Sunday, 12 March 2017
Unraveling the history of Lagos Brazilian Quarter
By Prisca Sam-Duru
Atlantic Triangle, an exhibition of artworks organised by the Goethe Institut, Lagos, is set to tell the historical reconstruction of the conditions of exploitation through timely configuration of cultural dynamics and interdependence of the Brazilian Quarter in Lagos.
The exhibition which is part of a larger project that includes shows at Saracura Art Space (Riode Janeiro) in June, 2017, and the 11th Mercosul Biennial in Porto Alegre (Brazil) in April, 2018 will feature these artists; Abdulrazaq Awofeso (Nigeria), George Osodi (Nigeria), Karo Akpokiere(Nigeria), Ndidi Dike(Nigeria), Andréas Lang, Germany , Mario Pfeifer, Germany, Iris Buchholz Chocolate, Germany-Angola, Arjan Martins, Brazil, Dalton Paula, Brazil, Vivian Caccuri, Brazil and Jaime Lauriano, Brazil. Also to be exhibited areselected works of traditional Nigerian sculpture from the Femi Akinsanya collection, Lagos.
Speaking of the exhibition, Director of Goethe Institut, Mr Hug Alfons disclosed that “the Goethe-Institut, Lagos, is located right in the middle of what is known now as the Brazilian Quarter, a district reminiscent of the old towns in Rio de Janeiro or Salvador-Bahia, constructed in the 19th century by a group known as the Retornados.
To the Retornados called Amarôs or Agudas in the Yoruba language, Africa represented a promise of a return of history and of mercy. Constructions by Brazilian master-builders such as Water House, Ebun House, the Shitta BeyMosque, and other landmarks in old Lagos, now scarred by the ravages of time, clearly cling to a past that is in danger of being swept away by the megalopolis and its 22 million inhabitants.
On the far side of the Atlantic, in Rio de Janeiro, construction work for the Olympic Games unearthed the foundations of the former slave market at Cais do Valongo, where more than one million slaves were sold between the 16th and 19th centuries.” added Goethe Institut director.
The post Unraveling the history of Lagos Brazilian Quarter appeared first on Vanguard News.
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Friday, 10 March 2017
Gunmen kidnap UNICAL lecturer on eve of convocation
University of Calabar
A lecturer in the Department of Zoology, University of Calabar, was in the early hours of yesterday kidnapped within the school premises.
The incident happened on the eve of the institution’s 30th convocation.
An eyewitness said the lecturer was jogging from the staff quarters of the Abraham Ordia Stadium within the campus about 7am when unknown gunmen accosted him.
The source said the men shot sporadically into the air to scare people before taking him away.
“I suspect the kidnappers were trailing him as he was jogging. They must have gagged him and carried him into the bushes surrounding the area and taken him down the river, from which they escaped.
“This is just my thinking, as I did not see the gunmen come with any vehicle. Of course, people started running heater-skelter when they heard gunshots, so no one knows exactly what happened,” the eye witness said.
The incident came on the heels of complaints by members of the university community that the institution was porous and prone to kidnappings and other such vices.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident, saying the Police were working to track down the kidnappers.
She said the kidnappers were yet to make contact at press time.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mL1cua
Lagos ministry partners firm to promote women’s health
PHOTO: Johnny Greig
In an unrelenting effort to promote women’s health and their health camps all over the country, Power Oil recently partnered with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Lagos and Ogun states to make this a plausible reality.
The Lagos flag off was officially announced by the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Lola Akande, during this year’s International Women’s Day programme held during the week at the ministry in Alausa, Ikeja.
The event, which was attended by prominent women in government, was put together to dialogue and discuss salient issues women endure daily, especially in the area of domestic violence.
Akande said women deserve the best treatment and high level of respect in society, which sadly, they are not getting.
She noted that because of their multifunctional nature, women deserve to be healthy at all times to carry out their duties efficiently and urged them to take advantage of regular health check ups and medical consultation opportunities.
