Obasanjo advocates responsible global leadership

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Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has lamented the dearth of good and quality leadership worldwide, saying the world today is in short supply of leaders that can drive the world positively.

Obasanjo stated this at the opening ceremony of the 11th African Biblical Leadership Initiative (ABLI) Conference organised by the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), which was held in Abuja on Monday.

According to the former Nigerian leader, a leader must display good attributes such as knowledge and understanding driven by teamwork and team spirit. While he mentioned Jesus Christ, Moses, Joseph, Abraham, and David, among others, as great leaders in the Bible, he said a good leader must be human and humane and should exhibit traits such as truth, integrity, and wisdom, and must also have faith and be hopeful.

The former president added that a leader must be compassionate, listen to the people, have love of God, and be close to God. He said a leader must be humble and responsible to his people and must not expect praise from them.

“If the world is in short supply of anything today, it is leadership. Deficit of leadership is our major problem in the world today, and of course, Africa being part of the world, we are not exempt, and if you like, Nigeria being part of Africa, we are not exempt. What are we talking about as Christians? If we want to talk about leadership, it’s all there in there in the Bible. Key attributes of leaders are very important.

“One is knowledge and understanding. A good leader must have knowledge and understanding. One of the things I found about the so-called leaders is that they will be talking cathedrally about the things they have little or no knowledge of. And it is so annoying and very discouraging that somebody you expect to lead you is actually leading you into something he does not know enough about. And knowledge must go with understanding. Because knowledge is one thing, understanding is another. You may have knowledge and may not have understanding. But if you have knowledge and understanding, it is very important, and it makes a world of difference in leadership.

“When I see people in leadership positions, I ask questions: What is your objective for this job? The first thing we learn in the Army is mission. When you have something to do, what is your mission? What is your objective? You must be precise. It must be something that you can say. We have those who are in leadership positions who don’t even have objectives. They don’t have a mission. How do you expect them to go right?

“Somebody was telling me a story. He said he asked a man, a leader of a nation, “put something together. He (the leader) said, “When we get there, we’ll put it together.”. When you get there, you will be overwhelmed. A leader that has no faith has no guiding principle. A leader must have faith, hope, and love. If you have no hope, then why are you a leader?

“Many leaders may not be appreciated, and many, including our Lord Jesus Christ and almost all his disciples. Many of them died in circumstances that are unbefitting of the way for leaders to die. If leaders expect praises, adorations, and adulations from human beings, they will be utterly disappointed, but God takes care of leaders,” Obasanjo stated.

The former military head of state, however, called attention to the ongoing wars around the world, saying the world deserves peace more than ever. He said it’s time to go back to God in prayers to restore peace to mankind.

“We have a problem in Africa and the world. We have 58 wars going on in the world today, and 92 countries are involved directly or indirectly; that is half of the countries in the world. Yet they say we have no Third World War.

“We have half of the countries in the world directly and indirectly in war. What do we have to do? Importantly, but most importantly, we have to be full of prayers, and I believe that in all situations, God said we should pray. And if we pray and show humility, God will bless our nation, our continent, and our world,” Obasanjo concluded.

The wife of the president, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who was represented by Princess Gloria Akobundu, called on religious leaders to foster peace and development among Nigerians, urging them to pray for the government to succeed. She said value-based leadership is all that is needed to transform the continent for good.

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