Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that politics is not dirty but that most persons in politics bring their dirty and evil character into politics.
Obasanjo was the guest lecturer at the Very Rev. Fr. Denis Joseph Slattery’s Distinguished Conquerors and Benefactors Awards, held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, where he spoke on the topic: ‘The Imperative of Moral Rectitude in Governance’.
The event was organised by Saint Finbarr’s College Old Boys Association (SFCOBA). Obasanjo said the most important demand of anybody involved in governance at any level, particularly at the state level, was accountability and if anyone was going to be trusted with the governance of people, the people had the right to make categorical and important demands of them.
According to him, the foundation of good politics is moral rectitude, appreciation of right and wrong and doing the right, and being righteous. He said: “It is not politics that is bad but the politicians themselves. If we have men and women of no character in politics, you will have bad politics and bad governance. If you look clinically at the people in government today at both executive and legislative levels, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their past misdemeanors and criminal misconduct. You cannot expect thieves to give good judgment in favour of the owner of the property.
Narrating his experience, Obasanjo, who spoke virtually at the programme, said the first thing that shocked him when he went into politics was the level of corruption of election officials, which was taken as normal, and the second was the level of general and criminal misbehavior, which was taken with levity and impunity.
“We were at a meeting and a man lied and I confronted him, and the next thing he said is: “It is all politics, Sir”.
AT another event, Global Leadership Summit (GLS) lamented gross deficit of transformational leadership, citing it as the root cause of the country’s numerous challenges.
Speaking at the summit, tagged: ‘Global Leadership Summit 2024: A catalyst for transformational leadership’, the Regional Producer of GLS in West and Central Africa, Felix Fahuwa, stressed the need for leaders to raise the bar of excellence in their duties and drive transformational impact across all sectors of society.
According to him, corruption and abuse of the rule of law would remain a national problem unless citizens and communities rise against them. Fahuwa stated that as an affiliate of The Global Leadership Network USA, the mission of GLS Nigeria was to provide leaders from every sphere with a catalytic platform to convene, learn, and gain innovative solutions that can effect positive changes in the grassroots.their circles of influence and by extension, the country.
He said: “Leadership is fundamental to the growth and success of any society. Evidently, the gross deficit of transformational leadership in Nigeria is the root cause of the myriads of challenges the nation has grappled with over the years. It is against this backdrop that GLS Nigeria inspires and equips leaders with practical tools and fresh perspectives needed to correct the pervasive issues of dysfunctional leadership in Nigeria.”