On her part, Brand Manager, Power Oil, Amisha Chawla, stated that the role of a woman at home and society cannot be over-emphasised, saying it is only a healthy woman that can raise a happy family; hence the firm’s partnership with the ministry is very strategic for the project, as it plans to reach out to as many women as possible across the country.
She added that as part of their plans to commemorate the day, its Health Camp team and officials of the would storm Makoko and Ikorodu to further encourage and sensitise women on the need to embark on regular medical health checks for early detection and ultimately to guide against avoidable deaths from hypertension and other heart related complications.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mKXQHz
Stakeholders highlight importance of music and culture, commend Goldberg for Ariya Repete
PHOTO: National Infinity
Stakeholders in the music and entertainment industry have highlighted the vital connection between music, entertainment and culture. This was made known at the first ever roundtable on Yoruba music, Ariya Repete, convened at the Lagos Airport Hotel by Goldberg lager beer, a staple form Nigerian Breweries Plc.
The roundtable discourse, attracted stakeholders from traditional institutions, the academia, entertainment industry and the media to provide informed thoughts on sustaining and promoting the rich heritage of Fuji and Juju music. The stakeholders commended Goldberg lager beer for the initiative, which they say, signals a cultural rejuvenation among Yorubas
In his keynote address, which focused on Juju and Fuji genres of music, former Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), Professor Tunde Babawale, explained that the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba provided the foundation on which the music genres are built.
Babawale noted that the attachment of the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria to music and celebration has earned them the appellation of ‘Owambe’, a reference to their love for ceremonies and celebrations.
He traced the origin of Juju music to the old Saro (Olowogbowo) quarter of Lagos where the genre emerged from ‘asiko’ music associated with ‘area boys’ in the quarter and added that the genre also incorporated Brazilian Samba elements and the guitar style of Kru sailors from Liberia.
According to him, the music of the culture, especially Juju and Fuji, has positively impacted every area of life of the Yorubas including the reduction of socio-economic tension and the prevalence of religious tolerance.
Frontline fuji musician, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall (K1 De Ultimate), while thanking the organisers and speakers, described the event as an educative initiative meant to preserve fuji and juju, vital aspects of the music and culture of the Yorubas.
Afrojuju exponent, Sir Shina Peters, also commended Goldberg for providing such a platform to discuss indigenous music and called on other corporate organisations to emulate the effort.
Faaji FM broadcaster, Ambrose Somide, a panellist at the roundtable, enjoined young musicians of Yoruba extraction to endeavour to sustain the genres for the promotion of the Yoruba culture.
Meanwhile, welcoming guests to the forum, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries, Kufre Ekanem, represented by Patrick Olowokere, the company’s Corporate Communications and Brand Public Relations Manager, disclosed that the Ariya Repete initiative was borne out of the company’s respect for tradition and values of the people.
The special guest of honour, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Babatunde Enitan Ogunwusi, (Ojaja II), the Ooni of Ife, who was represented by Oba Adebiyi Asoya, the Asoya of Ile Asoya Kingdom, reiterated the need to sustain the current cultural revival among Nigerians as championed by Goldberg lager beer in the area of indigenous Yoruba music.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mvpFTK
Monday, 6 March 2017
‘We need to amend the law to create six zones that will produce vice presidents’
Chima Nnaji
On different occasions, well-meaning Nigerians have called for the restructuring of the country. Many people believe a restructured nation with regional autonomy will perform better and free the nation from the present economic realities crippling development and growth. Chima Nnaji, in this interview with GERALDINE AKUTU, spoke on the issue, system of government and zoning arrangement.
What do you make of the call for the restructuring of Nigeria?
