By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigeria’s development has been stagnated because of deficit in leadership, a former President of the West African nation, Olusegun Obasanjo has opined, and has urged his country men to do away with transactional and “self-centred” leaders.
“And if you ask me in one word, what is the bane of Nigeria today? I will not think about it twice. I will say it is leadership.
“Leadership that is self-centred, leadership that is a deficit of knowledge and understanding and leadership that does not see service as the centrepiece of what leadership is all about”, Obasanjo who has been critical of his successors said at an event tagged Leadership Empowerment International Conference in Abeokuta, his home town Ogun State.
The 87-year-old retired military officer first led Nigeria as head of junta government from 13th February,1976 to 1st October,1979.
He later became democratically elected President and led from 29th May,1999 to 29th May,2007 when democracy returned.
Earning credit for some achievements especially in the area of debt forgiveness for the country, popularisation of telecommunications as well as reforms in key sectors of the economy, Obasanjo has also been criticized for raft of corruption under him as a civilian President, failed attempt to elongate his tenure and hounding persons with divergent views with the anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which he had created to checkmate official corruption.
Nuhu Ribadu the first chairman of commission, now the National Security Adviser was seen as an attack dog of the government under Obasanjo.
Obasanjo was alleged to have bribed members of the National Assembly to surreptitiously clear him for a third term in office by illegally amending the Constitution.
The immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari also indirectly accused Obasanjo of wasting $16 billion on power projects with nothing to show for it.
Obasanjo was alleged to have illegally withdrawn as much as N231.4 billion from the Federation Account without due process or authorization from the National Assembly
But speaking at the Abeokuta event where 25 distinguished Nigerians were conferred with honorary Doctorate in leadership by a South Africa-based Immanuel Theology Institute International in affiliation with Priesthood Leadership Development Initiative Inc, Obasanjo said for Nigeria to progress from its present dilemma, the present crops of those he labelled “self-centred leaders” occupying offices at all levels of governance must loosen their hold on the country.
He said the country is presently plagued at all levels by a band of self-centred leaders who are deficit of knowledge, bereft of understanding and demonstrating a leadership style that does not see service as the centrepiece for development.
He challenged Nigerians to seek, by all means possible, an end to the culture of enthroning transactional leaders as against transformational leaders who will deliver good governance.
“There is no end to leadership and service to your community until you breathe the last. And you can never be too old to be a leader and to give something to the community in which you lead and serve as a leader, to serve your state, your country, the continent and the world,” he said
“If we can get the leadership right, we will get all other things right. This is what LEIC is doing that is commendable and very good. We must encourage and inculcate good leadership into every level of our national life.”
