The Nation Newspaper

Tag: visionary

  • Osunkeye: From Hands-on to visionary

    I recently was a guest of one of the world’s gentlemen, the debonair Chief Emeka Anyaoku, at the Metropolitan Club, and I had a conversation with Chief Olusegun Osunkeye, former managing director of Nestle Foods. He confirmed my primary view of how to lead. He said in the early 1970’s, even before he was head of the company, he observed that the Nigerian staff lacked expertise, and he decided to embark on a ruthless regime of training. Some, he observed, could not write a good sentence. So particular was he that he earned the nickname Black Power.

    By the time he became MD, he found out he no longer needed to do much supervision. “I discovered, they already knew about their assignments than I,” he said. So, he did not stay in their way and he allowed them blossom. He showed that the first job of a leader is to make leaders. Having made them self-sufficient, he now could sit back and concentrate on the big picture as a visionary. That accounts for why he became one of the outstanding leaders of corporate Nigeria.

     

     

     

  • Visionary and visionless leaders

    SIR: Hardly do you see a government in Nigeria (state and federal) that pursues policies of previous administration. Save for perhaps Lagos where the politicians seem to have got leadership model right. Others lag behind; everything about the old order must be bad.  And destruction of the old order must be carried out with gung-ho spirit. They are always united in confusion.

    Not so elsewhere. Winston Churchill — was not future blind when in 1943, he laid the foundation for the establishment of the universities of Ibadan (Nigeria), Legon (Ghana) and— Makerere (Uganda). How could he have known when he did that he would be upstaged as prime minister by Clement Attlee of the Labour Party in the general elections of 1945?

    * Attlee was not future blind— regardless of the fact that the vision was Churchill’s —  went ahead with the establishment of the University of Ibadan in 1948 — Legon and Makarere. Might that have happened in Nigeria?

    The National Open University in the United Kingdom was promoted by Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s Labour Party — in government from 1964 to 1970. It was a policy the conservative party loved to deride as no good.

    When Edward Ted Heath (Conservative) — defeated Harold Wilson (Labour) and — became prime minister, his education secretary Margaret Thatcher against all odds, despite being harried by her party leaders, volte-faced and began to proselytize on the importance of Open University. She not only campaigned for its entrenchment but lobbied the party hierarchy for it to be funded. No need telling. The Open University became a success story but credit due Thatcher was given to Wilson.

    Harry Truman lacked charisma but today is one of the greatest presidents ever to lead the United States. He carried FDR policies to the letter after the latter’s death; The New Deal as well as building Europe with the Marshall Plan.

    * It’s important for youngsters to see politics as a noble profession — to see themselves as equal members of society and — that democratic contest is a sport, an avenue for healthy jousts necessary for developmental growth. After all— genuine statesmen and women are not bigots and development cannot be brought about by only one political party.

     

    • Simon Abah,

    Abuja.

  • Ekwueme: Philosopher and king; visionary and practician….

    To honour him whom we have made is far from honouring him that hath made us.” It was Michel de Montaigne, the 16th French philosopher and writer who wrote those magnificent words. I think and know Dr. Alex Ekwueme as one of those who hath made us.

    Those were my first response and words of acceptance of the request to me that I serve as keynote speaker at the August 24, 2012 international event celebrating 80 years of a great, impactful and purposeful life.

    Ide Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, born October 21, 1932, is both philosopher and king; visionary and practician; philanthropist and resourceful role model for millions.

    It remains a great privilege for me to appreciate Dr. Ekwueme — respectfully, to his face and esteemed presence.

    It is a continuation of my trans-generational commitment to appreciate and honour outstanding leaders and persons who continue to make a difference and inspire our commitments.

    What do I say when the man who is older enough to be my father?

    What do I say to a gentle giant whose signature humble personality and mild speaking style stands in contradistinction to the towering strings of Olympian, concrete achievements.

    Yes; I do know that Dr. Ekwueme, recipient of Nigeria’s high national award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), lived a quintessential embodiment of public service and living example of an individual — working in cooperation with his wife Mrs. Beatrice Ekwueme– engaged in strategic generosity for almost 45 years!!

    He established the first indigenous architectural firm in Nigeria, Ekwueme Associates, Architects and Town Planners, and improved the face of Nigeria.

