Akinwunmi Ambode, the former governor of Lagos, addressed the ongoing economic challenges during the 2024 Akinjide Adeosun Foundation (AAF) leadership colloquium and award event themed “Economic Asphyxiation – The wisdom of Authentic Leaders” in Lagos.
Ambode said that the country’s economic difficulties did not originate with President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He stressed that the historical depth of Nigeria’s problems, asserting the need for a courageous leader like Tinubu to address them effectively.
Ambode suggested that Nigeria’s challenges could be resolved through collective unity among its citizens.
He urged Nigerians to refrain from indulging in blame games and instead confront the issues head-on with a unified approach.
As the former governor of Lagos, Ambode stressed the importance of facing problems collectively and finding solutions to move the nation forward.
“It (challenges) has nothing to do with the singular person called Mr President; but if we don’t understand the fundamentals, we will start doing the blame games. We need to face our problems frontally,” Ambode said.
“The major issue is that we are even tired of not fixing our issues. Now, we have found somebody that has decided in person of President Tinubu.
“Until we decide ourselves to say that we should unite for the common cause called Nigeria, the security issues will not go.
“We are all in a position to actually support Mr President, let us start to look at it from a different prism.
“We don’t have to wake up in the morning and be talking ill of Nigeria. We get what we profess about Nigeria.
“We must think out of the box. We have to feed ourselves. When we start to think by ourselves and today we will resolve the issues concerning Nigeria, we will smile.”
Ambode said no matter how weak the followers are, Nigerian leaders must stand in front and continually show confidence that tomorrow would be all right.
“You must stand in front and show them that you are in the challenge with them. You must show them empathy,” he added.
“It (authentic leadership) is more about the emotional intelligence that actually understands the frustration of the followers, what is going on around them.
“The issue is, we cannot afford to play propaganda because something is bad but we keep saying that it is not bad.”
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