Loyalty: Is it Earned or Paid For?
By Mohammed Haruna Likpata
Greetings to my followers and fans. Each time I turn around to breath i see a different me because of your love and supports and a prove of your commitment to my political journey.
Today’s article is a controversial one as it means different thing for different people. But I find it very worthy and important that we discuss it as it has always created burden on us as politicians and the followers.
This topic has consistently be in doubt “The Concept of Loyalty” in our political settings. It is my personal views as a politician who continue to study the global realities on politics and its understanding to human errors on the concept of Loyalty.
But What does Loyalty mean to you and many in the game of politics and its impact on the society for developments . Loyalty means a strong feeling of support or allegiance. This meaning is largely misconstrued and misconceived by different individuals based on their motive and circumstances at a particular time.
It is a topic for every politicians and political analysts to understand the concept of Loyalty. For this purpose, I would talk about the political loyalty in three dimensions that are critical and essential to all political class.
They include; attitudinal loyalty behavioral loyalty and situational Loyalty.
These essentials has greatly make or mar some great politicians with certain decisions because of their misconceptions about a particular individual. It has damage relationships that ordinarily not to have been damaged.
Many followers of political figures would take advantage of one of the essentials to create problems for their leaders on certain political decisions.
These followers are deliberate in creating some doubts in the mind of their leaders, create an impression that a particular person cannot be trusted, just to mismatch the identity of their perceived political opponents within the same party and camps.
Largely, politicians are guilty of almost all the three essentials because they act on the contrary in trying to safeguard their territory and base.
Oftentimes i laugh when i think of politicians who asked scary questions.
That can we trust Mr. A or B? based on the misconceived notion about someone or what their followers are telling them. Yes! it is important to scan your environment. It is also important we know fairly well of the people we engage or work with it.
But the truth is you have to learn to trust people no matter what, because you wouldn’t know who will truly be there till the end of your political journey. Political interest and influence are not mutually exclusive and they don’t always align.
Let me share a personal experience I encountered during the 2018 electioneering process when I was contesting for State House of Assembly under PDP and the politics that later played out.
One of the famous personalities in my LGA (Edu) was introduced to me for supports. I contacted him and my first encounter with him was that he cannot support my candidacy for the State Assembly.
I appreciated his stand that he didn’t say he was going to support me so that my dependency on him wouldn’t be a wasted efforts . I related my engagements with him to my team and i was told to stayed off that he wouldn’t have supported me because of his present allegiance to another aspirant who was a sitting member and wanting to return back to the House.
I silently work on this man in question who had turned me down through my attitudes and behaviors towards him. Despite his first rejection, I didn’t fight or keep a distance with him. So one day the invited me to his residence and he sat me down. Guess what he told me?
Haruna Likpata I said I wont support you, but today i will give you all you need to clinch the ticket but you wont see me following you. There i took a deep breath and with his first hand guidance by Allah i got the PDP ticket in 2019 even when we eventually lost.
You know Saraki Dynasty doesn’t do primaries and you have to play high tech politics within to get through when it comes to securing your ticket. The secret moves and informations from this very man bailed me out of the game.
Imagine I doubted his invitation? Imagine i related his invitation with my team which I know they wouldn’t allowed me to see him. Imagine i have not consider other factors that can make a person accept you in his heart?
Not everyone that pose a threat is a threat
.
The rest is story. My book will soon be out that to tell my story and the moves and counter moves of all my experiences.
So In politics, trust everyone and suspect everyone. But it is wiser for smart politicians to take the risk and build stronger relationships with people you are in doubt with.
They literally may not be who you think they were , or others think about them.
Loyalty in real sense is not of the positions you have blessed people with or of the many opportunities you have created for your followers or those you perceived to be loyal to your political ideology.
They can still leave youand we have seen them happening on daily basis. what keeps a heart glue to you are your attitude, behavior and situations or circumstances that surrounds you. Human minds are not always ungrateful or forgetful than what you throw at them that the heart respond to.
The three essentials;
- Attitudinal Loyalty: this is when a person is attached to you because of your unconditional love to those around you. In every aspect of life, young or old, there is a continuous evaluations of you just as you evaluate others.
In every relationship especially in politics, Your followers are your buyers and you are their customer. As a leader, your attitude is what keep your buyers to continuously patronize you. So who is to be trusted? You as a customer or your buyers? Daisy right!
Behavioral loyalty: this loyalty is the most critical part of every politician. This involves managing relationships and building bridges among your followers. The behavior of a politician is what keep his or her camp stronger. Followers remains here when the lead is honest and open.
Situational loyalty: this hurts the most. This concept of loyalty happens at a cross bridge and unexpectedly in every political journey. It is determined by the lead politicians when the circumstances or environment they are in are no longer interterm with the principles of democracy or their belief. Sometimes it is even a case of political correctness or the inability of people to understand your views in certain political decisions.
Summarily,What create political setbacks for many politicians isn’t about their own views but the views of those surrounded by them based on the informations they get from their acclaimed loyal followers who are either holding positions or anticipating same.
Unfortunately, creating impressions in their mimd and sway them away from the truth.
Let me borrow a quote of one of the Nigeria finest politicians who in all circumstances has always believe in his dreams and those around him without listening to the advisories of his followers against the new estrange.
Rather he believed and trust everyone even when he knew they can betray him.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR once said and I quote;
“I plan for betrayal, I plan for backstabbing, I also plan for reunion & forgiveness long before they happen. Even though the were obstacles on my way, I predict them before those that’ll bring them will start to think about them. I expect nothing, I expect anything,I expect everything”
Jagaban.
So for those who understand this ideology and the choice of words by the Nigeria President, will understand that he deal and engage everyone politically at different levels. And this is what has helped the President clinched the Presidential ticket of All Progressive Congress APC and his eventual winning.
If the President had solely relied on those he had helped and favour politically on assumptions that they will be loyal, i dont think he will be where he is today looking at human actions and inactions
In this game of politics, you have to take risks and build more risks because thats what will eventually save you.
The more risk you take in expanding and building your relationships, is what will protect you to the end.
I will conclude this article with a piece of an advice to all the politicians including myself that there is no single determinant in the mind of human beings that signifies his or her intentions as a loyal or disloyal person.
Just Keep your followers through your attitude, behavior and allow the circumstances to take care of the future. Human minds can never be studied. As smart as the global technology, the study of human mind is still under the microscope.
Contact: harunam39@gmail.com