    In the arena of politics, he will, forever, be remembered as the man who formally led, through his democratic election in 1979-1983 as Vice President of Nigeria, the most comprehensive reintegration of the Igbo into the geo-political and socio-economic pillars of power in the country.

    Set aside other fanciful claims of that period.

    I do know that VP Ekwueme used his appointment of Mark Okoye as Nigeria’s Minister for the Abuja Federal Capital (with the city then under construction) to empower thousands of the Igbo and other easterners who, today, have become key economic factors in Abuja. Remarkably, Ekwueme does not cite or brag about this critical role. He will not talk about it but I will.

    Again, he is one of those who hath made us.

    Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s philanthropy, relatively and in terms of community impact, compares to the Carnegies, the Mellons, the Gates, Mohameds, Bank-Anthonys, the Buffets, Annenbergs, Mosingers, Ilodibes and many other cheerful givers. More so, for me to capture the modest totality of Ide Alex Ekwueme’s meaningful life will require a special book.

    Dr. Ekwueme was, by no means, perfect; he also had issues where some disagreed strongly with him.

    Permit me to note that our Igbo and Yoruba nativist refuseniks and hardliners dismissed Ekwueme and others such as my mentor the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo who worked politically with the Sokoto caliphate, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the Kaduna ‘mafia’ and the northern Nigeria conservative leadership as “sell-outs.” Such arguments still feed some quarters as it did in 1979 through the 1980s.

    As a matter of fact in the early 1980s, while I was a very young staff of the Electronic News Gathering (E.N.G) unit of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 6, Aba, I joined in covering VP Ekwueme and President Shehu Shagari news events in our broadcast area which included the old Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa states.

    Let me note that Nigeria’s incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari toppled the democratically-elected presidency of Shehu Shagari and VP Ekwueme on December 31, 1983 when Buhari was an Army General; Buhari kept Ekwueme in jail and held Shagari in cordial house arrest.

    Ide Alex Ekwueme values education; got the best, and gave hundreds of scholarships. His own primary school started at St John’s Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, a few miles from his hometown of Oko; attended the prestigious King’s College, Lagos; showed such excellence he was given the U.S Fulbright Scholarship; 1955 admitted to the University of Washington where he bagged a Bachelor’s degree in architecture and city planning; a Masters degree in urban planning; from the University of London, he excelled with degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law; from the University of Strathclyde his Ph.D. in architecture. A well-rounded intellectual, he continued to earn the Bachelor of Law degree from the Nigerian Law School in Lagos.

    At his 80th birthday, I said during my keynote presentation that: “Dr. Alex Ekwueme, you have planted human seeds through large scale scholarships and empowerment of Oko persons and other communities; many will thank you; may be a few will scorn you with their violent ingratitude that the sun and moon you showed them were not bright enough…. No matter what, Ide, your name and legacies are greater.”

    As a chronicler of history, ancient and modern, of current affairs and the business of power for the past 35 years of the Igbo nation, of Nigeria, of Africans and Americans, I can state without any concerns of contradiction that Dr. Alex Ekwueme is among the top 50 greatest Africans of the 20th century!

    Finally, I offer you the gift of the wise words of my Aro elders: Ide, may your lineage endure!!

     

    • Dr. Nwangwu, is the Founder & Publisher of Houston-based USAfrica multimedia network.

  • Tinubu: visionary leadership necessary for good governance

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has identified visionary leadership and strong intellectual ability as keys to the entrenchment of good governance in Nigeria.

    Speaking at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State at the first National Conference of Nigerian Political Science Association, Southwest Zone, Tinubu noted that the challenges facing the nation were as a result of inexperienced men and women occupying leadership positions.

    Represented by eminent scholar Prof. Adebayo Williams, the APC leader said it was imperative to have proper orientation for would-be leaders if the challenges must be eradicated.

    He said: “Excellent political leadership should be based on essential and strategic political vision.

    “In taking steps especially to lead, you must plan and strategise.

    “There cannot be national progress without adequate security.”

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola challenged political scientists to provide information and advice to political leaders.

    Aregbesola decried the alienation between the academic community and the larger society.

    The governor, who identified productivity as the duty of leaders, underscored the need for politicians to be concerned on areas to effectively cater for the needs of the populace.

    In his keynote address, titled: “Democracy, Nation Building and Development in Nigeria,” former Ekiti State University Vice Chancellor Prof. Dipo  Kolawole called for the refocusing, redefinition and re-conceptualisation of the government at the centre.

