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General News of Tuesday, 8 June 2021

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Nigeria is plagued by self-centered and visionless leaders - Former INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega

Prof. Attahiru Jega, Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Attahiru Jega, Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

Prof. Attahiru Jega, the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has spoken out against the current crop of political leaders in the country.

Speaking at the first memorial lecture in honour of late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the first Civilian Governor of Lagos, organized by the Federal Social Democrats (FSD) with the theme "Selfless Leadership and Good Governance: Jakande as an Exemplar," he said Nigeria has had the misfortune of having characters in government who are neither selfless nor visionary.

Jega claims that the country's leaders are eager for power and money, and that they are essentially clueless about governance and reckless in their handling of governmental affairs, as well as consolidators of poor democratic governance.

“We must first and foremost acknowledge that Nigeria has had the misfortune of having characters in government who are neither selfless nor visionary, who are rather greedy for power or money, who are essentially clueless about governance and reckless in the way they handle governmental affairs and consolidators of bad democratic governance,” the former INEC Chairman said.

“Having selfless, patriotic, inclusive, and effective leadership in order to push Nigerian national affairs and the development of the political economy towards the objective of democratic governance is one of the major problems of excellent democratic administration in Nigeria.

Getting things right would require selfless and visionary leadership.”
Jega also described the late Jakande as a "selfless leader".

“He was a leader with incredible insight, he was impactful,” he continued. His legacy and memory live on forever." "One can say he affected people, and one can say he was focused on enacting programs."