There has been a long standing call because the present structure is unsustainable. Everyday through the life and history of this country, it is thrown to the face of every citizen in this country that the structure is not working. So, there is no way this present structure can continue, not even in the current experience of globalization. You cannot have a system that promotes indolence, sectionalism and incompetence. The whole world is going towards productive excellence but we are retrogressing into ethnic and religious cleavages and that is why our country is not making progress. It has to be a situation where you have a structure that encourages and motivates people to achieve. We are pretenders in this country in the sense that we pretend to love capitalism but we do not labour for it. Capitalism encourages primitive accumulation but it is through your own ingenuity and effort that you must put something down for which you expect people to patronize you. In this country we have relied so much on oil and people in those areas are held down so that they are not querulous enough to fight for their right. You will observe that today, that which has failed through normal civilized process of engagement has now resulted into violence.
Where do you think Nigeria has failed as a state?
I think Nigeria has failed on all fronts because when the structure is wrong, both the function and output will also be faulty. We have 36 states today that must be fended for either by provisions of the governors, federal allocations and so on. By the time the whole sharing is done, and you have to take care of the bureaucracy, you will find out that there is nothing left for any other person. So, you have to belong to the clique that runs that bureaucracy to be able to get certain things for your own good. Politics has become an internecine warfare for that small space in which only one person or one group must win. In the political firmament, there is violence as they want to outdo one another. What you will see, is the over-heating of the polity. Politics is a game of who gets what and how. If what is to be gotten is not enough to go round, that is a recipe for struggle. There is so much oppression in the country. As long as we will practice this convoluted structure, things will not work and violence will continue to unleash mayhem on our political firmament.
Do you prefer parliamentary system of government to presidential?
I am not fixated on any of them. I am interested in democracy. Choosing an American presidential system or British parliamentary system is immaterial but getting the best of each that will soothe the Nigerian system. It is an organic thing. If you grow in a particular system then you run with it. If it is not working, you will have to jettison it or modify it. This is not a command economy. Let us look at what will work for us not. Equality is equity. Not all hands are equal but as small or big as they are when it comes to functions, each of them have what they do. It should be equality based on sovereignty of nations.
Do you subscribe to the idea that we amend the constitution to accommodate the six geo-political zones?
I think we should at least manage to get our six geo-political zones into centres of political activity. The presidency of this country should no longer be a one man affair. There should be a collegiate arrangement whereby all the six geo-political zones should produce vice president and they will go in rotation in one term arrangement. This zoning arrangement should also take place in each zone but the focus will be based on excellence or merit to ensure that anybody who is angling for any political leadership position must be a graduate, has experience and must have proved his or her mettle. My position is that it must not be watered down to choosing a certain kind of people or feeling that some group of people must be accommodated. It is not everybody that is good in the kitchen. I think we should thinker with this zonal arrangement for now. When we consolidate our democracy and mature as a people politically, then we will be able to contrive a system that is native to us instead of copying and pasting, because the situation is not the same. America is not the same as Nigeria because the way things work there is different. When you copy American presidential system, have you thought of the culture? The same goes for Britain. The six zones should come based on equality of zonal arrangement. There should be fairness.
How can we resolve our economic and structural challenges?
If the structure is right, things will work well. It is not a rocket science. The politics has to be in good shape for the economy to succeed. The only reason somebody calls a person a father is not because he is the biological father but because that person took care of him too. A country that is not useful to its citizens should not demand for patriotism. It comes naturally. Just hit any American in any part of the world and they will come for you. Different countries in the world knows that America does not toy with its citizens. Imagine, a country like Cotonou treating Nigerians with so much levity and disregard.
If you call your country a waste basket, people will come and dump refuse inside it. We are not treating our citizens right but demanding from our citizens what other countries treating their people right are giving them. It does not work that way. The politics must be right for the economy to follow. When this is done, there will be happiness, peace and development. Nigerians leaving outside have things to offer. Many of our good doctors and others in different disciplines are outside doing excellently well and we are here rushing to India for treatment of headache. You can see the embarrassment we are facing as a country, having our own president literally kidnapped by a certain group of doctors because it is said that he cannot come back to Nigeria until his doctors says so. That to me, looks like a kidnap because you stay their at their pleasure. If we do things right, every other thing will follow.
