Gideon Arinze in Enugu
The Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd and Enugu State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has said that the only way Nigeria could navigate out of its current multifaceted ordeals was through the right leadership in all the strata of the society.
Mbah, who disclosed this at the weekend, while delivering a lecture as guest speaker at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, bemoaned the state of the nation as discouraging to the youths.
He stressed that security challenge, high crime rate and the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian University were products of bad leadership in the country.
Speaking on the theme of the annual lecture series: “Leadership in Modern Times: Youths Bridging the Gap,” organised by the Medical Research and Humanitarian Society (MEDRHUS), University of Nigeria, Mbah expressed confidence that only the right leadership would put Nigeria back to track by harnessing the huge potentials of the nation’s youths to build a country of their dream.
“Good leadership should not only be about leadership traits, or visionary nature, but also about the ability of the leader to convey his vision and most of all, about his ability to carry his team through the motion of moving from their current state, to achieving their envisioned state.
“The test of leadership is the management of the journey and the dynamics of carrying the team along to the final objective,” he noted.
According to Mbah, Africa was still battling with the kind of leadership model its colonial masters bequeathed on it which he described as – heroic leadership complex – where leaders wanted to be worshipped as heroes rather than seeing themselves as servants of the people they’re representing.
This, he said, had led to the collapse of leadership in Nigeria where youths are now at the receiving end.
“The collapse of leadership in Africa has had a reverberating effect on youths of the continent. Nigeria for example reflects this collapse in the different malaises suffered by the youths.
“For instance, the level of nepotism that is currently in the country, the collapse of security, the menace of students staying at home for upwards of seven months simply due to the inability of government and the lecturers’ union to come to an accord on issues of funding of universities have a linkage to this collapse.
“More significantly is the fear that the Nigerian economy can go bankrupt if no urgent steps are taken to halt the decline,” he observed.
While looking at the dire implication of the leadership failure on the country, the 2023 governorship hopeful said youths, the most valuable resources are leaving Nigeria in droves in search of greener pasture abroad which he said is termed as ‘japa’ often had such desperate youths journeying through the Mediterranean Sea to Europe and ending in disappointments and calamities.
He, however, maintained that the rush to escape the country by the youth was a colossal loss to Nigeria as the country had lost hundreds of her prime human assets with potentials to rescue the country’s future from the tragedy that lies ahead, noting that Nigerian youths had become so disillusioned that they would never bother considering the risk involved in embarking on illegal journey to Europe.
The oil and gas mogul further charged the youths to put their acts together for leadership by equipping themselves with leadership skills and techniques.
He called on different institutions and bodies to deliberately set up leadership programmes that would address leadership deficiency on the youths even as he commended the organisers for organising this year’s lecture, saying it was a step in the right direction.
Explaining why leaders fail, Mbah said many leaders lacked emotional intelligence which goes beyond good technical or work skills to factors such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills, adding that every potential good leader must study and imbibe the characteristics of transcendental leadership.
Noting what a good leader must also possess to achieve breakthrough in their defined goals, Mbah said such leaders must imbibe the spirit of perseverance, humility, and commitment with a strong sense of mission, focus and teamwork.
While sharing his experience over the past two decades as a successful public and private sector figure, the former Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development in Enugu State said that the youths and other aspiring leaders must never stop learning new things in a technologically driven dynamic system; they must seek out opportunities of responsibility or service; build self-discipline; learn to be good team players; build virile communication skills and always think of innovation or new ways of doing things.
Further emphasising on what the Nigerian society expected from the youths whom he referred as the leaders of tomorrow, Mbah said the country needed a modern leadership that is driven by empathy for the people and is hunger for the change of status-quo, calling on the youths to seize the opportunity presented to them to make good leaders and better their society.
Earlier in his welcome address, the President of MEDRHUS, Anigbo Stephen expressed his profound appreciation for the presence of the guest speaker, saying the knowledge he would impact on the youths would make them more useful to themselves and the society.
He stated that Mbah as a leader had paved way for development of the youths in the society through his disruptive innovation and entrepreneurship drives.
Others present at the occasion were Mbah’s running mate, Mr. Ifeanyi Ossai; Director General of the State PDP/Peter Mbah Campaign Organisation, Chief Ikeje Asogwa, former deputy governor of Enugu State, Ralph Nwonye, former Senator Gil Nnaji, senatorial candidate for Enugu West, Engr Osita Ngwu, house of assembly members, local government chairmen, among others.
