The need for identifying and grooming future political leaders for Nigeria has again been advocated as the way out coming out of the present slow-speed of development in the country which has been occasioned by two deadly viruses of “ethno religious problem and kleptomania “.
This standpoint was promoted by the leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety), on Monday, 24 August, when it hosted top officials of political and economic section of the consulate of the United States (US) Embassy in Nigeria at its Onitsha office.
According to Global Reporter, the visit of the U.S embassy officials is coming some few weeks after the civil society organization hosted delegations from the Canadian High Commission and the European Union. The delegation was received by Board Chair of Intersociety, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi.
The US embassy delegation was led by the Head of Political/Economic section of the Embassy, Mr. Thomas Hines. Other members of the team are Ms Danielle J. Grigsby, Political/Economic Assistant and Ms Mary-Anne A. Onwuchekwa (Protocol Assistant).
Speaking at the end of the meeting where extensive political, social and economic issues of national and local (State) importance were discussed, Intersociety acknowledged that there is a leadership crisis in Nigeria.
“In the opinion of Intersociety, strongly presented in the meeting, the Nigerian political leadership as presently constituted, has continued to recycle “old wine in new bottle” and “old wine in old bottle”, leading to the country crawling chronically and lagging far behind the likes of Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Indonesia and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (i.e. Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates-UAE).
“The countries above mentioned were largely poorer and politically unstable than Nigeria in the late sixties and seventies. Comparatively speaking, Nigeria had higher gross national products (GNP) than most of them during the referenced periods. Saudi Arabia and UAE, for instance, were deserts in the sixties. Today, they have been transformed beyond any imagination and parade the world’s first class cities and economies.
“Also, China’s great transformation from its 1970s near hunger state to mega rich status in 2000s is a clear case in point and a typical example of a modern State governed by ambitious, thinkable and visionary political leadership. This is a direct opposite of the situation in Nigeria where political governance is chronically reserved for crooks, religious zealots and “unthinkable beings” with sub-human quotients,” the society said.
Intersociety also added that Nigeria needs a new crop of humanist political leaders for it to come out of its present ‘state of no return’ saying the country has two viral problems.
“As it stands now, the country is hard hit by two viruses of ethno-religious ‘primordialism’ and kleptomania. The country’s media is bought with ill-gotten wealth, corrupted and bastardized. The mainstream rights based Civil Society groups domiciled in Lagos and Abuja sections of the country are relegated to “consultancy and executive activism”, abandoning the masses and dinning and winning with the same social termites called the political class.
“The judiciary is now the worst, overtaking the Nigeria Police Force as Nigeria’s most corrupt institution. Judicial graft envelopes are now domiciled in dollar, pound or euro currencies and facilitated through a third-party called “campus cultists” in hotel rooms. The young educated Nigerians now see kleptomaniac politicians as their role models and struggle for a space in political corridors to steal and plunder. Nigeria is indeed, at crossroads,” the society said.
Calling on international community particularly the USA, EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, India and China to show their true love for Nigeria by assisting them in identifying and grooming future leaders for the country, Intersociety concluded that “that visionary political leadership embedded in selflessness and sacrifice always brings about pluralistic coexistence in a pluralistic society like Nigeria, leading to social integration and stability, which in turn, snowballs into economic buoyancy and prosperity”.
In a similar development, Sam Adeyemi, a leadership consultant and the senior pastor, Daystar Christian Centre (DCC) has also proffered solutions to the leadership crisis in the country.
To resolve the leadership crisis in the country, Adeyemi said it is necessary to restructure the leadership templates being used in the country.
He advocated introducing leadership courses in the academic curriculum . The leadership coach feels it is important for all leaders at all cadres to embrace honesty, integrity, character and competence.
No comments:
Post a Comment