The former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has lamented the fact that Nigeria has been unfortunate to be saddled with leaders who are not only greedy, but clueless and power-drunk.
Jegga who was a virtual guest at the first memorial lecture in honour of the late civilian Governor of Lagos, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, organised by Federal Social Democrats, (FSD), on Sunday, said Nigeria has been plagued with the misfortune of leaders who are greedy for power and money.
Jega who spoke on the theme “Selfless Leadership and Good Governance: Jakande as an exemplary leader,” said Nigeria’s present crop of leaders are not selfless in offering services to the country and also lack vision in leading their people.
We must first and foremost acknowledge that Nigeria has been afflicted by the misfortune of having characters in governance who are neither selfless nor visionary, who are rather greedy whether for power or money who are essentially clueless about matters of governance and reckless in the way they handle governmental affairs and consolidators of bad democratic governance,” Jega said.
“One of the major challenges of good democratic governance in Nigeria is that of having selfless, patriotic, inclusive and effective leadership in order to drive Nigeria’s national affairs and the development of the political economy towards the goal of democratic governance.
“Getting things right would require selfless and visionary leadership.
“The late Jakande was undoubtedly a leader with great foresight, he was impactful. One can say he touched lives and indeed one can say he was focused in implementing policies, his legacies and his memory lives forever,” he added.
