08/19/2024
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has pointed to self-centred leadership, lacking in relevant knowledge, as the root cause of the country’s stagnation. Speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while attending the Leadership Empowerment International Conference (LEIC) as a special guest of honour, the ex-president emphasised that Nigeria’s leadership crisis is at the core of its struggles.
In his remarks, Obasanjo underscored the lasting impact of leadership, describing it as a virtue that endures throughout one’s life. He asserted that leadership is not bound by age or position, urging leaders to continue contributing to their communities until their last breath.
“If you ask me in one word what the bane of Nigeria is today, I will say it is leadership. Self-centred leadership: leadership that lacks knowledge and understanding and leadership that does not view service as the core of what leadership is about,” Obasanjo said.
The former president emphasised that solving Nigeria’s leadership problem would set the country on the path to progress. “If we can get the leadership right, we will get all other things right,” he stated, commending LEIC for its efforts to foster leadership at every level of national life.
Obasanjo also drew attention to the abundance of resources in Africa and how effective leadership can unlock their potential. “We have resources in Africa; we have 70 per cent of the world’s copper. Japan has no mineral resources. Singapore is even worse—no resources!” he noted.
However, he argued that without effective leadership, these resources would remain underutilised. “Whatever resources we have, if we lack leadership, it won’t get us anywhere. That is why leadership in Africa is so crucial.”
Obasanjo closed his address with a call for visionary leadership that can create a better world for all Nigerians. “We can’t create an Africa of hope, prosperity, free from oppression, and characterised by security, peace, and visionary leaders without effective leadership,” he concluded.