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Tag: leaders’

  • Cleric challenges leaders on accountability

    The Senior Pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), at Yenche community in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Rev. Samson Jonah has challenged political leaders at all levels to be accountable to their electorate.

    Jonah gave the advice during the thanksgiving service in honour of Hon. Ishaku Shaban Tete. While speaking on the theme, “Leadership with the Fear of God” he urged political leaders to govern their people with honest hearts and leave legacies that would serve as reference point for future leaders.

    The cleric said: “Leaders must be transparent and committed to work for the benefit of the electorate, saying that for the country to move forward and overcome its present challenges, political leaders must be patient, steadfast and committed to service at all times.”

    Responding, Hon. Shaban re-affirmed his commitment to the provision of basic necessities of life for the people of Kuje.

    Shaban urged residents to support his administration’s strides towards achieving present transformation initiative of the government.

    “What propelled me to thank God is the success recorded during my campaign. I felt it is necessary for me to appreciate Him. Over the years, I never expected to be what I am today. With the grace of God, everything has been possible,” he said.

    Tete further said his administration would achieve more with the support and prayers and constructive advice of the residents. He said this year his administration would concentrate on execution of development projects for the benefit of residents of Kuje.

  • Oshiomhole: Nigerian leaders should learn from Madiba’s life

    Oshiomhole: Nigerian leaders should learn from Madiba’s life

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said there are several lessons for Nigerians leaders to learn from the life of the late South African President Nelson Mandela.

    In his tribute to the late anti-apartheid fighter, the governor noted that said people like Mandela do not die but transit from the physical world to a higher glory.

    He said: “Mandela cannot be referred to as dead. The right word is transition. He had this real gift of a great leadership and that he comes from this Black continent of Africa makes it even more significant.

    “The lessons from Mandela are very clear: values of leadership without bitterness; the capacity to forgive and to forge unity in a country that was bogged down by ethnic, racial and colour divide. He played up what united the people of South Africa and demonstrated his personnel forgiveness for those who imprisoned him for 27 years. He provided the right atmosphere for prosperity for everyone, including those who deprived him of the good things of life.

    “There are lots of lessons we should learn from this. Can we not afford to be Mandelas in our homes, states and at the national level? For Nigerians, where leaders are busy contesting elections on the basis of ethnic divide, can we learn from Mandela that it is possible to inspire a people to downplay those primordial sentiments and rise to national challenges and build the nation, create prosperity, address the challenges of the poor and be loved by the poor?

    “There won’t be another Mandela on the continent or indeed another Mandela anywhere in the world. It is a shame Nigeria cannot claim to have anybody near him, even though we had the opportunity.

  • Poly inaugurates union leaders

    Poly inaugurates union leaders

    Officers elected into the the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the Imo State Polytechnic in Umuagwo (IMO POLY) have been inaugurated. The swearing-in took place in the school’s council chamber.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that prior to the election, candidates were screened on morals, leadership traits and academic standing.

    The Rector, Revd Wence Madu, who said the election was properly organised, warned the union leaders not to forget their aim in the school. He urged them to respect the school rules and authorities.

    The outgoing president, Stella Nwannah, said: “Courage is what it takes to stand and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. I urge you all to become part of history. I’m leaving behind enviable legacies. Remember your primary aim of coming to the union which is to transform it and help bring development in the polytechnic.”

    The new executive is led by Nnamdi Achi.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, he said: “I am happy to be inaugurated as the seventh president of the school SUG. We are going to make change happen in our institution. That is our promise to every student.”

    Others included Okeke Priscillia, Vice President; Izuchukwu Imo, Secretary General; Umunnakwe Michael, Director of Information and Foreign Affairs; Ibezim Ejike, Director of Transport; Seletein Sariki, Director of Agriculture; Zion Ekeleme, Director of Finance; Joy Mbabie, Director of Internals and Health; Chionye Chibuzor, Director of Socials and Vivian Ibeh, Exchequer.

