Lagos State deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat, has said that for Nigeria to overcome its current challenges and be reckoned with among a comity of nations, men and women of integrity must be voted and appointed into leadership positions to create visions for the country.
Hazmat stated this on the second day of the Lagos Leadership Summit 2025, which was organised by the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy and held in Lagos.
The deputy governor, whose lecture focused on ‘The Responsibility of Leadership: Shaping The Future With Purpose And Action,’ lamented that Nigeria is plagued by several challenges, such as poverty and a substandard education system, that are caused by a deficit in quality leadership.
“The leadership deficit has been a clog in the wheel of national progress. The nation is plagued with copious poverty amidst great natural and human resources.
There is squalor, an education system that is limited in scope and content, that often does not support the needs of the economy and a healthcare system limited in scope and effectiveness. There is a widening gap between the rich and the poor. All these hardly breed a society on a solid foundation,” Hazmat said.
He added: “Today, we have a nation that has not fully transcended the limit of claims to ethnicity and religious affiliations when national issues are discussed. When allegations of fraud are laid at the doorstep of many political leaders, the response is always political witch-hunting. We view appointments in critical offices as more reflective of tribal leaning than competence. We do not have a culture of resigning when faced with debilitating allegations against public officers.”
He noted that for Nigeria’s future to be secured, political and religious leaders must imbibe the culture of doing the right things.
“For the future of Nigeria to be strong and cemented, it has to deal with the question of creating structures and institutions, a culture of doing right, through which identified values can be available to all, regardless of status and primordial cleavages.
“The Nigerian leadership has its duties cut out for it. First, there is the need to build an enduring vision. We must make a nation of the country and transition from a geographical expression to a homogeneous nation.”
