by Chimuanya Obubua
Francis Collins in 1911 promoted the idea that people who desire to serve should operate on the principle of “service, not self.” This was to be remodeled to “service above self” and adopted in 1950 as the motto of Rotary, the world’s foremost service organization.
There are two aspects to service: the one who serves and the party being served. The mundane part of man naturally opts for the position of master in preference to the position of servant. It is the position of master that material and other forms of profits can be maximized. “Service above self” is the idea of serving others without selfish motive. Such services seek to reconcile the ever present conflict between the desire to be served and the need to serve. It also undertakes to reconcile the constant clash between the innate desire to profit oneself and the duty to serve the interest of others. Thoughtfulness of others is the basis for such service and helpfulness to others is the expression of it. “Service above self” is a sympathetic response to the need of other people. It is practical action instigated by genuine concern for the welfare of others. It is the giving of ones most valuable possession, namely oneself. Such self sacrifice is altruistic service, which is service based on the well being and happiness of others first. This is the philosophy of the ideal of service and service at its best.
Some people are called upon to serve in high office in the full glare of publicity while it is the lot of many to serve in obscurity. Some indeed are called to services that are anything but attractive. Yet these services are all complementary. In whatever capacity we serve, we must remember the injunction of Wilfred Grenfell. He said, “The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this Earth.” It is obvious that man himself is a traveler, that the purpose of this world is not to ‘have and to hold’ but to ‘give and to serve.’
There abounds in our world a lot of unpleasantness, suffering and human tragedy. There are those who are afflicted by diseases but have no means of looking after themselves. There are those who because of social stigma are abandoned in leprosy settlements to endure ignoble existence. There are the mentally retarded who make the streets their home eating whatever they find in refuse dumps. There are the blind whose only companion is total darkness. There are the deaf who are daily tormented by the total absence of sound. There are the orphans who have never known a mother’s love. There are the aged for whom life is slow death in seclusion and rejection. There are many today who, though not physically handicapped, suffer great socio-economic disability. For many, the basic essentials of life such as food water, shelter and minimal clothing are unattainable luxuries. In our vocations and businesses, honesty and uprightness receive little recognition. Fraudulence, graft and greed have almost come to be accepted as the norm. Truth and fairness receive little attention. Personal advantage overrides other considerations. If there is a yawning gap in the Nigerian polity today, it is for leadership that will enthrone “Service above Self.” Those who aspire to leadership position more often than not, are self-seeking.
We have gotten used to leadership that is not backed by example. The following statement by Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth American president and one of the most notable, may be instructive. Of leadership by example, he said “there is just one way to bring up a child in the way he should go and that is to travel that way yourself.” One wonders how many, in the motley crowd that is asking us to call them our leaders, have given a moment to the imperative of ‘service above self’? Service-oriented leadership is not easy to come by. We forget that as Hans Haselbath puts it “those who want to reign must serve.”
Francis Collins in 1911 promoted the idea that people who desire to serve should operate on the principle of “service, not self.” This was to be remodeled to “service above self” and adopted in 1950 as the motto of Rotary, the world’s foremost service organization.
There are two aspects to service: the one who serves and the party being served. The mundane part of man naturally opts for the position of master in preference to the position of servant. It is the position of master that material and other forms of profits can be maximized. “Service above self” is the idea of serving others without selfish motive. Such services seek to reconcile the ever present conflict between the desire to be served and the need to serve. It also undertakes to reconcile the constant clash between the innate desire to profit oneself and the duty to serve the interest of others. Thoughtfulness of others is the basis for such service and helpfulness to others is the expression of it. “Service above self” is a sympathetic response to the need of other people. It is practical action instigated by genuine concern for the welfare of others. It is the giving of ones most valuable possession, namely oneself. Such self sacrifice is altruistic service, which is service based on the well being and happiness of others first. This is the philosophy of the ideal of service and service at its best.
Some people are called upon to serve in high office in the full glare of publicity while it is the lot of many to serve in obscurity. Some indeed are called to services that are anything but attractive. Yet these services are all complementary. In whatever capacity we serve, we must remember the injunction of Wilfred Grenfell. He said, “The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this Earth.” It is obvious that man himself is a traveler, that the purpose of this world is not to ‘have and to hold’ but to ‘give and to serve.’
There abounds in our world a lot of unpleasantness, suffering and human tragedy. There are those who are afflicted by diseases but have no means of looking after themselves. There are those who because of social stigma are abandoned in leprosy settlements to endure ignoble existence. There are the mentally retarded who make the streets their home eating whatever they find in refuse dumps. There are the blind whose only companion is total darkness. There are the deaf who are daily tormented by the total absence of sound. There are the orphans who have never known a mother’s love. There are the aged for whom life is slow death in seclusion and rejection. There are many today who, though not physically handicapped, suffer great socio-economic disability. For many, the basic essentials of life such as food water, shelter and minimal clothing are unattainable luxuries. In our vocations and businesses, honesty and uprightness receive little recognition. Fraudulence, graft and greed have almost come to be accepted as the norm. Truth and fairness receive little attention. Personal advantage overrides other considerations. If there is a yawning gap in the Nigerian polity today, it is for leadership that will enthrone “Service above Self.” Those who aspire to leadership position more often than not, are self-seeking.
We have gotten used to leadership that is not backed by example. The following statement by Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth American president and one of the most notable, may be instructive. Of leadership by example, he said “there is just one way to bring up a child in the way he should go and that is to travel that way yourself.” One wonders how many, in the motley crowd that is asking us to call them our leaders, have given a moment to the imperative of ‘service above self’? Service-oriented leadership is not easy to come by. We forget that as Hans Haselbath puts it “those who want to reign must serve.”
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