Gbajabiamila: Nigeria Needs Leaders with Capacity, Character to Manage Change

•Says youths losing patience

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila yesterday said that the country was in desperate need of leaders with the capacity and character to manage change.

Gbajabiamila who stated this during the opening ceremony of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI) in Abuja, said the consequences of the changes happening in the world today would depend on how, “we respond, the decisions we make, and the ideas we choose to invest in.”

While noting that Nigeria and across the world, rapid and relentless changes were being experienced, the Speaker said some of the changes were technological while others were economical and political.

The Speaker underscored the need to reform the approach to policy-making across all levels of government in Nigeria.

According to him, it was unrealistic to expect the youth to commit to sustaining a democracy that hasn’t lived up to their expectations, “hence, young people are losing patience with the incremental approach long adopted and adhered to.”

He therefore advised that to nurture democracy in Nigeria, concerted effort must be made to reconceptualise how politics was practiced.

The Speaker added that the LMI mandate was to develop the leaders who would shape the future of the country and the world.

Gbajabiamila added: “There is also a great deal of demographic and population change. All are happening at the same time. It is clear to anybody paying attention that the old equilibrium is unsettled, and the rules of the old order no longer apply.

“What is less clear is what happens next. The quality of our decision-making in politics and governance will define the course of our country. Whether we achieve progress, prosperity, peace, and security for all our people depends entirely on the capacity and competence of our political leadership.

“A significant portion of our population today are young people who have no experience of a military government and are not conditioned to see democracy as an absolute good for its own sake.

“They bear no allegiance to politics and politicians, and their judgment of governing systems and institutions is determined by whether those individuals, systems and institutions meet their expectations.

“For these young people, Nigeria has been a democracy for all or most of their lives. As more of them come of age, they are questioning the systems and structures of politics of governance and challenging flaws and limitations as they see them.

“They are not as inclined as generations before them to excuse the failures of democracy because the alternative of military rule is worse. And they will not accept incremental progress when radical reform is necessary and possible.”

In his remarks, Director General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Suleiman Abubakar expressed concern over the poor perception of parliaments among the three arms of government.

He said as the direct representatives of the people, the institute of the legislature was not only the cornerstone of democracy but the most accessible and accountable to the people.

Earlier, LMI Director, Dapo Oyewole, explained that the 74 participants were selected out of over 4,000 applicants from the 36 States of the Federation, for the Legislative Mentorship Initiative programme.