Dr Dotun ‘Dot’ Reju is set to celebrate his landmark sixtieth birthday on the 20th of February 2023. As part of the celebrations, the outspoken teacher, speaker, and transformational scholar is set to launch a collection of his critical reflections on Nigeria titled Musings: Reflections of a Burdened Soul. In this short conversation with SEVHAGE Lead, S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema, he shares some thoughts on his professional journey and his book. 

1. SVA: You are a vocal transformational leader and teacher with a portfolio stretching from Nigeria to Kenya, America and a few other places. If you were to summarise, what would you say inspired this journey, and what has the adventure been like?

My inspiration has been my deep desire to be educated so that I can educate others. The best way to capture my adventure is the definition of adventure – being given over to something whose outcome I cannot control. My life has been very complicatingly complex because I don’t have any long term plans. In fact, I virtually stopped planning in 1995 when I discovered the power of Divine Providence.

2. SVA: What are your biggest attainments thus far, and what has been your greatest challenge?

I cannot talk about my attainments because I am not one who celebrates attainments. I never see any seeming feat as an attainment. You will notice that I never used the word in my book, but rather I used the word, CEREBRATE which is the whole message of the book. I confess my guilt and I thank my earthly father for this valuable life code. My father is a challenger as opposed to an encourager. For instance, he’d never comment on our class position, but our percentage score. According to him, you can come first with 40% in  a class of dullards.

It is difficult to mention my greatest challenge because my life is an experience of challenges in various shapes and forms. But I will rate being misunderstood by people and me misunderstanding people’s commitment to a stated life cause – the attendant loneliness in my thought world as the greatest.

3. SVA: Makes sense, but for emphasis drawing from what you just said, what career mistake gave you the biggest lesson and how did you bounce from it?

I think I have covered it. The misunderstandings have been my greatest mistake but it has been my greatest bounce. I don’t take betrayals to heart because I know I have unintentionally betrayed others too. I am not afraid to commit to people and I expect people to be committed to me. I trust people, but I never forget that people are people.

4. SVA: To your book, Musings: Reflections of a Burdened Soul is a collection of several snippets written over a decade put on Facebook. What are your thoughts on the role of this kind of journaling in relation to the country’s predicaments, and do you feel there is transformational merit to them?

I deeply believe that this brand of journaling is a critical missing piece in our journey as a nation. One of the biggest lessons I learned in leadership school is captured in a statement “the problem with leaders and indeed all humans is NOT THAT  THEY DON’T HAVE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS, BUT THAT THEY CANNOT SEE THE PROBLEM”. Seeing a problem requires deep reflections, what is called having SOFT EYES in training as a CRIME DETECTIVE. When you see a detective in a crime scene, he or she is always with a pen and a notepad. A reflective lifestyle and captured is critical in this fast paced world.

5. SVA: Musings, is centred on Nigeria, apportioning the blame for the country’s woeful state on leaders and followers contextually. What are the nation’s biggest leadership and followership challenges, respectively? What are your practical suggestions to these?

I am glad that you captured my thoughts accurately that the blame is on leaders and followers and therein lies the problem – the leader-follower dichotomy. A situation where some group of opportunists called politicians and soldiers are allowed to take responsibility for the well being and or otherwise of the country. The solution is in forced inclusion as opposed to the popular elusive legislated inclusion. A sustainable demand for governance/government that is close to the governed. A structure that reflects the true identity of this nation of ethnic nationalities. The country is a forced marriage and we are wondering why we don’t love each other. 

6. SVA: As Nigeria gets set for the polls to bring in new leadership at top levels, what are your thoughts and aspirations regarding the politics, the land and what do you perceive will be the future?

I have thoughts but no aspirations. Thoughts are that nothing transformational will come out of the election because it is still about TOP LEVELS. There is too much focus on the presidency, which in my opinion shouldn’t be. No aspirations because a faulty process cannot produce a constructive outcome. The electoral process is flawed, the country is structured TO MAKE TRANSFORMATION UNATTAINABLE.

7. SVA: You have had a remarkable life and journey thus far. What have you lost or had to sacrifice in getting to where you are? Do you have any regrets, lessons or things of the sort?

I hope I understand what you mean by “remarkable”. I’ll rather call it eventful and I have lost the me that I thought I was meant to be but found the me as designed by God, and for that to happen, I have to sacrifice all – career, wife, children, friends and family – it’s painful and sometimes frustrating to be different. NO REGRETS AT ALL. It’s all worth it. I am a fulfilled man.

8. SVA: What advice would you give to someone setting out to be like you or following a similar trail?

Be ready to suffer the pains of being different

9. SVA: Considering we saw the critically charged nationalist you in this work, is there any hope of seeing a lighter side to you in any coming work or reflections on other sides of life?

This is the lightest I think I’ll ever be.

10. SVA: Any other thing you would like to add, as we celebrate your new year and all that you are?

Join me in CEREBRATING…

And indeed, we join the cerebrating team, even as we celebrate the cerebral Oladotun Reju. Say a prayer for this celebrant and his beloved country, our beloved country, Nigeria. Bless you, SVA

ABOUT DR DOTUN REJU:

Dr Dotun Reju is the founding Pastor of The Kingdom Citizens’ Pavilion Ministry, a multi-faceted local congregation based in Jos, which serves the city in areas of education through the Kingdom Citizens International School and Kingdom Citizens College, socio-political activism and economic empowerment through the Patris Empowerment Initiative, being a Social-Political Action group for the promotion of responsible governance and citizenship in Nigeria.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from University of Lagos, a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership from The West African Theological Seminary, Lagos and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformational Leadership for the Global City from Bakke Graduate University, Dallas TX, USA.

He is an adjunct faculty member of Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, California, USA, and Daystar University, Nairobi, Kenya amongst others.

Dotun Reju, a Professor of Transformational Leadership and Workplace Effectiveness Strategies, currently serves on the Board of Regents of Bakke Graduate University and has been stewarding the Theology of Work Grant Program for the US-based Mustard Seed Foundation since 2008.

His first book, The Authentic Gospel, was published in 2009.