    The legislative arm is headed by the Speaker, C.I. Emeh, representing Crop and Soil Science constituency.

    The event was attended by the Deputy Rector (Academics), Mr E.C. Amaechi; Dr John Ezenwankwor and other principal officers.

  • Build functional structures, cleric charges leaders

    Christian leaders had been challenged to build functional and viable structures for their churches and organisations.

    The Rector of Gospel Theological College and General Overseer of Powerhouse International Ministries Lagos, Bishop (Dr) Harrison Inam, made this call last weekend at the annual Ministers’ Congress.

    Inam said churches and organisations do not grow because leaders build the structures around themselves.

    According to him, structures in churches must be delegated devoid of unnecessary interventions of such leaders.

    Inam harped on church leaders to take responsibility of developing systems that enhance healthy growth.

    He said: “Ministry is not just about teaching the word but learning to develop systems.

    “The first revelation of the Spirit in Genesis portrays God as setting a chaotic and disorganised earth in order.”

    He warned Christian leaders against copying the structures of other churches without consideration for their peculiarities and challenges.

    Another speaker at the congress, Rev. Joshua Akpan of The Place of Grace Church, Ogun State, described leadership as the act of influencing others in a manner that fosters their confidence, respect and support towards common goals.

    He urged Christian leaders to present themselves as agents of restoration at all times.

  • Leaders urged on nation building

    Leaders have been charged to always come together in prayers and supplication for the unity and development of the country.

    This was the crux at the fourth National Prayer Breakfast, held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    In his exhortation, the Executive Director, Apostles in the Market Place, Nigeria, Pastor John Enelamah, said the country needed God-fearing leaders that will drive it to development and advised them never to despair in heeding divine call.

    Dignitaries who were present on the occasion included the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olusola Oyewole; and former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr Ramrat Layne Admassu, who gave the goodwill message.

    The Senate President, Senator David Mark was the Chief Host. He also represented President ,Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    who was the Special Guest of Honour. Ofcourse most members of the National Assembly were also present.

    The National Prayer Breakfast is a platform to promote lasting relationships for national development, irrespective of political opinions, persuasions or affiliations.

     

  • Ahmed, ex-Rep: pray for Nigeria, leaders

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has urged Muslims not to allow the Nigerian project to fail.

    In a message by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, on this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration, Ahmed urged Muslims to pray for peace and success of the nation.

    He said: “Our existence as a country is God-ordained. We must entrust its success on to Him. This celebration is another opportunity to pray for the strengthening of the good neighbourliness and nation-building through sacrifice and selfless service.”

    The governor noted that for Nigeria to realise its potentials, followers of all religions must work collectively and submit to common religious doctrine of being their brother’s keeper.

    He said: “The 1434 A.H Eid-el-Kabir celebration provides another opportunity for us to reflect on the essence of sacrifice and humility as the fulcrums for the promotion of harmonious relationship in our polity.”

     

  • Leaders in the eye of the storm

    The last UN General Assembly provided ample opportunity to see ‘World leaders in Action’ which incidentally is the title of my new book published last year by MacMillan Nigeria, Book Publishers. The spectacle of world leaders taking the stage to air their views on issues concerning them and their nations provided ample opportunity to assess not only the personalities of these leaders but to form an opinion of their nations from the way they delivered their various speeches. Space cannot allow us to focus on all or most of them. Hence I have identified just a few that I will comment and focus on, because I think they have found themselves in the eye of a global diplomatic storm by their actions and a lack of it perhaps, in recent times. Some of these leaders made an impact at the UNGA last week while one or two could not come because of circumstances beyond their control. In all, their actions and utterances affect the conduct of global diplomacy and international relations enormously and provided them ample opportunity to make history one way or the other.

