NESG Asks Nigerians To Elect Leaders With Ethical Responsibility

Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has asked Nigerians to tackle the nation’s leadership problem by striving to elect result-oriented people with credible and ethical responsibilities as their leaders in the coming 2023 general elections.

NESG said Nigeria needs sound ethical leadership that is rooted in respect, service, justice, honesty and community. “Leaders who place fairness at the center of decision making, including the challenging task of being fair to individuals as well as to the common interest of the community they serve,” NESG’s head, strategic communications and advocacy Yinka Iyinolakan said in a statement.

The private sector think-tank believes that Nigeria deserves transformational leadership that will invoke change from within, a leader that puts people first while being a visionary force that will reinvigorate the citizenry by empowering all Nigerians.

“Nigerians must strive to elect leaders that have good moral conduct and ethical responsibility to enable them to attend to the demands, concerns, needs, and problems of the citizens in the country; transformational leaders that have the uncanny ability to address the fundamental reasons for agitations by listening, understanding, removing prejudices, and allowing for open, national dialogues, without preconditions, but with the goal to build a cohesive, united, fair, just and equitable nation for all,” he said.

Nigerian citizens are faced with everyday anxieties due to the unprecedented rise in insecurity. Kidnappings, massacre and bribery have permeated all cadres in the country and present a case for structural and administrative reformation. Corruption and political bickering for personal interests continue to pervade Nigeria’s political and social systems.

Iyinolakan said the forthcoming 28th Nigerian Economic Summit (#NES28) with the theme “2023 and Beyond: Priorities for Shared Prosperity” scheduled to hold on the 14th and 15th of November, 2022 presents an opportunity for stakeholders to agree on a consensus on the national and sub-national imperatives for economic security, social justice, conscientious governance, political stability and environmental sustainability.

The summit seeks to galvanize stakeholders to deliberate on an actionable framework for transformative political leadership and effective governance, to facilitate economic growth and nation building.

Iyinolakan said #NES28 will also highlight stakeholder actions needed to eliminate barriers to inclusive economic growth and development; Identify pragmatic initiatives to elicit economic leadership at the subnational levels, by adopting a “Bottom Up” approach to economic growth and development and articulate the economic agenda for the incoming leaders in 2023 and beyond.

The present and past leaders of Nigeria seem to have failed to provide quality leadership capable of addressing the numerous challenges confronting the country, NESG said. The group said the nation’s leadership challenges are evidenced in political, social and economic instability and the prevalence of ethnic, communal and religious crises, which have bedeviled Nigerian socio-economic development.

The consequences of corruption are evident in Nigeria’s economic performance and the high increase in the cost of living and poverty. The high unemployment rates, the ever-widening gaps between the rich and poor and the declining foreign direct inflows pose a threat to economic growth.