequently, Moses was the Leader raised up in the back of the desert by God Himself; Sent into the Court of Pharaoh to lead the Children of Israel out of bondage, into the Promised Land.

So, without the Leadership of Moses, without the Direction of Moses, without the Encouragement of Moses, without the Perseverance of Moses, without the long-suffering and the Determination of Moses; it is unlikely that the Children of Israel would have made it to Canaan.

If you read the Bible very well, a lot of the time they threatened to go back to Egypt; they threatened to stone Moses, they threatened to stop all these nonsense. And they didn’t really want to go to where Moses was taking them to.

What am I trying to say? – It Rises and it Falls on Leadership.

… It is very, very, important, and very critical.

Tell the Person next to you – IT RISES AND IT FALLS ON LEADERSHIP!

Everything that you see around you is determined by the quality, the content, the ability, the Strength, and the Capacity of the people that are driving that thing.

So, if you don’t like where you are as a Human Being, it means that you have not given yourself and your life sufficient Leadership.

If you don’t like where you are as a Church; as a Ministry, it means that the people that have been given the Privilege to run that Ministry have not done it the way you would have been happy with.

Of course, if we do not like where we are as a Country (in Nigeria) it means that our Leaders – Past and Present (let’s see what the future brings) have not been able to drag Nigeria. It shows the kind of Leadership that Nigeria needs.

If we don’t like where we are now as a world, it shows that the people that have influenced over our lives have not been able to show the right kind of Leadership.

… So Leadership is very, very, very, very, very important!

Therefore, when people are involved in choosing their Leaders, or have the opportunity to choose their Leaders; they must make sure that they choose right.

Anybody that has an opportunity and the ability to be involved in the choice of Leadership Selection must make sure that they choose right – Okay!

The other day, I got into a Plane, we were coming from Abuja and were going in to Lagos. And the person sitting next to me said: “Man of God, it is between us now and God. There is nothing anyone of us can do.”

I said, why did he say so? He said: the Pilot that is leading and Piloting the Plane, we don’t know him, we don’t know where he came from, we don’t know what he does;

We don’t know whether he quarreled with his wife this morning, we don’t know whether he slept well, we don’t know whether he is on drugs, we don’t know whether he is a madman!

But we have entrusted our lives into his Leadership. And on whatever he does, we are on our own!

You know, when you are doing a review of the Dana Plans that crashed about ten (10) years ago (around this time); I discovered that the Pilot had actually had his License withdrawn from the United States.

Yet he came to Nigeria and he was Piloting a Plane. And he took one (1) or two (2) wrong decisions that could have avoided that the Plane crashed.

It Rises and it Falls on Leadership!

My Prayer for you today is that – YOU WOULD NOT FALL – Amen.

Your Company and our Nation would not fall – Amen.

So it is very, very important that we get involved in the Process of Leadership determination.

Why is Nigeria where it is today?

It is because a lot of us who should have known better; who should have understood more; were not involved in Leadership Selection when people had the opportunity in the 50’s.

We started doing Self Rule around 1952/53 – That brought in the Awolowo’s, the Zik’s, the Tafawa Balewa’s and the Sultan’s of Sokoto. A few people were involved. And at that time they seemed to have chosen the best of what each Region had to offer.

Whether they were able to then to choose the best Leader among the Leaders is the Regions, I am not sure and only history would tell.

But the man that they chose eventually – Tafawa Balewa, was a relative man of Peace, extremely eloquent, very well spoken superb English, carried himself well. A man of simple means and a man of great Knowledge and Education.

Whether he had the drive, the determination, the Unifying factor, the Vision and the Capabilities to have taken Nigeria to where it should be, only God knows!

But nevertheless, he wasn’t quite given an opportunity! And in 1966, the Military strucked.

And this is when Nigeria’s troubles began. Because from then on, we no longer had a Choice; we no longer had influence, we no longer had any direction in the people that came to lead us because they came and they led us by the barrell of the gun.

Whether they were competent, capable, determined; even if they had Training or knowledge as to Leadership, we really do not know!

And that is largely why Nigeria is where it is today – The Leadership in the Military era that were not quite capable or organized to do what they did.

And they were Leaders by default,not Leaders by Training.

But here we are Sixty two (62) years later – It is time for us to begin to think differently, and find different ways of making these things happen so that Nigeria truly, can be Great again.