    The first is the president of Iran Hussain Rouhani who shocked the whole world albeit pleasantly by declaring that Iran will never make a nuclear bomb, a prospect for which the UN has mounted sanctions against his nation for some years now. The second is the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, who could not turn up because of the attack on Westgate Mall in Kenya by terrorists who have killed over 65 people while more bodies are being recovered from the site of the murder and mayhem in Nairobi. The third is the Prime Minister of Israel who arrogantly told his world audience not to believe the Iranian leader and vowed that Israel is ready to go it alone if the whole world is not ready to act on Syria and its use of chemical weapons on women and children by the Assad regime supported by Russia and China in the UN Security Council. The fourth is our president Dr Goodluck Jonathan who was in New York but returned to find the shocking news that Boko Haram terrorists have slaughtered over 50 sleeping male students at a School of Agriculture in N. East Nigeria which was under emergency rule. The Nigerian president’s reaction to this as well as his Independence day address showed indeed that this is one Nigerian president really in the eye of a storm, in terms of the management of the challenges of insecurity facing the nation.

    Starting with the new Iranian President Hussain Rouhani, let me state that his bearing, demeanor and manner of speaking was a pleasant departure from that of his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who during his tenure always stunned his audience by insisting that Israel will be taken off the world map when Iran has its nuclear bomb. Ahmadinejad also insisted throughout his tenure that the Holocaust never took place to the horror of a civilized world. Now a new Iranian president has said in a much publicized TV interview with CNN’s Christine Amanpour that the Holocaust was reprehensible and should be condemned by all right thinking people. Which really soothes global nerves and alters the image of Iran tremendously from the cantankerous and violent one created by Ahmadinejad’s fiery speeches, highly denunciatory rhetorics and volatile diplomacy. Also President Rouhani has said he is in a hurry to start talks on Iran’s nuclear programme with the UN and the nations involved with the insistence that he has the authority of the powers that be in Iran to speak authoritatively on the matter. He has since spoken to the US President Barak Obama before leaving New York which would be the first communication between the presidents of the two nations since the overthrow of the Shah and the arrival in Teheran of the powerful Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 – which led to the Iranian hostage crisis that made then US President Jimmy Carter a one term president. Now a new Iranian president is most unexpectedly offering an olive branch to the world especially the US and predictably the US president Barak Obama is ready and willing to play ball. President Obama has given instructions to US Secretary of State John Kerry to begin talks with Iranian officials on sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program which that nation has always said is for electricity and which its new president is now saying will never be used for making a bomb.

    A booming voice however shouted foul on the utterances of the new Iranian president at the UNGA last week. That was the guttural voice of Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s Prime Minister who spoke after the Iranian president must have returned to Iran. It is necessary to discuss Netanyahu’s speech here in the context of President Rouhani’s diplomatic overtures at the UN before we go on to discuss the problem of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta . This is necessary because Netanyahu refused to let the Iranian president steal his thunder and warned that the Iranian president is ‘a wolf in sheep clothing’ which is to be expected given that the two nations are mortal foes and more so with Rouhani’s predecessor Ahmadinejad. Netanyahu reminded the world that Iran is arming Syria and sponsoring world terrorism and he would never compromise the security of Israel . His saying that Israel will go it alone showed his contempt for the climb down by the Obama Administration over the promised limited strike on Syria. According to Netanyahu it is the sanctions that has made the Rouhani ‘ turn around ‘possible and the UN sanctions should never be stopped. Anyway, Netanyahu insisted Israel will never allow Iran to have a nuclear bomb, which was a bold statement indeed.

