” …Many of them started using walking stick, just because Obiano uses it. They started wearing hart, just like Obiano. ” —Ebuka Onyekwelu
Mentorship I suspect has some form of uncanny influence on mentees or so it seems. I recall with clarity as an undergraduate student in the university some years ago, how followers of a particular Pentecostal Church pastor, specifically students’ preachers in that Church’s campus fellowship in those days; all, dressed up like their senior Pastor. They all mimicked the man’s way of talking, how he prays and also wears the same hair style as the man. Two students come to mind; Alex and Kingsley. Both were ‘normal’ students like the rest of us until they started acting as leaders in that campus fellowship. All of a sudden, they started wearing jerry-curled hair and started dressing up in white attires, and always appeared neat and on the go. Although I have not heard or seen Alex in many years, but Kingsley has remained his new self till date.
Even now, I have seen people look almost exactly like the people they look up to or just a reflection of those people. Perhaps, human beings can become other people or at least imitate them so well that there is little of whom they were, that is left. In politics, it is even far more prevalent than many might be willing to concede.
When Peter Obi was Governor of Anambra State, his personal lifestyle of not easily parting with money, his unassuming nature, his initial aversion towards chieftaincy titles and such like, were all copied by his appointees. During that time, every appointee of Anambra State Government appeared just like Peter Obi. They dressed like him, behaved like him and although they couldn’t talk like him, it was not hard to quickly see a pattern between Obi and his aides. The popular exception in Obi’s cabinet was Dubem Obaze, he just didn’t fit into whatever narrative the government was advancing, or he didn’t want to fit in. Yet, he was still a critical inner circle member of Obi’s administration. Although, when his brother Oseloka Obaze joined the government as Secretary to the State Government, he more or less came fitted into that same Obi’s image.
Then again, upon assumption of office, Willie Obiano was a different leader. He is not averse to ostentation or festivities and he proudly identifies with his title as well as often regaled in traditional attires. Before hand, every aide of the former governor began to take chieftaincy titles and began to appear as elegant, bold and visible as Obiano. They became more human, willing to merry. Many of them started using walking stick, just because Obiano uses it. They started wearing hart, just like Obiano. Aside Uzuegbuna Okagbue who was the Chief of Protocol and Deputy Chief of Staff to the former governor, needless to say a most consequential member of that administration, no other member of that administration failed to take titles, and awards. Except Okagbue, no other member of Obiano’s government was conservative in lifestyle and nearly elusive to the public eye, yet, assuredly powerful. This like in the case of Dubem Obaze, may suggest that one doesn’t need to be just like his superior in appearance and demeanor, before being accorded an enviable position or recognition. But why do people want to be like their superior?
Today, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo who started off influencing his aides to embrace the ‘Akwaete’ brand, has also continued to impress his personal lifestyle and choices on his aides. More recently, I have also observed that some people around Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah have suddenly started walking like him; they have acquired his demeanor and calm disposition in appearance.
In any case, it is clear that powerful individuals can influence many others with ease. Some might be influenced out of their own desire to be noticed or be liked by the boss. Some might be imitating out of their genuine desire to be just like their superior. After all, some people who mimicked Obiano’s style have now started mimicking Soludo’s style because they worked for Obiano and are now working for Soludo. It is therefore not readily certain why powerful people exert an appreciable amount of influence over people under them.
But for whatever reason, powerful people and those whom many look up to, should be able to build a worthy personality for those looking up to them to copy. Perhaps, just as children look up to adults to imitate, adults also look up to their superiors to mimic. In consequence, a leader’s responsibility includes his obligation to model a personality worthy of imitation by those looking up to him.
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