If you go for the best, then the rest will follow but if you don’t go for the best, you will loose the rest. The way we are recruiting our leaders is appalling. We have good young, creative PhD holders who have gone outside of the countries to use their lives positively or better their lives and we are here groping with elderly people with less endowments. That is why we are hovering. We can not move forward with this patch system. The way forward is getting our politics right. I remember a conference that was held towards the end of Johnathan’s tenure where there was a consensus that the system we have is not working. A number of people came together and agreed that we must restructure the system. I think we need a positive change not in the political sense but in the whole Nigeria system. Nigerians have to learn their lessons the hard way and choose leaders that can perform or deliver and ensure continuity of development instead of choosing leaders based on foolish sentiments, ethnicity and religion.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lPPev8
Disquiet over alleged missing files of 3,000 civil servants in Delta State
Ifeanyi Okowa
Allegations of missing files of 3, 000 civil servants in Delta state at the on-going verification of dates of birth, and employment exercise, has sparked fresh troubles.
Although the affected civil servants claimed their files were not missing, they were yet to submit themselves for the screening exercise.The state government through the chairman of the Verification Exercise, Mrs Patience Nkem Okwuofu said in Asaba recently that over 3, 000 civil servants were yet to summit themselves for the screening, adding the other 3, 000 files allegedly disappeared.
She said that the state government in line with the extant laws and rules of the civil service is seeking stiffer sanctions on those who failed to appear the screening and verification exercise.
Expectedly, the state government last Wednesday through the State Ministry of Information in a press statement signed by the Director of Information, Mr Paul Osahor, warned that files of affected staff in the verification exercise not found would be sanctioned accordingly.
Investigation revealed that this circular sent across permanent secretaries, in the MPAS in the state after allegation of missing files unsettled the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa.
Unconfirmed sources said that the missing files allegedly contained falsification of dates of birth, among others, tension has heightened among the civil servants who had been involved in alleged ambiguous alterations that include various swearing of affidavits for age declaration and others.
“We have long discovered that some of them may have been into certificate scandals, age falsification including dates of birth to stay longer in office, for some of the files, we saw, they were all littered with affidavits in age declaration,” Mrs Okwuofu added.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lxZEEx
Saturday, 18 February 2017
‘CANI’: The principle of personal development
Davids. PHOTO: Youtube
Welcome to another beautiful week!
Personal development is a lifelong process that requires us to assess ourselves periodically in order to maximise our potential here on earth. God wants you to make the best of your life, so that you can both live a fulfilling life and be a blessing to everyone around you.
The CANI model for growth and development
After the Second World War, the United States of America dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their cities were in ruins and they began contemplating what it would take to get back on world’s stage. A technocrat gave them a wonderful counsel. They were advised to keep improving daily on their products– continuous and never ending improvement. The acronym for that is: CANI (Continuous and Never Ending Improvement).
They took the challenge, and today they stand as one of the top world economies. We see products from such Japanese corporations as Honda and Toyota improving every day. They churn out all kinds of models, with new models coming out every season.
We must remember that growth is a function of a mental revolution. The injection of relevant and adequate information creates renewed mental motion. This is where change begins. You need to train yourself to be the best. There is a prize to pay for growth. Thank God for formal education, but much more, thank Him for the informal kind of education. You need to read good books and let the information therein change you. Remember that those who don’t read are not different from those who can’t read. Abraham Lincoln said: “I do not think much of a man who’s not wiser today than he was yesterday.”
The question is: are you getting better? Are you developing your potentials? A man is not old until he stops learning, whether at 30 or 80. Those who will not do the mental work will eventually do the menial work.
We have to be determined to make our lives count. The treasures within us must be explored, so that we can be a blessing to our generation.
Many people think of success as a destination, but it is a journey. Success is cumulative and occurs as a result of the right things done daily rather than a single event. At a University graduation ceremony, the graduates celebrate their success, which is a result of several semesters of hard work. Though the celebration is a single event, it really represents the successful completion of term papers, lectures and exams that were presented all through their stay.
