By our reporter/ Nigeria’s Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, on Thursday listed leadership deficit as one of the factors preventing the country from achieving sustainable economic growth and development, as well as addressing its insecurity and other socioeconomic problems.
Lawan who stated this at the inauguration of the fourth cohort of Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship, a leadership mentorship programme for young people initiated by the Kaduna state government, said the leadership gap needed to be bridged at all levels of government if the nation was to make headway.
He said, “For us to reach the level of development that we need in our country, every part, segment and strata of the society must have a developed, deliberately focused leadership, so that what we do at the local level compliments what we do at the state level and from there, terminating at the apex – at the Federal level.”
According to the Senate President, “no matter how hard we try to develop our country at the Federal level, if our states are not able to provide the kind of leadership and complementary development, then we cannot achieve the kind of goals and targets that we feel we must achieve as a country”.
He, therefore, stressed that there is a need for government at all levels to come up with a deliberate policy to sustain leadership through mentoring young people on leadership skills and public service.
While describing the security situation in the country as alarming, the Yobe state lawmaker charged security agencies to redouble their efforts and rout out the bandits from their enclaves.
He equally called for the support and collaboration of all citizens to be able to overcome the Security challenges.
Also speaking at the event, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said
his administration’s belief in the capability of young people informed the decision to initiate the Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship conceived to help widen the pool of young persons and groom future generations of leaders.
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