    Noting that Nigerians want performance from their leaders, Kolawole hinted that the constraints to national development were adue to leaders’ inattention to democratic policies.

    The don said the Federal Government should engage key stakeholders and show concern about the wellbeing of the people.

    Kolawole said: “We must refocus our politics by redefining areas where we can debate issues for the betterment of the country.

    “Nigeria must try to reclaim its leadership position in Africa so that deserved respect will be its pride.”

    He contended that the success of Nigeria’s democracy depends on democratically enlightened and vibrant individuals.

  • Cleric seeks courageous, visionary leadership

    An Islamic cleric and university don, Dr. Asif AbdulAzeez Olatunbosun, has said only courageous and transparent leader can run the affairs of the country and restore it to peace and economic stability.

    The cleric, who is a Principal Lecturer and Chief Imam of Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu-Ijebu, Ogun State, said most Nigerian leaders lacked vision, courage, fairness, morality and financial transparency.

    These, he said, was responsible for the recent incident of ‘budget padding’ at the National Assembly and series of cases of diversion of public fund to personal usage involving some public officers.

    Olatunbosun spoke at the Central Mosque of The Wings Group of Schools, Iwo, Osun State.

    Speaking on Challenges of Leadership, Morality and Financial Transparency in Islam, Olatunbosun insisted that the present security and economic challenges facing the country would have been curtailed had President Goodluck Jonathan taken a courageous step towards curbing the menace of corruption before it escalated

    Enunciating some of the qualities of good leadership, Olotunbosun said a good leader must be honest; transparent, courageous, God- fearing, trustworthy and be personally endowed with the ability to foresee what is likely to happen in future.

    He added that a good leader must be committed to the needs of the people and live up to their expectations.

    Among the dignitaries in attendance at the occasion were the Aragbiji of Iragbiji Oba Abdulrasheed Olabomi, Dr. M.O. Aremu of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Oyo State and former INEC National Commissioner for South-west, Prof. Lai Olurode.

    The Chief Imam said any leader who lacks vision, knowledge, confidence, understanding, concentration, capacity, sense of security, courage, moral and ethical principles, character and passion to move the nation forward on a fast trajectory is not fit to govern the country.

  • Aregbesola: Visionary leadership in troubled times

    Aregbesola: Visionary leadership in troubled times

    The book, ‘Asiwaju: Leadership in Troubled Times’ could easily frighten the meek-minded away from leadership responsibilities. That publication, co-authored by columnists, Sam Omatseye, Segun Ayobolu and Tunji Bello (now the Secretary to the Government of Lagos State) in honour of former Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who then clocked 60, succinctly captures what storms (expected and unexpected) could hallmark a particular period of leadership.

    And when such economic, political and social hurricanes emerge, they end up defining that era; serving to bring out the best in leadership qualities or presenting the leader as one never prepared for the rigours of office.

    Five years into the two-term tenure of the governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the “troubled times” that leadership faces are real as evidenced by the events of the half a decade.

    Forget the last one year of acute global economic upheaval which has turned into shreds, Nigeria’s monolithic economy relying solely on sale of crude oil in the international market. That was a disaster foretold! It now threatens to cripple the country save the ingenious application of survival strategies of a new order at the centre.

    Almost two decades into its birth as a state of Nigeria, Osun’s state of being could not have been an attractive project for those in search of “low-hanging fruits” at the time Aregbesola set out to be its governor.

    No doubt, a state generating less than N300 million monthly as internally generated revenue from and for its almost four million citizenry could not have been a comfort zone for those looking for tea parties. It was already a state begging to be fixed. Five years down the line on November 27th, the surgical operations through the instrument of a six-point development agenda called “My Pact with Osun”, have changed the skylines in what must be a good study in “tearing down and building up”.

    I have seen historical cases of how fortunes of hitherto despondent people were turned around. The story of Bogota, the Columbia capital slum which became a shinning example of development through vision is one. Today, history remembers Mayor Antanas Mockus for promoting culture of citizenship which brought about an articulate analysis and comprehension of the multiform and multifarious complexities of that slummy city. That led to a change of attitude. Second is that of Mayor Enrique Penalosa which built on the foundation of a completely reorientated citizenry to cause development and inflow of investments and infrastructure.