If we must grow, we must make daily investments in our lives. We cannot afford to have the lottery mindset, where we wish for a particular day that success would just jump on us. True success requires daily investments.
I remember the story of a young man, who visited a priest. With tears in his eyes, he looked at the priest and said: “My marriage failed last night.” But the Priest looked at him and said: ‘No, your marriage did not fail last night. The accumulated failures in your marriage just showed up last night.”
Growth and success are functions of the right investments made daily till your best is released. You have to be determined and deliberate with your life to make it count.
Ask yourself the following questions:
• What can I improve in my present situation?
• What action can I take today to embark on my own CANI journey?
I encourage you to take action and invest in your daily growth. You will impact your world!
I would love to hear from you; @yemidavids, pastoryemi@globalimpactng.org or visit www, globalimpactng.org or The Goodland, Ifako Bus Stop along Ogudu-Oworo Expressway, Lagos. @Globalimpactng. See you next week!
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lx7xcr
Monday, 6 February 2017
Minister promises upward review of corps members’ allowances
Members of the National Youth Service Corps PHOTO: NAN
The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr. Solomon Dalung, says the government has initiated the process of upward review of corps members’ allowances.
Dalung, who disclosed that the review was undergoing legislative process, acknowledged that what was being paid as allowances to corps members today had become grossly insufficient for them.
The minister stated this yesterday when he conducted an unscheduled inspection visit to the National Youth Service Corps Orientation Camp in Magu, Plateau State, to enable him ascertain the welfare of the scheme’s members and status of facilities at the camp.
Pledging that government would not compromise the security and welfare of youths on national service, he warned corps members of the danger inherent in non-disclosure of their health status. He added: “To be sick is human and sickness is not a crime. There is, therefore, no reason for hiding one’s heath status. Giving necessary information will enable the relevant authority take necessary action, including granting redeployment requests to corps members with serious health challenges to states where they can have access to physicians that are conversant with their cases.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kMh3aQ
Monday, 30 January 2017
Governorship aspirants to pay N9m for posters’ pasting in Anambra (Read full details)
ANSAA, Mr. Jude Emecheta
Politicians kick against directive
Anambra State Government Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA) has said that any governorship aspirant would pay N9 million before he or she could be allowed to paste posters.
Managing Director of ANSAA, Mr. Jude Emecheta, who disclosed this to newsmen in Awka yesterday, warned that any aspirant who contravenes the rule would be prosecuted as the law did not permit indiscriminate pasting of posters. He stated that aspirants must pay before their posters would be permitted to be circulated.
According to him, the agency would need money to clean up the mess generated by such posters after the elections and would not encourage people to de-face the environment with paper and billboards.
He added that a public enlightenment programme on the modalities for putting up election posters would commence from next month to let politicians know that they would not be allowed to paste them on public buildings, electric poles, bridges, road dividers, roundabouts and others.
The ANSAA boss, who said that the agency would designate where to paste election materials, insisted that it was a quasi-criminal offence for any person not to pay government revenue.
“So, don’t say Willie Obiano is pursuing you or APGA is chasing you around. Do the needful to avoid prosecution,” he stated.He said politicians who wished to put up billboards must go through registered advertising agencies domiciled in the state, pledging that no poster or election material of the incumbent governor would be posted without payment.
The Chairman of the Progressives People’s Alliance Party (PPA) in the state, Chief Mathias Ameke, claimed that the directive was to suppress other contenders in the forthcoming polls.
Ameke, who said that such a law would not fly because it was a constitutional matter, said that only the National Assembly could take such a step.He, therefore, called for a fair level playing ground for politics in the state so that the people can make their impressions.
He said: “Fixing such outrageous fees for party candidates’ publicity is a sign of government resentment for popular participation in the coming polls and it is unacceptable and reprehensible too.”
