Citizenship And Leadership

A very good day to you, dear leaders and citizens of Akwa Ibom State. I want to tell a tale tagged The Race from Marathon:

Here is a classic story of endurance, the one that lends its name to the popular modern contest. I am not much of an historian but I can remember that this original run, which took place in 490B.C, covered about twenty five miles, the distance from Marathon to Athens. The current distance for modern Marathon races was established in 1908, when King Edward VII of England wished to watch the start of the Olympic event from his home at Windsor castle.

Thereafter, 26 miles 385 yards (I don't know the converted equivalence in Metre)- the distance from the castle to London's Olympic stadium-became the official Marathon distance.


Over twenty-five hundred years ago, Darius I of Persia established an empire that stretched across Asia and into Africa. Darius himself was called “The Great King” or “The King” as if there was no other ruler on the face of the earth. And he intended that there should be no other if he should have his way. He made up his mind to make himself master of the Greeks, known far and wide for their skill in peace and courage in war.

Darius sent heralds to every state in Greece to demand tributes of earth and water as symbols that the land and sea belonged to him alone. Some of the States submitted, others proudly refused. Athens was among those who refused. The Athenians threw the Persian Notice into mud, directing the harbingers to go to the mud where they would find both earth and water for their master.


When Darius heard of the rebuke he assembled his large army, readied his fleet, and set sail over the Aegean sea. The Athenians heard of his approach and feared that soon their city would be overrun. At once they thought of appealing to the famous Spartans, whose state lay 140 miles to the south, near Corinth.


The rulers of Athens in council sent for Pheidippides, their champion runner. They commanded him to hurry and urge Sparta to come to their aid. Pheidippides ran. He scrambled up rocky paths, passed through ravines and rivers that ran over slippery stones. For two days and two nights he ran, carrying the urgent plea. He reached Sparta hungry, dusty and footsore.

But the Spartans though fearless of Darius, were envious and mistrustful of Athens. They looked at pheidippides in silence. They smiled darkly and murmured among themselves, while the messenger stood waiting. “We must not act in haste”, they said at last. “We must think it over. Besides, you know our custom; we never fight when the moon is at the half. Wait until the moon is full. Then perhaps we will come”.

Pheidippides wanted to shout in anger and despair. But there was no time for bitterness- he had to let his countrymen know. He did not stop to trade insults with the Spartans. Back over the hills and plains he rushed through streams, rocks and forests. He arrived in Athens with the information: “The Spartans will not help. The Athenians must depend on their own resources”. In a paraphrase, it means use yourself to serve yourself.


Now the Persians had landed on the Greek coast and gone into camp on the plain of Marathon, about twenty-five miles away. The Athenians resolved to oppose them at once. The weary but dauntless Pheidippides took his long spear and his heavy shield, and marched out with 10,000 men picked to meet the foe.

You can read in the history books how the outnumbered Greeks came down from the hills to meet the enemy. The Athenians charged courageously amidst awful shouting and dreadful clash of arms.

For a while the Persians stood fast, hurling their missiles, but at last the Greeks broke their line. When the day was over, Darius and his army were fleeing to their ships.

The Greek general called on Pheidippides: “Take the news to Athens as fast as you can. Tell them of our victory”. Already exhausted from battle, Pheidippides flung down his shield and began to run as he had never run before. He thought of only his home and his worried people, waiting to know if they were destined to live or die. His heart pounded, his temples throbbed and the muscles in his legs trembled, but not once did he stop. One mile, five miles, ten, twenty, twenty-five miles back to the city. The anxious citizens made way as he staggered to the center and gasped: “Rejoice! We conquer!”.

The Athenians shouted for joy, but Pheidippides sank to the ground. And when the people raised him in their arms, they saw he was dead. Ekong nke-e!
I've often tried to avoid writing on politics but not when I remember what Aristotle wrote more than two thousand years ago: “Man is by nature an animal intended to live in a polis”. Human beings (I am included) are social and political beings. By “polis”, Aristotle was referring not only to their Greek city-State or our modern concept of town, State and Country but also to any number of associations.

We are all members of groups, with built-in desires to strive for and achieve one thing or the other, maybe success, wealth, power etc. We join clubs, churches, schools, organizations, civic associations and political parties in order to better the condition of ourselves and the condition of others.

My observation lately on the number of supporters garnered by Governor Akpabio baffles me. You call them political structures. I don't know when Senator Udoedehe started his own, but the sea of heads or crowded supporters I saw last Saturday at his reception organized by only Uyo people was intimidating. The Eduek Ekpe, odot- ukpono Obong nnyin, Arc. Victor Attah was outstandingly present. He created the most thunderous of ovations there. I am sending words to supporters of the Governor's and the Senator's camps (the two well known in the state presently): The success of any organization depends on the character of its citizens. Good citizens are those who know and live up to their duties by exercising virtues such as responsibility, self-discipline, loyalty, work and friendship. Individually or collectively, we should do our parts. I have encountered people labouring together cheerfully toward common goals. I see them keeping their promises and accepting responsibility for their own mistakes.

I have come across those who stand fast beside their comrades-as well as those who don't. I have also met those who are willing to sacrifice their own interests, even their own lives, for the good of the rest. Imagine what Pheidippides (not Jesus)-a sacrificial lamb-went through! “Akwa Ibom is our State”, we used to proudly say.

But are you or are you not the man who is the last out and the first in when all hands are called? Are you not the sympathetic wreck of a creature who knows only all about your rights but knows nothing of courage, endurance, the unexpressed faith and of the unspoken loyalty that knits together a common cause?
Leaders (in all fields)! You are ultimately judged in terms of how well you serve your followers and by the examples you set. Leaders should lead not just by command but by the force of good character. And before they lead, they learn to be good followers they know how to help shoulder a load and share hardships.

Compassion, courage, perseverance, wisdom and sometimes faith are required of them to hold their different positions. A virtue too often overlooked today is gratitude. Akwa Ibomites are currently a people blessed with an inheritance of political freedom and material wealth unmatched in the history of Nigeria. Disposition counts. Good citizenship and good leadership usually require a certain degree of cheerfulness, they should both be fun. Why are we complainers and complainants who doom the common enterprise?

Akwa Ibom people, remember I am your bothered (not “concerned”) co-citizen. Permit me to blow my trumpet again, because if I don't, nobody will blow for me. The salvation of our dear state is the common business of all of us. Wait a minute!...Vacancy! Vacancy!! Vacancy!!! The race is on.
Needed (not wanted): Good citizens and good leaders!