A cleric with the Catholic diocese of Ondo, Reverend Father Vincent Anadi has said Nigerian leaders have failed to drive the citizens towards patriotism in whatever capacity.
He made the claim in a lecture entitled, Leadership and Nation Building: The Nehemiah’s Approach, during the 2017 zonal annual development conference of the Christian Rural and Urban Development Association of Nigeria (CRUDAN), in Ibadan.
CRUDAN, a non-governmental organisation with multi-sector professional membership, which engages in sustainable development work in Nigeria, was formed in 1990.
This followed the merger of two Christian organisations, which hitherto operated independently: Christian rural Advisory Council (CAC) founded in 1965 in the North, and Christian Rural Fellowship of Nigeria (CRF) in the South, which was established in 1953. CRUDAN was registered with CAC in 1992.
Anadi, who related his experience as a priest and social worker, especially with youths, noted that people do not follow good leaders but would rather follow corrupt leaders because of immediate gratification.
He took participants through the story of the life of Nehemiah, noting that “Nehemiah, as a leader, was said to have refused to be lured by the affluence around even though he held a prestigious position. He was a layman not a priest, an indication that it was not like he had special anointing to just do the right thing.”
Anadi said: “In Nigeria today, we do not have leaders galvanising us towards patriotism, as followers are constantly kept in the dark about events. Bad leadership has clogged the wheels of development heightened by indiscipline on the part of the leaders and the led.”
As part of the solution, he listed sense of belonging, shared value, common goal, acceptability and establishment of institutions that promote enabling environment to make these thrive.
In his lecture entitled: The Management of Solid Waste, Mr Femi Omowole, urged the participants to see waste management as a continuous process, noting that “a developed nation is seen as one with economic success.”