By Ernest Osogbue

For many years now, the issue of leadership as a challenge facing Nigeria, has been mouthed by nearly all citizens. From the man on the street, to the chief executive on the top floor, Nigerians grumble about leadership failure every day. As part of his campaign for the presidency in 2023, Labor Party candidate, Peter Obi, put up the argument of poor leadership. Kingsley Moghalu, also, in his presidential run, said the same thing, while offering himself as the answer to Nigeria’s leadership challenges.

The list is endless and I could go on; Pat Utomi, Omoyele Sowore, Dele Farotimi, Rufai Oseni, and many other well-placed Nigerians, have at one time or the other, taken a swipe at the poor leadership inherent in our nation. Late last year, in faraway USA, President Olusegun Obasanjo was in his element, at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, in Yale University, lambasting the current administration for poor leadership, and accusing it of running a failing state.

Many people believe that a country as endowed in human and material resources as Nigeria, should not be facing the economic, political, and social challenges currently holding the nation down. According to them, from the semi-arid regions of Sokoto and Maiduguri, through the hills and valleys of the middle belt, and onto the lush green rainforests of the Niger Delta, there are enough natural resources to make Nigeria great. Outside natural resources, the Nigerian soil is fertile, so much so that whatever one plants in any part of the country, is sure to yield in abundance.

On top of that, the average Nigerian is resilient, a go-getter, with a never-say-die attitude, and can thrive anywhere. Put a Nigerian in the Sahara, some say, and he will give you ice cubes. That’s how resourceful the Nigerian can be. As I write, multiple Nigerians are heading different international organizations; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, leads the World Trade Organization WTO; Amina Mohammed is Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations; Akinwumi Adeshina, is president of the African Development Bank; with Benedict Okey Oramah as president of the African Export-Import (Afrexim) Bank.

In Canada, USA, the UK, and several African and European countries, Nigerians are in leadership positions, and are doing well for their adopted countries. In all the fields of human endeavor, Nigerians are excelling all over the globe; creating innovations, leading conglomerates, and advancing knowledge. How come their home country is not thriving? At the last Olympic Games in Paris, France, the entire Nigerian contingent returned home without a medal. Yet, athletes of Nigerian descent representing other nations, were clinching gold, silver and bronze medals for their adopted countries. Little wonder people look at Nigeria’s challenges, and point accusing fingers at leadership.

There’s a belief that with a leadership based on integrity, honesty and fairness, and with a leader who is prepared to harness the human and material resources with which the nation is blessed, Nigeria could finally fulfil the potential for which the world has been waiting. According to Charles Kettering, the American inventor; a problem identified is a problem half solved. But having identified this problem for so long, Nigerians have failed to solve it.

When I scroll through social media; Facebook, Instagram, X, Tiktok, and others, to see what really engages Nigerian youths, I log off unhappily. Skits on sex, the endowments of the female body, comedies, extramarital affairs, how to japa, who is richer than who, who bought the latest and most expensive car, etc., these are the issues that engage so-called tomorrow’s leaders. At the adult level, everyone, including former presidents and Heads of State, is still complaining about leadership. If leadership is so important, and if we agree that once we get leadership right, everything else will fall into place, why is leadership not at the highest levels of national discourse? Why is it not trending at number one? Why is leadership training not a general studies course in our universities? Why is it not a part of our primary and secondary schools curriculum?

Of the 58 Prime Ministers to lead Britain, 31 graduated from Oxford University, with 14 graduating from Cambridge University. In the US, of the 45 presidents, 8 attended Harvard, 5 attended Yale, with most others attending Princeton, Stanford, and Columbia Universities, among others. These are Ivy League institutions, which place a premium on the imbibing of leadership skills by students. If you check most other developed nations, the same pattern would emerge. It follows therefore, that leadership is not by accident, but is a product of deliberate grooming.  

Unfortunately, however, leadership is mostly by accident in Nigeria. There has never been a deliberate national policy on leadership grooming. We have accidental civil servants, accidental journalists, accidental lawyers, and accidental presidents, etc. We are the only country where an Agbero could emerge as president by accident. An Okada rider won a seat at the National Assembly in the last election, and Nigerians were clapping. The last time I checked, the issues surrounding the whereabouts of President Buhari’s primary and secondary school certificates, were still unresolved. That is the kind of leadership Nigeria engenders.    

When I read President Obasanjo’s recent critique of President Tinubu, I chuckled. For me, it was an inadvertent admission of failure by Obasanjo, because it is the duty of current leaders to teach, train, and groom future leaders. If President Tinubu is a failure therefore, then President Obasanjo must take vicarious responsibility for his emergence. What foundations for better leadership did President Obasanjo lay in his 11 years as Nigerian leader? What school of leadership did he establish? What leadership examples did he leave for others to follow? President Obasanjo, midwifed the first military transfer of power to civilians in 1979. He equally made history, as the first civilian president in the current dispensation. It follows that the type of democracy being practiced in Nigeria currently, largely reflects Obasanjo’s legacies.    

There is therefore a lesson here for President Tinubu; he must make an effort to end the problems of accidental leadership, and the issues of accidental this and that, by laying a foundation for the training and grooming of future leaders. One way of doing that is by incorporating leadership courses in our schools curricula from primary to the university level. Another, is by a deliberate policy of ensuring that only qualified, honest, and competent personnel rise to the top in government establishments.