If Nigeria were your company, who would you appoint as CEO? asked Olusegun Adegoke
When it comes to running a business, there are three key attributes that anyone should consider before hiring a 21st century CEO. These important qualities include skill, energy and integrity. Nigeria, one of Africa's largest economies, has seen its worst times since 1961 as almost every sector of its economy collapsed, from education and infrastructure to security and health, and overall economic prosperity. remained slow. Today, Nigeria stands on the brink of change, where the decision to appoint the next CEO of Nigerian PLC is critical to its future and the survival and prosperity of its people.
With so many challenges currently facing this nation, a nation that happens to be the most populous country in Africa and the country with the most black people in the world, it is necessary to elect a president who has the ability and experience of the dirt. Go out and get the ball out early, it's not a difficult situation.
The position of chief executive is a unique opportunity that has been underutilized by past presidents and Nigeria is currently at the crossroads of great opportunities but also great risks. For example, running a bank from head office as a member of senior management and running an Oyo State branch as a country manager are two different things. Achieving good results therefore requires people who have managed a bank from a high position and have different experiences at all levels. From human resource management, citizen management, healthcare, human resource management, economic and financial management, understanding infrastructure deficits in 36 countries; A person with extensive knowledge of ethnic diversity, who knows that there are more than 250 ethnic groups living in the north, east, south or west, knows that mr. Muhammad is different from Mr. Chinedu in Onitsha or mrs. Bunmi in Ibadan and he has no ethnic ties. For every one of them who treat everyone as a Nigerian, these people are very important and needed now.
CEO of Nigeria Plc. you need someone who has global experience and knows the difference between a conversation with the president of China or the president of South Africa, someone who understands international politics from a global perspective; This person is different from running a country with 20 local governments. With such high stakes and the highly competitive nature of leadership in a country like Nigeria, it is imperative that the CEO or presidential candidate be a person of ability, energy and integrity. These are the basic principles that everyone should use as a yardstick when choosing the next CEO of Nigeria PLC.
The capacity issue is the ability to manage government affairs smoothly, with a clear strategy and a tendency to use subsidies for production rather than consumption. This country needs a CEO who can make a difference, someone with the ability to grow the country and transform its economy, and someone who can take charge of our most important resource and work with other oil producing countries to achieve high level performance to achieve "pressure". . Force. A leader who can negotiate with foreign communities and institutions for the social and economic benefits of Nigerian PLCs. If Nigeria is a branch or a state and we are trying to administer Ogun or Kano state, then the lowest level can be ignored. National public corporations, national banks, national industries or global organizations will never settle for less when choosing leaders capable of putting their companies on the radar. All have strict policies to ensure that there are only qualified personnel from the highest levels of national management and the appropriate capabilities.
How about the energy to think that running a WhatsApp group of 250 people is exhausting, boring and requires many sleepless nights, let alone running a Nigerian SPS, one has to wake up at 5am gets up and doesn't sleep until 2 a.m., someone who is ready for work, mentally fit and physically flexible, someone who can hold meetings for hours until the job is done, someone who is energetic enough to leave in the middle of the night to bring national talk and emergencies without feeling overwhelmed. You cannot run a complex country like Nigeria without high energy and frequency of mental stability.
Nigeria needs a leader who is mature in spirit and young in heart. This is where Alhaji Atiku Abubakar comes in. He is not only physically fit, but also mentally knows every corner of this nation and can converse without losing and confusing the difference between agriculture and science. As for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 10 years ago it would have been a different conversation, we probably wouldn't have had this discussion, as Bola Tinubu is a young and dynamic governor of Lagos State, the mental and physical capabilities they was undisputed at the time. But as we approach the end of this new and important century, let's think about how far we have to go and how to get there quickly.
Finally, for integrity, Nigeria has generated over $1 trillion from natural resources in the last 50 years, but does $1 trillion really seem to have flown around the country? Corruption and impunity have become the order of the day, so when we elect a president, we must elect someone with integrity. Warren Buffett said, "If you try to choose a leader where you don't find integrity, but you find skill and energy, you get skill and energy because you can verify integrity.
While the integrity of Atiku Abubakar and Bola Ahmed Tinubu is being questioned, no one can bring them to justice or find them guilty of wrongdoing. Interestingly, in the decision of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Tinubu was stripped of his money for his involvement in drug trafficking and was also charged with educational fraud and bribery. This is a concern about integrity issues. People who have integrity but lack ability and energy only benefit themselves, but people who have ability and energy who lack integrity can appoint people with integrity, and the state can generally make checks to ensure that integrity is confirmed . However, the lack of capacity and energy will cost the country.
To his credit, Atiku Abubakar, as the former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, created no less than 50,000 direct and 250,000 indirect jobs. Innovative thinking icons are also changing the Nigerian telecommunications sector. In his words: “In 1999, Nigeria had less than 500,000 telephone lines. By 2007, we had increased that number to over 50 million.” Many associations describe Abubakar as one of the people who helped to develop higher education on the African continent. "No private entrepreneur in Africa has worked harder for democracy or done more to promote higher education than Atiku Abubakar," the NPCA said. This comes after Abubakar donated $750,000 to the National Peace Corps Association in the United States in 2012 "to fund a new initiative with world leaders that addresses the impact of the Peace Corps." Nothing its competitors have ever done.
Atiku created a legacy in the process of bank consolidation, which was the first major step for the Nigerian economy during his tenure. He succeeded in convincing all the ministers to give their support to the appointment of the Federal Banking Commission, which today guarantees the stability of Nigerian banks. His tenure saw the most stable forex regime so far during the APC administration as the dollar rose from $180 to over $750. Both through the chairmanship and as vice chairman, Atiku was part of a team that brought together the best economic team Nigeria has ever seen. It is made up of world-class young professionals, some of whom are now political leaders, governors and world leaders in their own right.
Atiku Abubakar's achievements are impressive and he continues that in a complex situation where we have poor infrastructure, poor health system and difficult education system, endless crime and terrorism, poor human resource development, inconsistent economic policies and corruption, Atiku Abubakar is capable of everything to overcome. these problems and lead Nigeria to the promised land.
Adegoke writes from Ibadan, Oyo State
