Posted by 9jabook.com on November 25, 2009 at 5:06am
DO Nigerians deserve the kind of leaders they have? Can Nigerian leaders offer the kind of leadership that will lift the country from the shackles of corruption? Can Nigerians develop the culture that abhors corruption? Can Nigerian leaders toe the path that has transformed a poor nation like Malaysia into an Asian Tiger?
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These are some of the questions that agitated many minds yesterday at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos. The event was the 11th session of the Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture Series.
This edition's lecture: "Incorruptibility: A spiritual premise for material well-being", was delivered by Mahathir Bin Mohamad who was Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003.
Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who was drafted to replace former Director-General of the NIIA and Ambassador to the United States (U.S.), Prof. George Obiozor, said he was elected Secretary-General during the reign of Mohamad. He hailed him as one of the best leaders in the world.
Guest of Honour, and former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, who also said that he had a lot to learn from Mohamad "which is why I flew in from China," said that the nations of the world are in adversity and facing various challenges. One of the challenges, he said, is the global financial crisis, which has humbled many people and nations. He said that the crisis was not yet over.
According to him, "there is the issue of water, food, energy, security" but the good thing, he pointed out, is that the world is coming together and the "solution lies in the home-grown ideologies. Leaders of nations must develop the roadmap and lead the people out of adversities."
He noted further that terrorism remains an issue just like nuclear proliferation. He, however, said that the absence of interfaith harmony has led to some crisis. "We need to promote peace and harmony," he said.
Stressing the importance of leadership and governance, Aziz noted: "We have good politicians but good leaders who can change the world are in short supply in the world today."
On the battle Pakistan waged against corruption in his era, he said: "Corruption is endemic in the world and no country is immune. In Pakistan, to fight corruption in the civil service, we had to deregulate, liberalise, privatise and reduce state involvement and involve the private sector. But the state did not abandon the development and provision of infrastructure. Reforms were embarked upon."
In his lecture, Mohamad dwelt on the sub-themes of leadership, governance and corruption. Listing the ideals of a good leader, he stated that a leader must be learned and well trained; have ideas far above those who work with him; he must be prepared to carry out what he preaches; he must be brave, disciplined; and capable of fighting his base inclinations. He must show a willingness to listen to everyone in and outside his cabinet and government. He must make up for his lack of knowledge with his readiness to listen and learn; he must not listen to only his officials as because they are more likely to be sycophants. He must have good lieutenants and with a good team in place, he is capable of leading a state.
Drawing a parallel between a good leader and a company's Chief Executive Officer, he said that a leader must be in a position to gather information on the assets and liabilities of the nation in all spheres; he must then set realistic targets, taking into consideration the abilities and potentials of the nation.
Mohamad added it was very important that every nation and leader find a model for its development. For developing nations, he said that the models would be recently-developed countries and not countries that developed under circumstances that are not applicable today. In this instance, he pointed out that no nation would adopt the model of the older nations that profited from colonialism.
He said: "It is better to adopt a model than striking out on your own with untested models. It's up to a politician to choose the best model; a good leader must make the best of any model."
According to him, a good leader must be decisive because "nothing is as debilitating as indecision. He must quit when he fails and nothing is shameful about quitting but a lot is wrong if he fails and stays. He needs almost superhuman skills; he needs not just to survive but also to manage things well."
He admitted that "it is obvious that such a man cannot be readily found."
Corruption, he said, is endemic; no country in the world is exempted. It is in the private sector, but if it is in the public sector that it is really bad. Many ways have been tried to stop corruption; many laws have been passed, anti-corruption agencies set but the results have remained dismal.
"Some people have suggested that it is a way of life and there have been going rates for specific favours. It is the bane of governments and countries.
"The reputation of the country is affected, undermining the development of infrastructure, investors stay away, causing unemployment and other social ills.
"Corruption is a function of the culture of the people; it is their value system."
And on how to stop corruption he said that, "every nation has to develop a culture that rejects corruption at home and in the schools." He said that the Japanese have a "culture that allows them to commit suicide, hara-kiri, when they do what is wrong."
Stressing that a sense of shame is perhaps the most important value, he said that, "the fear of being shamed makes the Japanese do the right thing. They commit suicide or resign or return their loot when they are exposed."
Every leader should develop a sense of discipline to reject what does not legitimately belong to him; he must reject corruption so that he will be respected and he will be listened to. There is need to have an incorruptible leader. Even in a clean society, once a leader is corrupt, everything else becomes dirty.
He said that individuals have a role in ensuring that corruption ceases by voting in those who are not corrupt.
"If people elect corrupt people into government, they don't have to complain about their actions. It is them who will decide whether they get good people or not. The government reflects the culture of the people."
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) who was represented by the state's Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), on his part, declared: "Let me further assure you that on the level of good governance, we are not about to fail in Lagos. Nigeria shall overcome its problems in the same manner that Malaysia overcame hers."
A member of the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, Miss Peace Osigwe-Anyiam said: "Corruption is actually one of the big issues in Nigeria right now and the continent in general... It became an issue because if we want the growth of the nation, we must deal with corruption at all levels and I guess one of the people who can talk about this issue is Muktar who did marvelous things for Malaysia and the country is one of the leading countries in the world today.
"There are people who are not corrupt; we are not all corrupt, it is just a few people that give us a bad name. We cannot generalise on a nation of 140 million people."
In his own address, former Nigerian Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme said: "During my presidential campaign in 1998/99, I used to say that my goal was to transform Nigeria from a third world country in the same way that Mahathir Bin Mohamad did in Malaysia. He is someone I have always admired and I was not surprised with his lecture. He spoke very frankly and I am sure that we have benefited from his frankness."
The former Prime Minister of Malaysia is credited with being the figure behind transformation of Malaysia from a developing nation to a developed economy and prosperity.
It was not quite a gathering of government officials; it was more a gathering of the diplomatic corps and corporate chieftains. The only government presence on the high table was Governor Fashola who was represented by the state's solicitor-general.
Other guests were Alex Ekwueme; Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo, one-time Minister of Information, Chief Nnia Nwodo; Dr. Gamaliel Onosode; former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Chief John Edozie; Executive Director of Ibru Organisations, Olorogun Oskar Ibru; university dons, some members of the religious community and traditional rulers.
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