Sunday Okobi
As Nigeria searches endlessly for purposeful and effective leadership presently, prominent Nigerians have expressed the belief that grooming children to be compassionate and strong future leaders is the starting point of nation building.
The Chief Human Resources Officer of MTN Nigeria, Esther Akinnukawe, while speaking on the ‘Fundamentals for Successfully Raising Tomorrow’s Leaders Today’ at the 2019 edition of the ‘Power Summit’ of the Queen of the Rosary College Onitsha Alumni Association, Lagos State chapter, pointed out the growing rot in today’s society and the crisis of leadership are plaguing the country, and therefore needed a way out.
She stressed that teaching children empathy and compassion would be the key to building the nation for the future and making them great leaders.
According to her, “It is imperative for us to begin grooming tomorrow’s leaders from today. There is a need to groom future leaders that are compassionate and empathetic-who will address the rot and chaos that surround them; future leaders who are moved by our groaning; who will venture into public service knowing well that it is not for their personal benefit; leaders who will become executives well equipped to create a difference, and determined to reform the justice system.”
In her keynote address at the conference on the theme: ‘Building a Strong Family Base Towards National Development’, former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, emphasised on the integral position of the family and the values it brings to the general society.
At the Summit organised by ‘Foster networking opportunities and support for a balanced life among women’, the former head of the Africa Division of the World Bank and the co-founder of the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International, noted that “each family here, being the producers of the basic values are expressed in the way we do our things at each family level, can be the ones at that unit to develop a nation. You don’t need an appointment into public office for you to be a contributor to the process of national development, because at the basis of family, you are shaping the values that are called ultimate institutions.”
Other speakers at the event who also spoke on family values and nation building included Executive Director, Rain Oil Limited, Mrs. Godrey Ogbechie; co-founder, Falcon Corporation Limited, Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo; CEO, Brand Zone Consulting LLC, Mrs. Chizor Malize; Principal Consultant, Centre for Sex Education and Family Life, Mr. Praise Fowowe, and Medical Director and Psychiatrist in Chief, Pinnacle Medical Service, Dr. Maymunah Kadiri.
