In the spirit of leadership, by Fredrick Nwabufo
With great opportunity, comes great responsibility. Leadership is a sacerdotal responsibility that demands a purity of purpose, clarity of mind, unwavering of discipline, a catalogue of abilities, and a fistful of audacity. It demands deliberateness and conscientiousness in the management of public trust. And beyond good intentions, leadership is a maze where the pluck of personal example is lodestar.
The Tinubu administration is walking the talk. It is demonstrating that with the audacity of vision, leadership can turn possibilities into actualities. Naturally, leadership needs to show a ground-plan out of a quandary of command rudderlessness. It needs to set the pace and mobilise consciences for its vision and plan. It needs to begin. The administration began the rallying for its vision long before it began.
There is a clear direction. The trajectory is certain. The destination of ‘’Ship Nigeria’’ is auspicious. Long before the inauguration of the administration, a policy advisory council was set up to distill, ideate, iterate, and harmonise policy options across all sectors in line with the Renewed Hope Manifesto. Sufficient effort went into the groundwork, and now a framing of the architecture.
LEADERSHIP WITH GRAVITAS
There is purposefulness and design in the conduct of government business. There is also gravitas and dispatch in the management of government responsibility. The administration has been very attentive and responsive to the critical needs of citizens, acknowledging the weight of the challenges and the urgency of the moment.
For instance, within a few weeks, the Nigeria Immigration Service cleared a backlog of 204,332 passports that were outstanding for production. This was possible owing to the efforts of the ministry of interior. Today, Nigerians, even those abroad, can apply for new passports, get captured, and receive their documents in record time. The ministry is also on a prison decongestion pursuit, with over 4,000 inmates, who were unable to pay fines, released. The fervour, zeal, and dedication of the Tinubu administration. There is more to be done, but there is a nudge forward.
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In the mining sector, there is movement and there is headway. This sector had been the subject of controversies over illegal mining activities and insecurity. But all of that is changing. The sector is witnessing operational adjustments and shift for performance as well as an uptick in investment interests. The ministry of solid minerals recently launched the revised guidelines for Community Development Agreement (CDA). This is to create a salubrious biome for mining. Also, the Mining Cadastral Office initiated a revocation process for 2,213 titles including exploration titles, small-scale mining licences, quarry licences, and mining leases. The revocation followed a 30-day notice period which expired on November 10 – with only 580 title holders settling their debts, leading to the recommendation to revoke 1,633 mineral titles. It is no longer the quotidian pattern of business in these parts.
This sense of urgency, enterprise, and resoluteness in response to the demands of the times runs through the operational arteries of the administration, and visible across other sectors – aviation, trade and investment, finance, agriculture, security, etc. It is a performance and goal-driven leadership. Possibilities can become actualities.
LEADERSHIP WITH HONESTAS
Transparency is a vital ingredient of leadership. Earning the people’s trust and keeping it requires a good measure of transparency and honesty. And this the administration is sustaining.
There is no obfuscation of facts and needless trafficking of propaganda. The Nigerian people are the top factors of the leadership. Communication is unvarnished — without sizzles or tizzles.
This defining quality of sincerity can be seen in the management of issues relating to labour strikes, petrol subsidy removal, the economy, and others.
Recently, the federal government announced the suspension of the automatic deduction of 40 percent from the internally generated revenues of federal universities, following a fusillade of concerns by citizens and stakeholders.
“The 40 percent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such a policy since our universities are struggling,” this was a statement of attunement and of leadership.
Nigerians are the top priority in this new spirit of leadership. They are the principal interest and fundamental components of decision-making.
It is all in service to Nigeria and in the spirit of leadership — with grit, empathy, prescience, probity, and example.
Fredrick Nwabufo is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement
