Africa must concentrate on building strong institutions as a stepping stone to enthroning the much-desired good governance, a group, Seadogs (also known Pyrites Confraternity) has stated.
The group met in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to ex-ray leadership in Africa in the week Nigeria marked one year of the present administration and a week for the return of democracy in the land.
The event (known as feast of barracuda) which brought together both members and non-members in the south-south looked at ways of moving Nigeria and Africa to the next level.
Distinguished contributors in the persons of Uche Onyeagocha, an Owerri-based political savvy and an activist, and Chris Ekong an professor of Economic from the Akwa-Ibom State University and Edwin Jonathan, unanimously agreed with that Africa was in desperate need of good leaders with content of character because many of them do not draw a line between politics and governance.
To them, in Africa, politics and governance mean the same thing which informs why a project may be correctly fitting for the development of a community but that community may be deprived of such project because it is not politically correct.
The gentle men noted that Africa did not need strong leaders but good leaders who will build strong institutions. They added that African continent has leadership crises and it must go back to the drawing board to nurture her home-grown democracy, need to create strong institutions devoid of untainted platform.
They also advised on the need for Nigerians to imbibe a culture of freedom of speech, attention to family values, education and socio- cultural orientation of the growing children and youths, strong civil societies like the Federal Road Safety commission among others.
The chairman of the event, Kinsley Wale, explained that the auspicious event was an era of good governance, the vision of Nigeria to move her forward against tomorrow, pointing out what Nigerians could do as a people to build and institution to move on.
In a keynote lecture, Ovundah Okene, department of Business Law in the Faculty of Law, Rivers State University of Science and Technology [RSUST], delivered by his representative, Edwin Jonathan of same department, dwelt extensively on the characteristics of a leader. He defined a leaders as one who leads, conducts, guides or commandeers, saying the definition was subjective.
He said empirical research revealed that leaders were usually confronted with leadership decisions that may bring hardship on the people but sustain the state institutions. He talked of decisions that pander to the needs of the people but may not be healthy to the state and decisions that do good to both the state and citizens.
He stressed that decisions must ensure that it was good for both the people and the country. The university don emphasized that a good leader must have the country as his primary focus and not group of individuals or his party. “His decisions are basically for the people in tandems with the position of one time U.S president, George Bush, who he quoted thus: “Use power to help people for we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world nor a name. There is one just use of power and it is to serve the people.’’
Okene cited section 14(2) B of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 which provides for security and welfare of the people which shall be the primary purpose of government. He said this requires that the Nigerian leader makes as his primary focus the security and welfare of the Nigerian people.
Herbert Nwaka, zonal capon, in his opening address noted that the forum provided among others and opportunity for networking for both members and non-members to share and agree as to ways of enhancing an egalitarian society where justice and fairness abound.
He said, “This drives the fact that as a people love determines and promote progress if there is disagreement that brings about agreement, you can be sure there will be little or no fights, no war and there will be room for development and investment.’’
Ignatius Chukwu & Godwin Egba