Let me say very quickly, and come to some kind of closure at this time (so I don’t take too much of your time) as to the Kind of Qualities of Leadership that is needed to lead the people, to transform a Nation and to do great things.

QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP.

1. VISION:

The first one, as far as I am concerned is Vision – The ability to see.

If you are leading people somewhere, you should see where they are going.

That is why Jesus said – Let the blind follow the blind. If the blind are led by the blind, all that they would do is to fall into a ditch.

So somebody that doesn’t have any Vision, any direction, any image of where he is taking people to, is going to be very difficult.

And that is why Solomon asked God for the Mental Capacity, the Knowledge and the Intelligence to be able to lead the people, and decide what is right or wrong.

2. ETHICS – MORALITY.

A Good Sense of Values, a Good Sense to distinguish good from bad – To know what is right for the Society.

You know, a Leader that has no Values would be corrupt, abusive, irresponsible, indiscipline and would not be able to reinstall the kinds of Values that make a Nation Prosper.

That is why the Bible says – When the Righteous Rule, the people rejoice (DMC NOTES: Proverbs 29:2).

What it means is that, where people with the right sense of Values are in Charge, then there is quite, fairness, rule of law, direction, understanding, Strength and depth. And people know exactly where they are going.

3. COMPASSION.

Compassion for the people that you are leading.

And that is why David said – The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want (DMC NOTE: Psalms 23:1).

A Shepherd is a compassionate Person – He has compassion for the Sheep that he is leading.

If the sheep don’t eat, the Shepherd won’t eat. If the sheep don’t sleep, the Shepherd won’t sleep. If the sheep are sick, the Shepherd doesn’t rest. If the sheep are uncomfortable – they have lice and chicks, the Shepherd must remove every single one of them.

… So a Leader must be a Conpasionate Shepherd.

Unfortunately a lot of the Leaders around the world have no compassion for the people they are leading. And they are not really interested in the Welfare of the people that they are leading.

Especially and most importantly in Nigeria – A set of Leaders that have absolutely no Vision and no compassion for the people that they are leading. They think more of themselves.

4. A Leader must be SELFLESS.

A Leader must think first, of all his Troops.

That is what a Great General of the American Army said in those days.

He said – Before my people sleep, I must make sure that they are comfortable; I must not show any fear, anxiety or tension. I must show the people that everything is going to be alright. Even if I am hungry, I must not show it. If I am afraid and tired, I must not show it – I must keep going and leading the people from the front.

He said it is important that the Leader knows exactly what it is. And he must understand his people and know where they are going.

General Collin Powell was his name – The first Black Chief of Defense Staff of the United States of America (USA).

He didn’t get there by accident; he got there because he had the right Leadership Qualities.

5. PASSION.

A Leader must have Passion for the job that he is doing.

A lot of people ask me – “When do you rest? What do you do to relax?”

I say: “My job is my Relaxation.”

I am Passionate about my Accounting, about my Business, about the People, about Pastoring – I just want to see life better for the “Average Person”.

That is what makes me relax – When you I see people’s lives being improved.

A Leader must be Passionate about what he is doing – We don’t want “Reluctant Leaders”, and so on and so forth.

6. READY TO SERVE.

A Leader must be ready to serve.

That is why Jesus Christ told the Disciples – You want to be Leaders: One on my right, one on my left? You don’t know what you are asking for.

He said, whoever is going to lead, let him first of all be a Minister.

And the word ‘Minster’ there – Minister of Finance, Minister of Trade, Minister of Industry, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Health, means Servant.

… The one who serves; the one who is ready to serve.

But now, we hardly have “Servant Leaders”. We have Leaders – Leaders: who just want to direct, ride on big cars with sirens, and things like that.

So, if a Leader does not have these Capacities and these Qualities, it is going to be tough!

7. CAPACITY TO WORK HARD.

A Leader must work hard.

Jesus said, my Father worketh, hitherto I work. Okay? (DMC NOTES: John 5:17).

He says you better work when there is Light and there is day. Because the Night is coming when you are not going to be able to work. (DMC NOTES: John 9:4).

You must be ready to work hard – Very hard and Extremely hard. You know leadership is 24/7 (DMC NOTES: 24/7 means 24 hours in a day for 7 days that makes a week).

That is why you see a lot of Great Leaders by the time they have led for a year or two (2), they are looking tired, their hairs have grown grey, this and that!

