Nigeria has been afflicted by misfortune of having characters in governance who are neither selfless nor visionary – Former INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega

Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega has spoken up against the crop of leaders elected into political offices in the country.

Speaking at the first memorial lecture in honour of the first Civilian Governor of Lagos, late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, organised by Federal Social Democrats, (FSD) with the theme, “Selfless Leadership and Good Governance: Jakande as an exemplar”, said Nigeria has been afflicted by the misfortune of having characters in governance who are neither selfless nor visionary.

Jega said leaders in the country are greedy for power and money, and are essentially clueless about matters of governance and reckless in the way they handle governmental affairs and consolidators of bad democratic governance.

The former INEC Chairman said;

“We must first and foremost acknowledge that Nigeria has been afflicted by the misfortune of having characters in governance who are neither selfless nor visionary, who are rather greedy whether for power or money who are essentially clueless about matters of governance and reckless in the way they handle governmental affairs and consolidators of bad democratic governance.

“One of the major challenges of good democratic governance in Nigeria is that of having selfless, patriotic, inclusive and effective leadership in order to drive Nigeria national affairs and the development of the political economy towards the goal of democratic governance. Getting things right would require selfless and visionary leadership.”

Jega also described the late Jakande as a “selfless leader”. He added;

“He was a leader with great foresight, he was impactful. One can say he touched lives and indeed one can say he was focused in implementing policies, his legacies and his memory lives forever.”