Leadership is mostly apologies and sacrifice.

The funny thing about leadership is that people think the hardest part is getting others to follow you.It isn't.The hardest part is explaining why things outside your control still became your responsibility.Over the past few weeks, I've coordinated students to different events across Abuja.Political events. Advocacy protests. Conferences. Campus programs.Every event starts the same way."Matthew, how many students can you bring?"What they don't ask is whether I can carry the weight that comes with those students.Because once people enter your bus, they stop being "participants."They become your responsibility.Before every trip, I post rules.Eat before leaving home.Charge your phone.Walk with someone.Don't wander off.Keep your belongings safe.Some people laugh at those messages because they think they're unnecessary.Until someone disappears.Until someone's phone gets stolen.Until security assaults one of the students at the gate because they don't like how he looks.Until you're standing between angry students, security officers, organizers who have stopped answering their phones, and bus drivers asking who will pay them.Then you realize leadership isn't standing in front of people.It's standing between problems.One experience still sits heavily with me.During one APC event, my original plan was simple.Take the students to the venue.Leave them with the organizers.Attend another meeting I had at the NUC.I even reached the reception before my phone rang.A student from my group was being assaulted at the entrance.I turned around immediately.I never made it to that meeting.Not because I changed my mind.Because leadership doesn't always ask for your permission before changing your plans.Another lesson came from something much smaller.Money.Students always ask about stipends.Most people think mobilizers are hiding money.The truth is far less glamorous.Sometimes the money given is calculated per head.Sometimes it only covers transportation.Sometimes the buses cost more than expected.Sometimes organizers promise money that never arrives.And sometimes...The mobilizer ends up spending his own money just so everyone gets home safely.There are days you finish coordinating hundreds of people and still borrow transport fare from a friend to get home.Nobody sees that part.One of the moments that frustrated me most wasn't even about money.It was after an event when a politician allegedly promised people ₦50,000.Some students stayed behind.Not because transportation was available.Not because the buses were waiting.But because they believed the promise.I couldn't understand it.You were willing to risk your safety...Without transport fare...Hoping someone surrounded by thousands of people would somehow hand you ₦50,000.That day taught me something.Never build your journey home on another person's promise.Hope is good.Backup plans are better.Another thing I learned is that communication is strange.People once complained that I wasn't giving enough information.So I started explaining everything.Every delay.Every payment.Every discussion with organizers.Every follow-up.Every problem.Then someone still complained.That's when I realized something.Communication isn't about saying everything.It's about saying what people need to know.The biggest lesson, however, wasn't about logistics.It was about feedback.I've never claimed to be perfect.In fact, I ask people to criticize me.Tell me what I did wrong.Tell me what could be better.Just don't mistake accountability for weakness.Leadership should be questioned.It shouldn't be disrespected.Every event has made me a little better than the previous one.Faster buses.Better coordination.Clearer instructions.Safer movements.Not because I suddenly became smarter.Because I listened.Maybe that's the real job of a leader.Not having all the answers.But refusing to stop learning after every mistake.And if there's one thing these past few weeks have taught me...It's this:People will remember the stipend they didn't receive.Very few will remember the person who stayed behind until everyone got home safely.But that's okay.Because leadership was never about being remembered.It was about making sure everyone else got home.

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