    What is amazing here is that if the two leaders were not such implacable enemies they should know they are saying the same things in protecting each other’s interests. Rouhani said Iran will never make a bomb. This is expected to give his nation at least some breathing space in the face of overwhelming global doubt on the matter. But Netanyahu has not heard that. Instead Netanyahu said the sanctions are biting that is why Iran is softening with Rouhani . But then, does it matter why, once Iran has said it will not make a bomb? If Iran does indeed live up to its promise not to make a bomb, of what use is Israel’s threat that it will stop Iran from making a bomb it says it is not interested in? Which shows that while Israel is saber rattling on a quarrel that is expiring, Iran is trying to purge the image of its hitherto blood red color of a major sponsor of terrorism. Both sides need help very much from the international community in understanding each other and moving to a new level on engagement and understanding. They have good examples in contemporary history and politics to follow. One was Gobachev’s unexpected but historic role in bringing the downfall of communism with Glastnost and Prestroika in the former USSR. The second was the most unexpected cooperation between prisoner and gaoler that led to the release of Nelson Mandela by Apartheid S Africa’s President de Klerk and the end of apartheid in S Africa. The two leaders can be reminded that in International Relations there are no permanent enemies but permanent interests. So the ball is in their court in the eye of the storm they have found themselves.

    Let us now look at Kenya in the eye of another storm over its handling of intelligence and security on the Westgate Mall bombing. Investigations are on to confirm or refute intelligence lapses that included information that some security agencies had warned that Al Shabab was planning some thing for September to commemorate 9/11 and the revelation post – Westgate that the attackers hired a shop in the Mall in which they kept their ammunition for May Day undetected. Kenya obviously needs the international community’s cooperation and expertise in unraveling the sickening security lapses at least to avert a repetition. The Kenyan government especially needs the international community to get its head above water in terms of adequate security strategy to protect all Kenyans on its territory as is expected of any government worth its salt. But then there is or there was a little dilemma at least before the Al Shabab terrorists struck West gate. This was the fact that the Kenyan Parliament had passed a resolution asking Kenya to withdraw from the ICC because of its trial of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto for post election violence over the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya before the duo were elected into their exalted offices this year. Indeed, presumably under Kenyan prodding the AU was to have a meeting recently to discuss withdrawing from the ICC on the charge that the ICC was discriminating against African nations in prosecuting the Kenyan leaders. Which to me is just a spurious charge to stop the ICC from fulfilling its responsibility of banishing impunity and lack of respect for the rule of law, transparency and accountability in global governance including Africa. Now, most unfortunately Westgate and Kenya’s security vulnerability, not to talk of negligence or incompetence, have shown that it does not exist in isolation. Surely Kenya needs international help in securing its borders just as its leaders must respect international norms on governance and be answerable if they are not. This is because the world has become a borderless one in terms respect for the rule of law and transparency including respect for the norms of campaigns and elections which were violently brushed aside in the 2007 post election violence in Kenya.

    Lastly Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan must be the first to admit that he is really in the eye of a storm. Boko Haram aside, and really that alone is sufficient to ground any government, I think the president’s main problem is from his own party. Or at least a chunk of his party called the New PDP. This is because even though reports say a peace meeting was being brokered by elders of the party, the New PDP has challenged and wounded mortally, I think, the economic performance of the Jonathan Administration and two examples during and after this year’s Independence celebrations will suffice. In his Independence Message through the National Publicity Secretary of the New PDP faction, the Chairman Alhaji Kawu Baraje lamented that Nigeria has become ‘ a crumbling edifice as a result of corruption and bad leadership.’ He went further to say that – ‘53 years after independence Nigeria is still a crumbling edifice, wrecked to the seams by corruption, bad leadership, ethnicism, parochialism, sectarian intolerance, and childish political recrimination.”

    In another Reuter’s report the CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi blamed the political crisis in the ruling party for the huge purchase of dollars by buyers who were not involved in importation of goods and services but were politicians laundering money to be used to finance their 2015 election bids . He reportedly blamed ‘ the dollarization of the economy by political elites’ for the continued weakness of the naira, despite CBN ‘s moves to prop it up with dollar sales that had depleted the reserves to an eight – month low ‘. What more can one say except to sympathise with our president on the credentials of the party he leads and which controls government under his leadership. Surely the President’s speech on Independence Day was most patriotic but then it begs the question when squared up with political, economic, and security problems begging urgently for solutions. One prays that the President finds a solution that gives the governed succor , urgently if for no other reason than that it is not even safe for him, or any leader for that matter, to stay too long in the eye of a storm, indeed any storm again, for that matter.

