THE QUALITIES AND VALUES OF MY IDEAL PRESIDENT

THE QUALITIES AND VALUES OF MY IDEAL PRESIDENT

When I ponder on an issue such as what values and qualities I want my ideal Nigerian president to possess in the forthcoming term, I sincerely first start to reminisce on the past leaders(rulers) Nigeria has produced from the inception of democracy till date. On a percentage scale (leadership-wise), I would rate Nigerian leaders 25%, which we all know is total failure considering the resources and talents that Nigeria is blessed with. All our leaders with the exception of no one in particular have been highly corrupt one way or the other and Nigeria which is formerly tagged as the “giant of Africa” is now heading towards a self-destruction process. Anyway, enough of all the ranting, while I tackle the topic at hand.

The most qualified definition of a true leader is “a person who has earned the respect of other people and can inspire them to implement a vision that will have a positive impact on the lives of others”. Hence i have gone a whole length to pick out a list of qualities and values I want my Nigerian leader to have in 2011. These qualities are as follows;

· My leader must firstly be extremely patriotic and must be ready to give his/her best to the country. Only patriotic citizens can do the right for the nation before considering themselves or their families and friends.

· My leader must be a follower kind of a leader and not be a dictator/ruler. This is because Nigerians have been deprived of quality leadership hence they need someone that can go a long way to know the minds of Nigerians and be ready to make necessary adjustments in order to make the country a better place.

· My leader must possess a high level of integrity with a zero-level of corruption. This is because for a country like Nigeria to be rid off the pandemic called corruption, our leader has to first lead by example, by simply exhibiting a zero-level of corruption with his/her integrity level very high. That can motivate Nigerians rather than the if-you-can’t-beat-them-join-them syndrome exhibited by almost all Nigerians. He must also be ready to battle corruption at every level. He/she must be highly sensitive towards issues such as eradicating corruption, improving standard of living of the general populace, improving the educational sector to be the best in Africa, installing constant power/water supply, economic stability and other impending issues.

· My leader must be democratic and not autocratic in nature i.e. Nigerians do not need an indirect military approach towards leadership. Nigerians want a highly democratic setting where truly, we can practice freedom of speech and criticism. But on the other hand, he/she must be strict and firm in order to ensure strict conformity to set rules and regulations in the country.

· My leader must be youth-friendly and ready to invest in youth development. Subsequently he/she must also be innovative, resourceful and enterprising all in the betterment of the nation.

· My leader must be an environmental-friendly leader who is ready to do all he/she can to battle the hazards of climate change. He must welcome ideas from experts as regards what must be rightly done in order to have a clean, sanitized and friendly environment.

· My leader must be a very security-conscious leader who must not be sentimental religious-wise, tribal-wise, gender-wise and political-wise. He/she must also be ready to bridge the gap between tribes, religions, and the rich and the poor.

After all said, I hope I am able to unburden my mind appropriately to the right quarters. I also sincerely hope that we would witness a repeat of the electoral process in 1994, which was termed as the most free and fair election ever carried out in the history of Nigeria and I hope the final people that emerge as prospective winners at the various leadership positions in Nigeria would be true leaders and not dictators. Thanks for giving me this forum.