Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, yesterday, lamented that Nigerians belong to the category of the ‘unfortunate citizens of the world’.
Prof. Jega stated this during the pre-Ramadan lecture, organised by the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni (UMA), with the theme: “Leadership Recruitment – The Missing Anchor in Our National Development.”
According to him, this is because the country’s leadership “ in the context of a civil democratic dispensation, leaves much to be desired”.
Jega, who was Chairman of the occasion, further said Nigerian leaders lacked “a sustainable vision for our country’s development, selflessness in elective public leadership positions, competence and capacity to lead a country in the 21st century, and in terms of having an enlightened self-interest to galvanize and forge elite consensus on how to reposition, stabilize and develop the country on a sustainable basis”.
He stressed that leadership recruitment process is central to entrenching good governance and resolving “the poor governance”.
“We evidently have been recruiting and appointing/electing inappropriate leaders, quite often, round pegs in square holes, and undermining, rather than, strengthening our governance, democratic and development processes”, he emphasised.
He further stated that it is high time Nigeria addressed the crisis of leadership by improving the leadership recruitment process which must be done latest by 2023.
In their separate lectures, the National Missioner and Chief Imam of Ansaruddeen Society of Nigeria, Imam Ahmad Abdulrahman and former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili said the leadership recruitment process is faulty.
Imam Ahmad stressed the need to put enough safeguard in place to checkmate the Nigerian leaders and ease those not performing, saying, “Let there be a mechanism to bring them to account”.
