I met my state governor yesterday. Not the governor of Lagos State (where I mostly live), but of Ekiti State (where I am from - defined in Nigeria as where my father, his father, etc are from.)
The occasion was the Emerging Leaders Symposium organized by the awesome team at The Future Awards. I caught up with some old friends, met some bloggers I admire, listened to a lot of funny UK/American-Nigerian accents, watched a bit of theater (the protester and the dyed-in-the-wool politician), even drank and danced for a sec. I took notes only once: Competence. Character. Empathy. Empowering people (to improve their own lives) - aspiring political officeholders should have these qualities. That's what the guv, Dr. Kayode Fayemi said. And for a moment I thought, if the current leadership is so competent (?), then I can relax and not seek further involvement in government. He has that effect on people.
2 comments:
Because they are competent leaders like Dr JKF in government is the more reason outstanding persons like you need to get involved. At least, you can be sure that he wont be feel threatened by your credentials...so keep preparing Ekiti, Nigeria, Africa and indeed, the world are waiting for Emergence on the scene! im serious!
"keep preparing" - you write. Thanks, I will do that.
Because I am fit for other important work e.g. teaching, communicating, not to mention science leadership, I sometimes wish that the quality of our government was not so poor that I'd be forced to get in there (I must admit that government too, is enjoyable work)
I really respect the potential of political leadership to support our development; and of poor leadership to frustrate everyone's best efforts. I mean, look at the mess we have here: Nigerians are top-functioning professionals in other countries but in Nigeria...the system baffles them.
We need both: we need great athletes and physicists etc, but more urgently we need excellent governors, otherwise our most talented will either be stuck washing car windscreens in traffic, or they will "escape" - you know where.
Thank you for commenting!
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