  • Time to ‘harass’ our leaders more has come

    British politicians are amongst the most heck led, harassed in the world. Their constituencies, the voters and other citizens don’t give them breathing space. Every action they take is minutely examined, analysed and criticized when necessary. Take for instance, what happened recently when the Prime Minister, David Cameron made a trip from London to Edinburgh by train. Nigerians not used to their way of life might wonder why the leader of one of the most powerful and richest nations on earth will be travelling by train instead of presidential jet. This is afterall, the country that conquered about a quarter of the world (including Nigeria) and still has a firm grip on a large part of the earth’s landmass and resources.

    Well, that is their style; their leaders make use of the same public utilities that the ordinary citizens use. They don’t live separate from the common people or fly around in private jets, helicopters or other means of elitist transport our leaders here use regularly.

    Anyway, on the trip, perhaps tired from the rigours of state affairs or the harassment from the citizens, he decided to take a nap. Nothing wrong with that for afterall body no be wood; the body needs to be refreshed with sleep from time to time. Someone, maybe a fellow passenger, took a snap of the sleeping PM and within a short time, the picture went viral on the Internet.

    Trust the Brits. Some commentators began hackling him, calling him names such as ‘Dozy Cam’ with one stating that the PM sleeps ‘even when he is awake!’ What annoyed another citizen was not the fact that he was sleeping ‘on duty’ but that he travelled by ‘First class! To her, the PM should have been in the Third class compartment so that he will have a taste of what ordinary Britons experience daily.

    Na wa for these oyibos, you might say. A PM travelling by train is not enough for them; he should have been in the 3rd class section of the train before they will be happy. If you have ever taken a train in the UK, especially the Tube (or Underground), you will know that there’s not much difference between the 1st class or 3rd class sections apart the privacy the former gives.

    Anyway, you might think the British citizens’ demands and expectations from their leaders are a bit excessive and harsh. But the fact is that it’s such attitude from the people that has turned their societies into what it is today, one that we somewhat admire and want to emulate. Whatever issues you might have with the oyibos, one thing you can’t take away from them is the way they have been able to ‘tame’ their environment to make life better for their people.

    And they didn’t get there by chance; it took years of struggles, sacrifice and sweat to get there. And active citizen participation was crucial in their journey of emancipation. Something which unfortunately we lack here in this part of the world. Our leaders here are the least harassed in the world. We let them do whatever they like, taking solace in the saying, ‘God will judge them!’ No wonder they treat us with such impunity and disdain and get away with all kinds of atrocities they commit.

    Some observers have blamed this phenomenon on the African leadership culture which could be referred to as the ‘Oba syndrome’. You know, the thinking that the Oba can do no wrong, is always right and should be respected whether he’s doing well or not. Well, nothing wrong in respecting the leaders as African culture demands that. But I believe such respect should be deserved, based on the leader’s personal qualities. There’s something wrong and even stupid in giving respect to a local government Chairman, for instance who steals public funds meant to develop the community and uses it to build private estates both locally and abroad, besides other investments. Such a person, to put it bluntly is a thief and should be treated as such.

    By next week, Nigeria will clock 53 years of independence. It’s been a very long, hard journey to this point and the way ahead looks even bleaker. Some have written the country off, calling it a ‘basket case.’ Since even baskets can be mended, Nigeria can also be fixed. But let’s not look up to the present crop of leaders (both elected and otherwise) to do that as they have too much to lose if the country is well structured and organised. What we need is more robust civil society institutions and eagle-eyed citizens that can demand accountability from their leaders so that Nigerians can get a fairer deal from their collective patrimony.

