Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday said Nigeria must begin to recruit “selfless and transformational” leaders to take over the mantle of leadership from those he described as “transactional” leaders.
Obasanjo spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun state, at an event organised to mark his 87th birthday.
The former President at the event launched the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute (OOLI), an arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) and his new book titled: “The Art of Leading: Unconventional Wisdom from Biblical”.
The event was attended by former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Mathew Kukah, Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang (Plateau) and Douye Diri (Bayelsa); former President of Ghana, John Mahama and former Governor of Osun state Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
Obasanjo said, bad leadership remained the biggest problem in Africa and called for the grooming of new leaders who are selfless and willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the continent.
He said, “leadership is preeminent in anything we do and if leadership is preeminent in anything we do, how do we recruit, how do we train, how do we nurture leaders in all works of life? Leaders that will be transformational instead of transactional, leaders that will be servant leaders, sacrificial.
“In addition to writing book and talking about it, can it be taught, can leadership be taught? Can we look at where leadership had worked and I believe that for me we cannot go farther than in the Bible.
“But, also if it can be taught, what do we need to teach, what do we need to inculcate, what do we need to make people absorb leadership tenets, leadership principles and factors that will make us move fast and move far together and that is what OOLI is about”, Obasanjo said.
The former President also called for the adoption of an African-style democracy that is “sufficiently African in content” to recognise African culture and history.
He said the adoption of Western liberal democracy gave room for electoral malpractice and encouraged politicians to win elections by “hook or crook”.
His words: “We have inherited liberal democracy from the West, because they are the ones who colonised us and they only gave us what they had.
“Now, I believe that when we are able to have democracy that is African in content, sufficiently African in content, in culture and in history and in practice, the sort of thing that happened in Plateau state recently will not happen because the idea of ‘well, we will win by hook or by crook, you go to court, there will not be the question of going to court because you won’t have to win by hook or by crook, you will have to settle it the way we settle things in Africa before liberal democracy’.
“Let me say two or three things about this liberal democracy, they (West) have something they called loyal opposition. I have researched into African languages for the meaning of opposition, the meaning in almost all African languages is enemy, how do you have loyal enemy? So what they have given to us does not make sense in African context, African way we have consensus, we sit under the tree and we iron out and we then decide okay, this is the way it will go, there is no opposition, but they (West), they have loyal opposition because they came out of monarchy and you can be loyal to the monarchy.
“We are rethinking liberal democracy because if it is relevant to their culture and their history, what they have given us is not relevant to our culture and to our history”.
In his remarks, former President Goodluck Jonathan identified access to justice, quality of elections, and tribalism as some of the factors working against quality leadership in Africa.
He said, “that there was a need to look at the issues of winner-takes-it-all in politics, noting that when a president is elected, he isn’t just the president of his party alone, but a president of all”.
He added that whenever a serving president brings an opposition on board his team, it tends to bring quality and inclusiveness into governance.
On his part, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun described former Obasanjo as a leading voice in the quest for political emancipation and good governance in Africa.
Governor Abiodun, while acknowledging Obasanjo for being deeply connected to his roots, also praised him for being a respected democratic leader globally.
He said, “Baba has become a world-respected democratic leader, a detribalised Nigerian, and a Pan-African whose passion and vision is for Africa that is being led by quality leadership for the desired economic development.
“Baba is deeply connected to his roots. Baba’s passion for his culture and tradition is unparalleled.
“Baba remains the leading voice in his quest for political emancipation, good governance, anti-corruption and social justice,” he said.
The governor commended the former president for being far-sighted with a knack for nurturing leaders.
Also speaking, the former President of Ghana, John Mahama called on African leaders to practise all inclusive democracy which according to him allows for the views of the oppositions.
Mahama said, “Most African countries hold elections regularly now. You will find out that one leader will take one step forward, one leader may take one step or two steps backwards and even another leader will keep us standing still.
“Effective leadership is therefore important and it is one that continues to make progress even in the face of challenges.”
“Under a universally accepted values of leadership; we expected that a leader should be humane; we expected that our leader should be modest; we expect that our leaders should be humble and they should be caring”.
“Those institutions, particularly the anti-corruption institutions must be allowed to do their constitutional duties without any interference and work towards creating a more transparent and sustainable society for the future generations”.
“Obasanjo has demonstrated this kind of leadership throughout his tenure as the president of the country. Therefore, let the 87th Birthday celebration of President Obasanjo serve as a reminder for all of us as the importance of quality leadership and inclusive democracy in Africa”.
“As we celebrate his contribution and leadership, let us also reflect on how we can work together towards fostering this values in our various societies. Let us prioritize the promotion of quality leadership and create environment for all our people to participate in decision making. We can create more sustainable and peaceful world for all of us”.
