Immediately President Buhari was declared the winner of the 2019 presidential election; my default thought was to write him suggesting five focus areas for his attention if he is to end his regime on a good note. He had been given a rare second opportunity, and his focus should be on institutionalising INEC, security of Nigerians, economy and capacity development, power and infrastructure, the rule of law and constitutional integrity, and the bridging of the age gap between the government and the governed.
I intend to suggest he set each of these agendas as key performance strategy and legacy indicators (KPSLIs) with a high monitoring framework if he is to be known and remembered as a leader with an enduring legacy. In doing this, he will need someone not less than a minister or the vice president to anchor and be held accountable for the KPSLIs.
In my thought, bridging the age gap between the electorates and the elected leaders is for someone with a track record of transformational attitude and impacts. A news report described Nigeria as ‘a young country for old men’ in an attempt at explaining the differences between the age grouping of the population and the leaders. Over 92% of the assumed 191million Nigerians are under 54years old, over half of the register the voters are within the age bracket of 35years to 40years old. The two major contenders for the presidency in the last election are 76 and 72years. President Buhari is into his 77th years on earth, which is not unusual for African leaders given the age of Biya, Bouteflika and Mugabe who was 93years old before his 37years regime was forced to an end.
The age difference between the people and the leaders is a concern given the nature of African politicians with dictatorial tendencies. Most often these old leaders are not cerebral with transformational leadership instinct and drive. It is a case of someone at the exit lobby of life representing people of younger minds, ideas and philosophy. It is a case of an old generation leading the younger generation in the direction of the past. The world is changing given the age of the leaders like JacindaArdern (New Zealand), Emmanuel Macron (France), and Alain Berset of Switzerland.
I want to believe the President will want to create a legacy given the cadre of people he is fortunate to have in his party and political sphere. It is, therefore, necessary for him to bridge the leadership age gap. One of the ways to do this is through the Generational Leadership Transition Scheme (GLTS) which gives opportunities to non-partisan people to be attached to selected political offices in recognition of their achievement in private or public space. The presence of these new and fresh minds who are eager to serve even as volunteers will be an added thinking faculty for the ministers or other federal officers who must be appointed for their political clout as practised in our democracy.
Who’s the leader with the track records of breeding other leaders that could help in bridging the leadership age gap? It is no one different from the National leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who turned 67 last week but with a genius mind and achievement in breeding and positioning leaders. Under the GTLS, Asiwaju is not doing what is new but what he had been doing since 1992. Without a doubt, his leadership selection process that produced high performing, pace and record-setting public officers like Fashola, Aregbesola, Ambode and notable others need to be studied and emulated. However, I believe he should extend his ‘leaders net’ to cover people with no political affiliations who have shown gut and with a quality idea in the last election just as he was suggesting that the ‘tax net’ be extended instead of any hike in VAT. Nigeria needs leaders with vigour, fresh ideas and a new mindset in all areas of our public life-policy, strategy and implementation. People like Babatunde Gbadamosi, FelaDurotoye, and GboyegaNasirIsiaka, to mention a few with contents and good performance at the last election campaigns should be given the opportunity to serve irrespective of their political affiliations. Nigeria needs the idea of these people even in lower offices than the one they contested for. Young aspiring leaders without a family link to the existing politicians and with records of credibility should under the GLTS be sent to the various ministries to volunteer their perceived capacity by giving different perspectives to problems and ensure change areas are identified, considered and presented for implementation.
If you are looking for a person to drive leadership development in the country, look no further than Asiwaju whose records of sustainable performance in Lagos state and Nigeria in the area of building public office leaders is incomparable. I don’t know anyone who was a senator or governor at the same time with Baba Asiwaju that has shown relevance and influence in developing other leaders like him.
From being an Alliance for Democracy’s governor, Asiwaju BAT had made Lagos state a state envied for leadership succession, party structure and supremacy, and top rank in the achievement of the sustainable development goals and the drive to be a leading 21st-century city. He had moved from a regional political strategist to a nationalist through Action Congress and APC. He has proved to be a transformational leader in the like of Harry Lee Kuan Yew, Nelson Mandela, Roosevelt Franklin and Mahatma Gandhi
The opposite of courage is conformity. The opposite of responsibility is a liability. Asiwaju is courageous enough not to conform to some ex-governors’ views of making the Senate their dumping ground in the search for immunity. He never attempts to return to the Senate in search for relevance but took the risk to capture the South West for his party and after that the centre. He is a man of ideology and has not defected to other parties for personal and political gains. His desire to be responsible had made him not to be a liability like those who defect from one party to another in search for relevance and greener pastures. The fact that some state governors failed in their attempts to unilaterally imposed successors in their states is an indicator of the ingenuity and the level of leadership excellence of BAT. Those who want to replicate his political influence without the level of his emotional intelligence, experience in stakeholder management and in galvanizing the party’s structure and machinery failed and termed him as the Capo di tutti, accusing him of overbearing interference in their states as the party leader rather than learning from the master of positive politics. He is therefore ahead of others and should be given the role of developing more public office leaders for the youthful population of Nigeria.
The yearly Bola Ahmed Asiwaju Colloquium which is in its 11th edition has no doubt provided a thought-provoking platform for nation building discussions. I believe BAT should now widen his ‘leaders net’ with the BAT-GLTS. The Bola Ahmed Tinubu-Generational Leadership Transition Scheme will be a centre of leadership excellence where people who have shown traces of leadership are given the opportunity to be transformed into public leaders with Nigeria’s prosperity as the core objective of the initiative.
GLTS will address the age and idea gaps that existed in the governed and the government. It will be a platform for Mr Nobody to be given the opportunity to serve his people based on his achievement without the need to be a political party frontrunner. The BAT-GLTS will be a leading recruitment platform to bring people with ideas to serve in the various capacities for the improvement in governance for the people. And more importantly, it is will the implementation centre for the topics and suggestions at the yearly Bola Ahmed Asiwaju colloquium.
Babs Olugbemi
Babs Olugbemi FCCA, the Chief Responsibility Officer at Mentoras Leadership Limited and Founder, the Positive Growth Africa. He can be reached on [email protected] or 08025489396.
