2023: I Too Want To Run…

STEVE NWOSU 

“If towering academic profiles were all that was required to make a great President, Goodluck Jonathan would have been our best President ever. Chinwoke Mbadinuju would have been the best Governor of Anambra State. Ex-governor Sule Lamido would not be the giant he has remained in Jigawa. 

Today, Henry Seriake Dickson remains a reference point in the bullish transformation of Bayelsa State, but he was not necessarily the most certificated person to ever govern that state.

Of course, this is not taking away anything from the place of stellar education in politics and nation-building. It is just that we should not make the mistake of equating leadership with paper qualifications of academicians and technocrats, who deliberately build their CVs intending to land juicy jobs with blue-chip companies, international organisations and key government agencies. Many of them might not have the needed political grit to be in the driving seat of a state or country.

Secondly, isn’t there something to be said for the man who can discover talents (including those alleged to be lining up against him today), putting them in positions they can best function, and giving them the freehand to do the job?

If you asked me, I think that is what leadership is all about. And that is what Tinubu is bringing on board.

But whether he is the only person that has that quality is a matter for another debate. So also is the issue of whether Nigeria should be talking of another South West President so soon after President Obasanjo’s eight years and Osinbajo’s eight years as Vice President, without the South East tasting neither President nor Vice President”