Because they are working hard all the times, they are available all the time – Discussing, Signing Papers, opening Files listening to people conversing with people, answering Phone calls, having Solution to Problems, responding to situations, reacting appropriately and Planning far ahead.

8. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH AN EXTREMELY GOOD TEAM.

A Leader must be a Person who has Relationship Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence; the ability to choose the Right Team, and use the kind of people that are needed for him to be able to achieve what he wants to achieve.

You need a lot of Qualities as a Leader – Passion, Compassion, you must be able to work extremely hard.

Of course, when it is time to rest, please take time to rest so that the brain cells can regenerate.

9. GOOD HEALTH.

A Leader needs Good Health.

Of course, a Leader must be able to respond Physically to situation and circumstances around him – So a Leader needs Good Health.

10. PATIENCE.

A Leader must be Patient and a Good Listener.

The other day I asked somebody to ask a Lawyer for some kind of advice. And she called the Lawyer and said: My name is so and so. I want this and that!

The Lawyer replied: No, No, No! Go here, go there, do this, do that! And then he texted me to say: I am done, I have sorted the Person out.

When I called the Person, I said well, I heard you have been sorted out. She said Pastor, do you even know the Person did not just listen to me? He didn’t even listen to what I had to say.

They solved the Problem I have not discussed with them because they assumed they knew what I needed. But I wished he had listened to me; then he would understand which direction to send me.

So as a Leader, you must be Patient and a Good Listener.

That is why Jesus Christ said to His Disciples – We have five thousand (5,000) people to feed, what do we do? How do we feed these five thousand (5,000) people?

He was listening to hear what they would say. But the Bible says, He knew inside of Him what he was going to do.

So a Leader must be a Good Listener.

11. BE A PEOPLE PERSON.

A Leader must be a people person – Okay!

If you don’t make friends, you don’t have friends, you are not a people Person – You are not interested in people: How then are you going to lead people?

David, one of the Greatest Leaders ever; was a Great people Person.

The Bible says that when he went to the Cave Adullam, the people that were bankrupt, thieves, badly behaved; the people that has no hope, the sick, the infirmed. The “Useless” people that people thought had no Great opportunity in life, congregated with David:

Because he was a people Person; he enjoyed the Company of people, played for people, played for servants, played for sheep, played for everything!

And towards the end of David’s Life; this same people has become his Mighty Men.

Some of them were people like Joab – The son of Jezeel, Eliab, Abenadab, among others. They were all the “Useless” people who became the Mighty Men of David.

The Bible says one of them could swing the axe with both sides is the axe. One of them could use two hands. One of them went into the snow and killed several Giants and several lions.

These were people that David had transformed their lives by his Leadership Styles and Qualities.

12. THE FEAR OF GOD.

The Greatest Quality you need as a Leader is, the Fear of God.

Anybody that does not truly, truly fear God (that Higher Being up there) would lack something in Leadership towards the end of the time.

You may be Ethical, Morally Upright; you may be all this and all that! Tock some is those boxes. But there are some critical decisions that you can take only when you have Fear and Relationship with God.

Because some times, you need God to speak to you what nobody else can hear.

Isaiah 30:21 says: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Leadership is a Powerful Tool. And if you can get Leadership right, you would not get virtually everything right.

Because Leadership would set the tone, determine the Culture, Attitude, way, show people what to to, and direct the affairs of any Group, Persons, Society, Church, Ministry, Mosque or of course, Nation.

Will Nigeria get the kind of Leaders that it needs? – Tough Call!

Tough Call – Why? Because the family system; where Leaders come from, has totally broken down.

So we are getting in Nigeria, the kinds of Leaders that our family Units have cultivated – That’s what we are getting in Nigeria.

It was a misfortune that some people with the wrong Values got into Leadership and now they have enthroned and Instituted that.

So we need to go back to our families and the Churches – We have a Strong Role to play in re-orientating, educating, putting in the right kind of thoughts and direction (according to the word of God) into the family.

In Europe and the Advanced Countries, it is even getting worse. There is no sexual distinction. LGBTQ is raging over the whole Plàce and it is destroying family base, to create chaos in the world and make people not to be able to function.

DMC NOTES: LGBTQ is an abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,Transgender and Queer or Questioning. These terms are used to describe a Person’s Sexual Orientation.

