Nigeria’s Leadership Challenge Caused by Society not People in Power, Says Sani

The society, rather than, those with political power should be blamed for Nigeria’s leadership problem that is stunting the nation’s development, Ahmed Sani, the Group Managing Director of Amco Group of Companies, writes Bennet Oghifo 

Sani, who discussed some national issues with journalists recently, said, “Leadership is a major challenge in Nigeria, but we are always looking at the issue from the wrong perspective. When we talk about leadership in Nigeria, a lot of us start thinking about people who are in power. There is more to that. It is a system. Society gives birth to the people in power. The leaders in power are people’s fathers, brothers, cousins, sisters, mothers etc. We are all leaders and we need to build that capacity in every aspect of our society. We need to be accountable to our wives, husband, father, family, communities, local government, states and the nation. It is unfortunate that we’ve not gotten it right when it comes to leadership. You find out that a typical Nigerian man doesn’t do anything without being paid or find a way to be corrupt one way or another.” 

Corruption, he said, permeates every facet of society, stating that the system is plagued by different sentiments that inhibit progress. 

“Look at people who are managing little offices today, when you go to them, everyone would start looking after the ethnicity, religion and benefits they tend to get, all of these contribute to problems of leadership. A Hausa man only feels comfortable with Hausas and vice versa with other ethnicities. We’re not just getting it right, the leadership problem we have in the country is not just the president, governor, chairman.” 

Sani said to address this problem, “We need to see ourselves as a leader and deliberately build leadership capacity. We need to see ourselves first as a Nigerian. We need to move away from ethnicity and religion. These things should not be above humanity. We are first human before we are Igala, Yoruba, Muslims or Christians. We need justice. We need equity. We should treat one another equally with the interests of Nigerians being priority as one of the cardinal pillars. If you’re in a particular position, look at yourself as a Nigerian, not a man from the North, South, East, West or North central. That’s the only way we can get it right.” 

The Kogi State-born businessman also addressed his political future, having earned a name in his line of enterprise, and since people are canvassing for leaders with the right capacity, saying,

“I am very passionate about Kogi and I won’t fail to serve when need be. I think it is time to ensure that we have leaders with the right capacity. States are struggling in Nigeria. The challenges are not mainly caused by the states. The centre has to be right. Our federal system placed a lot of power in the centre. So, I think, representatives of states at the centre must be strong. It is these representatives that determine laws and what eventually gets back to the states. Personally, I think Kogi needs stronger representation in the Senate and House of Representatives, especially Kogi East where I come from. I see myself serving in this capacity.” 

Giving his assessment of Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration in Kogi State, he said the governor “has done well in the area of security. You may not understand how bad the issue of insecurity has been in Kogi. It became very difficult for some of us to go home. A lot of times, the security details required to go home is enough headache but those things have changed. I think Kogi is one of the safest states in the country. “Unfortunately, this is one area that a lot of governors could not get right, even the government at the centre. Security is paramount. People should be able to move and do business freely. I have not heard much around kidnapping, farmer herder clash in Kogi or bombing and kidnapping. These things are pronounced in neigbouring states to Kogi. I have also seen that infrastructural projects are ongoing across the states. The bridge being constructed at Ganaja junction is a major one. 

Kogi, he said, has a lot of natural resources and had no business being categorised as a poor state. “Kogi has large quantities of coal, iron-ore, dolomite, feldspar, tar, bauxite, limestone and crude oil. While we have seen a level of exploration in Obajana by Dangote and a few ceramic companies, the resources have been grossly untapped and those being tapped do not contribute so much to the internally generated revenue of the state. Previously, the IGR of Kogi was about N500 million monthly. Reports show that N17.5 billion was generated in 2020, that is about N1.3 billion monthly. Without being biased, I think we need to commend the current government in that regard. There is a lot that can happen in Kogi with the level of the natural resources we have. The Ajaokuta steel complex is practically dead. The coal is not explored and different other resources.” 

He said the location of Kogi is very strategic, stating that anybody coming from South-east to the South west, South – south or coming from the other regions into these places cannot avoid Kogi. “Kogi is a focal point into the Federal Capital Territory. Kogi stands a better chance to be a commercial hub of Nigeria and if there’s any state closer to the federal capital, I think Kogi.” 

Discussing the federal government’s designation of Kogi as an oil producing state, he said, “This is very positive and commendable. We must commend Yahaya Bello for this achievement. I think the governor is a goal-getter. Whatever he is determined to do he will achieve it. For a long time, Kogi, Anambra and Enugu states have been on the loggerhead of the oil deposit in Kogi. We have seen past governors, who tried to make moves to claim this until it was recently achieved by Yahaya Bello. This declaration is only a testament to the level of natural resources in Kogi. This will improve the revenue of the state, provide job opportunities, increase knowledge gap in the state, especially in the oil and gas sector and also make the state a destination of foreign direct investment. History would remember Bello for this.” 

Commenting on the 2023 general election, Sani said, “Every time there is an election, we have the opportunity to correct our mistakes. The questions should be if we as Nigerians are ready to take our future into our hand by electing the right leaders. “That said, the economic issue in the country is not limited to us alone, the world is going through challenging times. COVID-19 cascaded the economic downturn and most countries are still struggling to get out of this. We have relied on oil for a long time. The price went drastically bad since 2015 and worst from 2019 to 2021. This reliance on oil did not start during the APC government. We had abundance in the past but we were not careful on how to use our oil wealth. We did not save for drought and also did use the proceeds from oil to diversify our economy. But I believe a lot can happen in 2023 by electing the right thinking leaders through the new electoral act.” 

Sani frefrained from putting the blame on any political party, saying, “Today I’m not in APC neither am I in PDP. I do not also think that the problem was caused by either APC or PDP. We have fundamental problems that we must correct as a nation. Both APC and PDP have not given us the best. While the APC government came to power on different promises, I can tell you that they got it wrong by estimating the challenges of the country wrongly. When you are not the player or coach, you are likely to make a series of suggestions or pass blame on how things could have been done right. That notwithstanding, I think the government of APC has gotten some things right just like PDP. The Treasury Single Account we have today was implemented by APC. The issue of terrorism, Kidnapping, bombing and other security issues have been in place for sometime now, even before this government came. We need to do everything possible as a country to overcome that. The BVN is also something good. The electoral act is also another good move. Although war against corruption is painted as a major focus under this government, but I think instead of abating, corruption escalated. But there’s no government that comes into the country that got the issue of corruption right.”

He also discussed the position of young people in governance, saying, “I believe it is time for younger people to be allowed into political offices. This is the trend across the world and our case should not be different. Nigeria is a country of youthful population. People above 65 years of age are less than 0.9 per cent of the population. People from 50 years downward account for 90 per cent of the population. It is normal and justifiable that we should have these people in power. If they have to make a law, they will make one that reflects a futuristic approach. They also understand better the peculiarity of the changing world and how they can adapt to it. Remember that most of the people we still have in power today served when they were young. Then the country was a lot better compared to the state we now have. It is natural that as you get older, you get tired. However, young people have a lot to learn. They have a lot to do to build capacity for leadership. Either old or young, we need people with capacity who can deliver.”