At the 2025 Akinjide Adeosun Foundation’s Leadership Colloquium and Awards, held recently in Lagos, experts presented a nuanced perspective on the theme ‘Fearless Leadership, a Panacea for Sustainable Development’, highlighting that both fearless leadership and followership are vital catalysts to achieving sustainable development, rather than just leadership alone. Sunday Ehigiator reports
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he pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) has become a pressing concern for individuals, organisations, and governments worldwide.
As the global community grapples with the challenges of climate change, poverty, inequality, and social injustice, it has become clear that a new approach is needed—an approach that combines the strengths of leadership and followership to drive positive change.
In recent years, the concept of fearless leadership has gained significant attention. Fearless leaders are described as those who are willing to challenge the status quo, take risks, and push boundaries to achieve their goals.
They are the ones who inspire and motivate others to follow them on a journey of transformation, whereby they develop a working system towards attaining zero poverty, as well as equity, fairness, and justice, that would outlive them.
However, leadership is only half the equation, as followership is just as crucial, if not more so, in driving sustainable development.
Fearless followers are those who are willing to support and amplify the efforts of their leaders, while also demanding leadership accountability. They are the ones who bring their unique perspectives, skills, and experiences to the table, helping to create a more diverse and resilient movement.
Arguably, both fearless leadership and followership form a powerful catalyst for sustainable development. By combining the strengths of both, individuals and developing countries like Nigeria can create a snowball effect of positive change that can help to address even the most pressing global challenges.
These were the positions of speakers at Chapter 9 of the AAF’s Leadership Colloquium and Award, held at the Alliance Francaise Auditorium, Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Power of Fearless Leadership
Laying a background on the need for fearless leadership in his welcome address, the Founder and Chairman, AAF, Akinjide Adeosun noted that “the conquest of fearfulness enables a leader to do audacious things that generate an output of goodness, which in turn enables taking difficult decisions leading to economic growth, security, and competitiveness.
“Our strategy, drawn from our mission of building great leaders, is changing the belief, which is unseen in individuals to behaviours that are seen.
“The good behaviours of fearless leaders are seen in great strides towards good healthcare, provision of excellent infrastructure, world-class infrastructure and avowed industrialisation.
“Elon MUSK is a Fearless Leader. His triumph can be seen in the multiple businesses he oversees in multiple industries.
“Nelson Mandela epitomised fearlessness. He was unafraid to navigate South Africa through a very difficult apartheid era to a prosperous democratic nation despite threats to his personal life.
“Governor Seyi Makinde is a fearless enigma personified. He has had to triumph over attempts on his life several times. He forges ahead anytime he believes in something, despite multiple difficulties along the way. Oyo State has benefited massively from his ‘Can-do’ spirit in the areas of infrastructure, economy, health and education.
“I congratulate the family of the former governor of the Western Region of Nigeria for benefiting from the goodness of a fearless leader, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo. His name opens doors for them; a beautiful legacy of character and capability.
“Greatness starts with Goodness,” Adeosun said, quoting Michelle McBride. “The conquest of fear enables a leader to do audacious things that generate an output of goodness,” he noted.
Fearless Followership
In his keynote address, Former Governor of Rivers State, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, spoke on the importance of fearless followership as against fearless leadership, in the quest to attain sustainable development.
According to him, “I listened to the founder’s address, and I was struck by the emphasis on ‘fearless’ leadership. But as I reflected on the concept, I began to wonder if we’re focusing on the wrong thing. Is fearless leadership the answer to our problems, or is it something else entirely?
“As I delved deeper into the topic, I realised that what we mean by ‘fearless’ is actually ‘courageous’. And courageous leadership is not something that can be sustained in the long term.
“When systems work well, we don’t need courageous leaders; we just need people who can follow the rules and procedures. It’s only when there’s a failure in leadership that we start looking for courageous leaders.
“But even if we find a courageous leader, what happens next? The leader serves their term, and then they’re gone. The system collapses again, and we’re back to square one, searching for another fearless leader. This cycle can go on indefinitely, and it’s not a sustainable solution.
“Moreover, courageous leaders can also be bad leaders. Leadership is not just about being fearless or courageous; it’s about having the right qualities, abilities, and virtues. As Aristotle said, leadership is the art of persuasion, and it requires a deep understanding of human nature and behaviour.
“Socrates identified the qualities of a good leader as knowledge, abilities, and virtues. Plato took it a step further, saying that a leader’s job is not to tell people to follow them, but to persuade them through their character and actions.
“As I researched the concept of leadership, I realised that the different definitions all point to one thing: the power of persuasion and followership.
“A leader must be able to convince their followers of their vision and persuade them to take action. This requires a deep understanding of human nature and behaviour, as well as the ability to communicate effectively.
“But followership is just as important as leadership. Followers must be convinced of their leader’s character and abilities, and they must be willing to follow them. This requires a level of trust and accountability, and it’s something that’s often missing in our societies.
“As President Harry Truman said, leadership is the ability to make followers do what they don’t want to do. But this requires a level of persuasion and influence that’s based on character and trust, rather than fear or coercion.
“In the end, it’s not fearless leadership that we need, but fearless followership. We need followers who are willing to hold their leaders accountable, who are willing to speak truth to power, and who are willing to stand up for what they believe in.
“As I looked at the state of our country, I realised that we’ve been focusing on the wrong thing. We’ve been looking for fearless leaders when what we need is fearless followership.
“We need people who are willing to stand up for their rights; who are willing to demand accountability from their leaders, and who are willing to work together to build a better society.
“In conclusion, fearless leadership is not the answer to our problems. What we need is fearless followership and a deeper understanding of what leadership means.
“We need to focus on building strong, accountable institutions, and on cultivating a culture of trust and responsibility. Only then can we build a society that’s truly just, equitable, and sustainable.”
The Intersection
The concept of fearless leadership and followership is often viewed as separate entities, but as emphasised by various speakers at the event, these two concepts are, in fact, intertwined and interdependent.
Fearless leaders rely on fearless followers to amplify and support their efforts, while fearless followers need fearless leaders to inspire and motivate them.
The intersection of fearless leadership and followership is where meaningful change occurs. It is here that individuals and institutions come together to create a movement for positive change, leveraging the strengths of both leadership and followership to achieve common goals.
Awards
One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the ‘Excellence in Leadership Award’ posthumously to the former Governor of the Western Region of Nigeria, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo, as received by his children, Chief Mrs. Nike Makinde and Chief Mrs. Joke Chukwuma.
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