    Jim Krane, in City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism tells us the sweet story of how a dusty desert land became the tourists destination of the whole world within a spate of three decades. Today, Sheikh Rashid Ibn Saheed Marktoum is revered as the father of modern Dubai.

    Osun, in five years has similar tales to tell. Put together, the works that have gone into a holistic transformation and development agenda rank Osun among people who had resigned to fate only to be jolted by a phenomenal change in their state of being.

    The works that have gone into education, roads, security, social welfare, health, agriculture, rural development are responsible for what visitors to Osun adjudge as true essence of leadership.

    By the end of the first term in 2014, the Aregbesola administration could boast of over 900 kilometres of completed roads of various grades. The impact of that on economic activities are rippling.

    Within the same period, Osun witnessed the construction of more than 50 new mega schools in the Elementary and Middle Schools categories in what have gone down as the most attractive learning centres to be built in the state in its more than two decades of existence.

    The exciting unveiling of the Wole Soyinka Government High School, Ejigbo on Wednesday November 23, 2015 has further confirmed that the experts and stakeholders who sat for the 2011 Education Summit did not just engage in empty talk shop. They can see the outcome of their brainstorming sessions emerging in world classrooms, Tablet of Knowledge (Opon Imo), improved teaching personnel, increased funding for school administration, highly impacting school feeding for elementary school pupils, phenomenal increase in school enrollments among other landmark initiatives.

    The result of the above is the 61 per cent improvement in the performance of Osun pupils in examinations. Comparing the performance of between 2008 and 2010, which had 13.26 per cent performance level with the period 2011 and 2013’s 21.32 per cent obviously shuts the mouths of those who had attempted to pick holes in the educational policies of the Aregbesola administration.

    A recent report of the Oxford Department of International Affairs Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index rated Osun as next to Lagos in Nigeria. This was an indication that in spite of the hullabaloo over financial crisis, the state has been making tremendous progress through silent transformations.

    Two weeks ago, the World Bank ranked Osun the best state in the implementation of the Rural Access Mobility Project, a project opening up access to rural farmers and dwellers to improve the wellbeing of the people.

    But before then, the National Bureau of Statistics had earlier rated Osun as state with the least unemployment rate in Nigeria. Of course, that is not without its own concomitant effects on security lives and investments. Osun appears to have remained impregnable for hoodlums who have made life hell in some neighbouring states.

    And what do the figures point to? Development analysts won’t have problems identifying the various intervention moves of the Aregbesola administration that are responsible for these positive rankings of a state that had occupied the unenviable place as second to the last on federal allocation ladder.

    The state does not just flaunt an array of branded projects. Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme (OREAP); Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme ( OYES);  Osun Environmental Sanitation Project (O-CLEAN); Osun School Infrastructure Project (O-SCHOOL); Osun Ambulance Services (O-AMBULANCE); and a host of others. These brands have not just been brands, but vehicles in the development journey of the Aregbesola administration.

    In the end, his era would be remembered for how many hitherto slummy ghetto settlements like Old Garage were transformed into Nelson Mandela Freedom Park which is today a world-class centre of commerce and relaxation in the heart of the state capital.

    His tenure would be identified with the number of dilapidated schools that turned out rascals that were transformed into excellent mega-schools with world class learning facilities positioned to churning out confident, well-groomed and productive citizens who can compete with any of their peers across the globe.

    Above all, he would be judged on how much his visionary leadership in this troubled times have affected humanity as a whole.

    The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whose “jewel of inestimable value” was given a final burial rites on Wednesday, never had it rosy in the face of his determined development journey. It is on record that free education, the instrument with which that visionary leader set this region on a faster lane of educational, political, economic and social advancement was, in the beginning, unpopular with the people.

    In the face of a daunting economic dilemma facing Nigeria, occasioning delays in salaries and pensions payments, meeting contractors’ obligations, funding budgetary provisions for capital projects and overheads, the message is clear that times like these demand critical and genuine assessment of situations in order to be in tune with the realities of the moment.

    Three years ahead and still a work in progress, there is no doubt that more “troubled times” lay ahead if development must be achieved. The “trouble times” only lies in the readiness of the citizenry to see the genuineness of a vision that is focused on true development and buy into it. That will be when “troubled times” meet their match in visionary leadership.

