The director, Kenya School of Law, Prof. Patrick Lumumba, has said a good leader is the one who is capable of delegating without abdicating his or her responsibilities.
Prof. Lumumba stated this at the National Leadership Conference organised by the GOTNI Leadership Centre in Abuja yesterday.
The renowned Kenyan Professor of Law who spoke on the topic: “Ethical Leadership: Balancing Power and Responsibility”, urged all leaders to be team players in order to realise set goals.
“You must always remember that no matter how good you are, you must be part of the team. If the team is to succeed the chain is as strong as its weakest point.
“And sometimes the leadership is the weakest point because the leadership is nepotistic, myopic and all these may affect an individual who calls himself or herself a leader,” he said.
A former senator in the Polish parliament, Sen. John Godson, said for Nigeria to come out of its leadership quagmire, the electorate must change their orientation and make informed choices of who leads the country.
“It is said that we always have the leadership we deserve. During this last election, I had the opportunity of campaigning, going from market to market from street to street and I am of the opinion that we, the people, need to change, because it turns out that many times we choose leaders who are able to give us tokens, and many times we do not give a premium to qualify people and passionate people, to leaders of integrity.
“So I think if anything is going to change, it has to start with the electorates. We need voter education, we need national reorientation and one of the things I have been doing and I want to see happen more is to show people that it is possible,” he said.
Chairman of Gtext Holdings, Dr Stephen Akintayo, said Africa is losing touch with the fundamental principle that parents are responsible for teaching leadership, hence that has become a big challenge.
Akintayo said politicians are not to be solely blamed for the poor leadership in Africa and Nigeria particularly, as they are a reflection of the society, noting that the outcome of the last general election in the county taught them shocking lessons.
Chief executive officer of GOTNI Leadership Centre, Dr Linus Okorie, said institutions die and disappear while organisations go into oblivion because of leadership capital deficit within them.
“The question that I am asking this country at this time can we find budget for massive leadership development? Can we find institutions that will say to themselves, that if leadership matters, this is my budget for growing leaders at the highest level and if Nigeria can answer that question, then I can tell you there is progress at the door in a way that is unimaginable,” he said.