  • Community women choose leaders

    Community women choose leaders

    A new executive committee of the women wing of Nzuko Arochukwu in Abia State has been inaugurated after a keenly contested election held at Dragon Hall of 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu.

    An Aba-based business woman, Lady Mrs. Doris Nnennaya Oji was elected as president-general of the organisation.

    Lady Oji polled 119 votes to beat her US-based rival, Mrs. Chinyere Odinakachi, who scored four votes, while Mrs. Celestine Onyebuchi won the position of secretary-general with 102 votes, while her opponent Mrs. Chikezie Nneka, garnered eight votes.

    The position of first vice president went to Mrs. Gift Kanu, who scored   107 votes, to beat her opponent Mrs. Peace Okike, who got three votes.

    Mrs. Grace Ndubisi Offor, was elected 2nd vice president with 110 votes, while her opponent Mrs. Virginia Okoroafor, scored three votes.

    Mrs. Olive Onah, was returned unopposed as the legal adviser general of the body.

    Other elected officers, were Mrs. Ngozi Oti, (provost),  Mrs. Esther Ikechukwu, (assistant provost),   Mrs. Blessing Okoronkwo,(welfare officer,) Mrs. Ngozi Kanu (social secretary), Mrs. Nnenna Amah (publicity secretary),Lady Bright Elekwa (financial secretary),  Lady Philomena Nneoma Okoro (assistant financial secretary), Mrs. Ego Oti (treasurer general), Mrs. Ifeoma P. Okoro-Orji (assistant secretary-general)

    In her acceptance speech, the newly elected president thanked the delegates and people of the entire Arochukwu kingdom for finding her worthy to pilot the affairs of the women wing of Nzuko Arochukwu, for the next three years.

    She pledged that her administration would focus on the empowerment of children, youths, women and the elderly, adding that her executive would build a civic centre in the town, as well as improve on the achievements recorded by the immediate past executive led by Mrs. Nwada Igwe.

    Earlier in her speech, the emeritus president general, Mrs. Nwada Igwe, enumerated the achievements of her executive to include the construction of a skill acquisition centre, and care for orphans, vulnerable children, and aged women.

    She said 23 orphans and vulnerable children in the town were offered scholarship at the primary and secondary school levels, adding that the organisation paid the WAEC and NECO examinations fees of the secondary school students.

    “We not only pay their fees; we provide them with school uniform, bags, sandals, exercise books, text books, and also pay developmental levies for them”,

    Mrs. Igwe also disclosed that  the skill acquisition centre trains the intakes on various skills including  hair dressing, electrical work, interior decoration, carpentry and  GSM repairs.  She thanked both the Abia and federal governments for assisting the organisation in equipping the skill acquisition centre.

    Elder Chief Mrs. Eme Nwakanma-Okoro, one of the patrons of the organisation, thanked the delegates for their peaceful conduct during the election, adding that she and other patrons would always support every good cause that would lead to the development of Arochukwu kingdom.

  • Amicable settlement in sight, say PDP women leaders

    The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will soon be resolved, the party’s women leaders have said.

    The Chairman of the Conference of Female PDP Politicians Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, in a statement yesterday, said the group’s interventions in the crisis have yielded a positive results.

    She said: “From all indications, all the parties we have consulted with over the crises have shown a positive interest in an amicable settlement of the conflict, to this end we appeal to fringe elements in the conflict to refrain from inflaming the situation any further.”

    Ita-Giwa said the women leaders would not allow the crisis to linger more than necessary.

    “As a group, we will continue with a nationwide consultation and as mothers we are appealing to all members of the party, who feel aggrieved in one way or another to return to the fold where reconciliation will take place,” she added.

    The spokesperson for the group and former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Biodun Olujimi, expressed the determination of the group to stabilise the party.

    “The crises have awoken our motherly instincts within the party and it is our conviction that we should never lose sight of our responsibility to the party, hence our group has come to stay,” she added.