     

    • Okanlawon is the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Osogbo, Osun State.

     

  • Eko Atlantic: Lessons in visionary leadership

    History, it is said will have no mercy on leaders who are timid or simply fail to take critical decisions whether they turn out to be right or wrong. Being able to take the right decision as a leader never happens in a vacuum. It is a product of experience, intellectual training, political sagacity and economic wizardry in the face of many odds. For having the vision, for seeing beyond the present and a willingness to confront the future, Asiwaju Tinubu the former governor of Lagos State was called out for accolades and praise on Thursday when the Eko Atlantic Project was commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan, Bill Clinton and Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    The unending praise Tinubu received for visionary leadership on that day is no way misplaced. It was earned. Here is why.

    Tinubu, while governor of Lagos state saw how the fury of the Atlantic stole away precious land from Lagos. How it wrecked havoc on the residents. How it mercilessly swallowed their homes up in raging water. He never prevaricated. He acted in the nick of time by leading a crack team to seek a permanent solution to the Atlantic waves. He wanted to reclaim what the waters forcefully took away from Lagos. He wanted to subdue nature through the use of modern human technology. He wanted to turn despair into hope and erect a modern engineering monument from the devastation left behind by the raging waves.

    He acted swiftly. He sought for ideas. He knocked on doors for solution. He tapped into his network of professional friends and international financiers. He invested time, resources and knowledge in this pursuit. He was undeterred even when many saw it as a gambit too many by a man who simply wanted to conquer every territory he chanced upon. But they were wrong. Tinubu was on a noble cause. He had a vision to rescue the coast line of Lagos and employed courage to pursue it. No only that, he tapped a most capable hand to continue with the vision of the project after he left power. Governor Fashola took off where Tinubu left off and never once looked back.

    On Thursday, February 21, it all came together. The pieces of a dream, the realization of a vision, the rebirth of another city within a city and the victory of vision over mediocrity all came together to give Lagos another new Lagos. The Eko Atlantic City.

    From 2005 to 2013 when what seemed impossible became reality. Two governors, many top civil servants, bankers and international financiers, key professionals, engineers and of course the Chagoury brothers who put together the funds and expertise for the project all worked together tirelessly to make the story of the victory of the human will over nature possible.

    Like Bill Clinton said at the launch, Eko Atlantic will remain one of the engineering wonders of the world and very soon, peoples from around the world will flock here to look at the careful mix of rocks of different shapes and sizes pilled together in special patterns to force back the raging Atlantic waves. He said the effort that has gone into reclaiming five million square meters of Atlantic land is a monumental and commendable one.

    The reclaimed area, almost the size of Victoria Island sits pretty well by and in the Atlantic ocean and professes proudly the undying power of man to subdue is environment and turn it to advantage. Lagos has again put Nigeria on the global map. Lagos has written a new chapter yet in the history of Nigeria and put Nigeria back into reckoning when it comes to ideas and leadership quality.

    And because one man had the idea, vision, the courage and the determination to push through what he believed in, all we celebrate in Eko Atlantic is possible today. As governor, Tinubu was full of ideas. Most of it out of the box, yet practicable. He never let pass by an opportunity to change the face of Lagos in road construction, in health infrastructure, in power generation, in revenue generation and resource management, in job creation and a tapestry of administrative initiatives that have since laid the solid foundation for the future of Lagos. He trampled on areas where others were too timid to thread. And from the tribe of his lieutenants he tapped on Fashola to achieve all that he could not achieve and move Lagos forward.

    From Lagos goes out the lesson of true leadership to all of Nigeria. From Lagos, we see the kind of leadership Nigeria badly needs. We glean what is possible when a few men of goodwill and vision occupy positions of power. Lagos signposts a Nigeria that can be great. A nation that can earn respect and take its place in the world. That is and can only be possible if we have men of vision and courage in the mould of Tinubu and Fashola at the helm of affairs. The crop of leaders we now parade, especially at the centre will not get us there. They live insular lives and are isolated from reality. They suffer from the paucity of ideas and wallow in corrupt practices. Parochial in thinking and clueless about power because they only chanced on it, they make Nigeria slip gradually into a failed state. But there is yet hope because the day of the people cometh soon, but most importantly, because other leaders are now rising up to challenge and contest for power. That is the way. The only way. Eko Atlantic is a reminder that even that is possible.