How to address leadership crisis in Nigeria — Oyebanji

Ekiti Governor, Abiodun Oyebanji recently spoke at the 11th annual public lecture of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, where he emphasised that the search for good leaders has been a persistent issue in Nigeria, dating back to the colonial era.

He noted that even the patriotic nationals who fought for independence eventually faced accusations of incompetence and corruption when they took power.

Oyebanji identified a major problem with leadership recruitment in Nigeria, stating that people often find themselves in leadership positions without the necessary aptitude and attitude.

He attributed this to subjective leadership assessments based on sociopolitical or ethnoreligious affiliations, which makes the search for ideal leadership challenging.

The governor stressed that leadership begins in the household and extends to the larger society, emphasising that every individual has a leadership role to play.

He listed essential leadership values and skills, including responsibility, problem-solving, vision, fairness, and accountability.

To address the leadership crisis, Oyebanji advocated for leadership education, suggesting that it should be as important as basic education for literacy and numeracy.

He proposed embedding leadership skills and principles into school curricula to equip future leaders.

“There is no doubt that a major problem with leadership recruitment in Nigeria is that, people, sometimes, just find themselves in leadership positions without the right aptitude and attitude.

“Similarly, since leadership assessment in our clime is subjective and determined by sociopolitical or ethnoreligious affiliations, the search for the ideal leadership has been made harder, if not illusory, indeed, the leadership concept itself and its suppositions is as problematic as its ideation.”

Governor Oyebanji said a nation’s leadership starts from the household to the larger society.

“Every father is a leader, every mother is a leader and every child is a leader. From being a class captain to becoming the president of a nation, the core values and skills of leadership are the same: responsibility, problem-solving, vision, fairness, firmness, prudence, transparency, temperance, resourcefulness, patience, responsiveness, creativity, accountability, fear of God among others,” he added.

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