We need to go back to our families. We need to go back to home trainings. We need to go back to the right Values.

In Church, Leadership is also not doing well.

The Church is corrupt – There are all manners of bad behaviour in Church: People stealing Tithes and Offerings, fighting one another, quarrelling in Church, playing the worse kind of Politics in Church.

Why? – Because the Teachings and Trainings in Church is not directed towards Values. It is directed more towards Personal Prosperity and Increase because that is what people want to hear.

But what we need to do is to trains people in the way of Christ. And when they are trained in the way of Christ, then they will attract the things that we want them to have.

Matthew 6:33 says: But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We need to go back to Basics Truth and Training the people of God in all our Churches and in all our homes, so that we can Produce the right kind of Leaders that we want.

I will close with the Singapore Story:

Singapore was Privileged and lucky to have a man called Lee Kuan Yew, who was a very strict and disciplined man. He wasn’t really a Christian per se. But he was Gifted and Privileged to have the kind of Qualities to set the Standards for Singapore.

And he took them from Third (3rd) World to First (1st) World in thirty (30) to forty (40) years.

Because of the kind of Principles and Attitudes that he did, he created Singapore to be a Safe Place, a Place of Discipline, a Country of Merit and a Country that attracted Investments.

They had no Local Raw Materials – Nothing whatsoever! The only thing that they had is the Deep Seaport, that was man-made.

They just took advantage of the Seaport that they had; the Location which is transed between the East and the West, and Africa.

They took advantage of that and made their City into a Transshipment Area. Brought in Shipments, and invited all sorts of people to come to Singapore and invest.

They turned themselves into the Business hub the Training Center (almost) of the whole World.

They made the Place a truly Great Place to live in.

How did they get their Leaders?

They started from the Nursery and Primary School to identify the Capable, the Skilled, the Intelligent and the Smart ones.

They identified the Leader’s Qualities right from Primary School, give them Accelerated Training and Development. Send them to the best Schools Abroad; let them get the best kind of connections and get them to come back and work in the Civil Service.

So the Civil Service of Singapore has all the best brains in the world (from that area) because right from Primary School they identified them, train them, encourage them, push them.

And then get them to come back to become Leaders in the Civil Service and become Leaders in Politics so that they would always get the right kind of Leaders.

I think we all should start that way also; and we will get the Leadership that we want.

Thank you for listening to me. God bless you all.

And I Pray that all of you would have your lives transformed – Amen.

GET YOUR PVC (PERMANENT VOTER’S CARD) AND VOLUNTEER YOURSELF.

Let me tell you that if you have not yet got your PVC (Permanent Voter’s Card); it’s almost a Leadership Crime not to have your PVC (Permanent Voter’s Card) – Okay?

You must get in there and Vote for the Person that you think can give Nigeria the kind of Leadership that we want.

It means that you are to research them – Every single one of them. Don’t say “this one belongs to this Party, he doesn’t stand a Chance.”

… He doesn’t stand a Chance because you have not given him or her a Chance.

Go and do the research, go and research, among all those people, which one of them truly has the Quality to make Nigeria what we want?

And if you agree that this is the Person, then draw up support for that Person. You don’t need to know the Person. He doesn’t need to be your friend. He doesn’t need to be advantageous to you.

A lot of people are looking for people that will be their friends, so that it can give them advantage.

It may give you advantage, but it will give you long term disadvantage and the rest of Nigerians disadvantages.

And that is what we do in Nigeria – We are thinking more of ourselves. But we should think more of the entire Nation.

Look for that Person, Vote for that Person. But most importantly, you get involved in the Process.

How are you going to Produce a Good Leader when you are not where they are determining who the Leader should be?

… And that is at the Ward level, at the Party level.

Go and register, go and be a Part of the People. Go and join a Political Party. Go and be Part of the people who are determining who becomes Leaders in the future.

And of course, Volunteer yourself for Office.

Do you think you have the Good Leadership Qualities we have just spoken about? Volunteer yourself for Office, so that one day you might be (who knows) the President of Nigeria or Governor of a State – Okay!

You cannot eat the food if you are not in the kitchen – So Volunteer yourself for Office.

Forget what they say that “Politics is dirty.” If it is dirty go in there and clean it up!

That’s the only way we can get the kind of Leaders that we really need – When good people like you get involved.

So read my lips – GET INVOLVED!

God bless you! Have a great Conference.

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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