Fela Durotoye@47: Celebrating a Generational Shift Campaigner

Adetokunbo Olufela Durotoye, leadership coach, corporate trainer and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Alliance for New Nigeria, ANN, clocks 47 today which interestingly, is his wedding anniversary. Adedayo Adejobi writes on the milestone, his thoughts, and ideas on leadership.

“A s the saying goes: ‘You can never miss what you’ve never had’. I am  really grateful for the quality of the relationship I have with my sons; Mobolurin, Demilade, and Morolaoluwa. They are my best friends and I have always believed that by the time they get married, I would have three daughters added to my family. Since my daughters-in-law will carry my name forever, all I have to do is to be patient and wait for my three daughters to arrive when my sons get married. Having waited so long, you can understand when I say I will be the best father-in-law ever. My wife feels so special being the only girl in our home. All four of us pamper her so much and give her all our love.”
These were the words of Fela Durotoye, leadership coach and corporate trainer as well a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Alliance for New Nigeria, ANN. FD, as his friends and admirers call him, is 47 today and the day also marks the 17th anniversary of his wedding to his wife Tara, owner of House of Tara Beauty Centre in highbrow Lekki, Lagos.
Fela is a father of three boys and he   believes even his wife is not the ‘odd  woman’ out among three ‘men’. To me, she is always pampered and she is very loved and that is why he believes that when his sons get married,
There won’t be clinking of glasses. There will not also be popping of champagne. When THISDAY asked him earlier in the week how he would celebrate his birthday, he said there wouldn’t be any celebration.
Rather, he would be doing what he  usually does every year. And this involves going somewhere private with his sweetheart and reminisce about the state of the nation.
Durotoye said the nation needs the  younger generation more than ever  before. To him, the raw energy the youth has makes it possible for them to devote time and that energy to building the country. Alluding
to a music video playing on the television. To Durotoye, the music video is a metaphor of the Nigerian situation.
According to him, if young Nigerians are given the chance to govern the country, the creativity and energy deployed in music videos indicate the high level of creativity that can be brought to governance.
“If we are given the chance to lead the country, I don’t mean lead the country, but rule the country, that is the kind of creativity we would bring into governance,” Durotoye told THISDAY. “We keep talking of how Nigeria developed in the 60s and 70s. That should not surprise us.
These men, who have refused to let go of leadership, or do I say rulership, were young then and they were full of energy and also full of ideas. That was why they were able to achieve much then because those were their best productive years. All they need right now is to let go of leadership and let the younger generation try their own leadership energy. The creativity you saw in that video will be replicated in governance.”
That is a profound analysis. And thank God, Durotoye has thrown his hat into the ring. He wants to become president. He has already joined the Alliance for New Nigeria, ANN. To him, the desire to serve stems
from the belief that Nigeria could be  made the most desirable nation on earth by the year 2025. Tall dream you would say going by present realities but that is not with Durotoye. His raw energy and self-belief can be effervescent at times. Even when you tell him the  odds are stacked against him going by the entrenched interests that have held the nation by the jugular since independence, Durotoye would tell you it is because Nigeria has always been ruled and not led.
He added, “The apparent failure in leadership of our country comes from a rulership system that has over the years produced rulers rather than leaders. I believe that leaders are role models of excellence and integrity whose lives are worthy of emulation. True leaders have the ability to create and deliver desired results, desired outcomes and a desired future for all. In other words, Leaders make people, places
and things better while rulers make  people, places and things worse over time.”
Speaking further, Durotoye said through the nation’s history, there has always been emergence of rulers in positions of authority instead  of leaders in positions of service.
“Rather than serve the people, rulers consider the people as their subjects who are meant to serve them and their interest. Rulers use the power of their position to oppress and make things difficult for their subjects (the people). Rather than royal fathers, the system produced traditional rulers and afterwards, colonial masters who never came to serve the people, and thereafter, military rulers who came as overlords to oppress the people. And from military rule, we’ve experienced political rulers in a democratic framework.”
To him, true leaders make the lives of the people better; rulers make the lives of the people bitter. He pointed out, “As long as we do not replace the system of rulers, we will continue to experience the so called failure of leadership. The system is the problem.”

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