Also, a politician in the state, who did not want to be named, challenged the directive, saying it was a plan to place obstacles on the way of aspirants not in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). He warned against taking such a step during the campaigns.
He said: “We will wait and see how this will work in the state. There should be equal opportunity for all. They may be devising plans to stop every challenge to the governor, but they will fail”.
Another aspirant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the directive as costly, wondering how much the state would garner as tax or levy at the end of election.
He said that it was obnoxious on the part of the ruling party to make such a policy now, adding that they should not heat up the polity in the state with an unworkable pronouncement.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2kldBUo
Non-passage of PIB to blame for renewed agitation in Niger Delta, says former presidential aide (Read full details)
Dr. Egbogah
• Senate gives reasons for delay, experts say bill will boost investment
• New NDDC boss tasked on people-oriented projects
The non payment of 10 per cent of oil revenue to the host and impact Niger Delta communities as enshrined in the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is responsible for the resurgence of agitation in the region, former Special Adviser to the President on Energy Matters, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah has said.
Speaking at the 2nd graduation and award ceremony of the Emerald Energy Institute of the University of Port Harcourt last weekend, Egbogah said the National Assembly must move swiftly to ensure passage of the bill to facilitate Nigeria’s quick exit from the recession.
Egbogah insisted that the non-passage of the PIB has also denied host communities their earnings, hence may be one of the reasons attack on oil installations are back.
Asked if the hostilities can be stopped without PIB passage, Egbogah said: “The PIB, if well understood, made plans about the reform of the oil industry and having a law to back that up. It is the legal and regulatory framework to back up the promises that were made to the people of the Niger Delta region.”
The Senate explained that fears that the interest of oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta might not be adequately addressed in the new version of the PIB was one major factor delaying passage of the bill.
Senate’s spokesman, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, however, assured that the fears have been addressed by the Senate through the splitting of the bill into different independent bills, with each catering for a particular interest.
Abdullahi said the Management Framework aspect of the Bill has passed the second reading stage while the Host Community Bill segment is still being processed for the second reading.
Also urging speedy passage, Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, through his Special Assistant on Community Relations, Mr. Jude Fregene said PIB would reduce insurgency and tension in the region.
The President, Oil and Gas Trainers Association, Dr. Afe Mayowa urged the National Assembly to urgently pass the PIB in order to encourage more investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The Managing Director of First Exploration and Production Nigeria, Ademola Adeyemi-Baro, said the uncertainty created by the non-passage, destabilising discussions around the fiscal and local content has clearly stalled the industry. He added that there is need for government to give certainty to the strategy and policy direction of the oil and gas industry.
Meanwhile, a group of ex-Niger Delta militant leaders has urged the new board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to embark on people-oriented projects in the region in other to bring the much-needed development to the region.
The ex-militants under the auspices of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI), which boasts of about 90 per cent of ex-agitators in Phase 1 of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, in an electronic mail by its Press Secretary, Francis Wainwei, advised the Chairman of the commission, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba to interface with relevant stakeholders to see through his promises and embark on projects that will see the light of the day especially the oil-producing areas.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2kloC8i
Saturday, 28 January 2017
Leadership and the people’s trust (Read full details)
Taiwo Odukoya
Leadership’s strongest currency is trust. No matter how visionary, strategic, skilful or eloquent leaders are, they cannot achieve significant results, if they fail to earn the people’s trust. It is trust that binds leadership to the led and unlocks the doors of cooperation, required to succeed. Someone once said: “The first job of a leader is to inspire trust.” I agree.
When leaders lose the people’s trust, they invariably create a chain reaction of distrust, and the consequences are usually dire. A research by Dr. Paul J Zak, a neuroeconomist at Claremont Graduate University, discovered that trust is one of the strongest predictors of national wealth. According to Dr. Zak, nations with low levels of trust tend to be poor. An environment, where people trust their leaders and each other, is usually a breeding ground for ideas with the cooperation needed for effective execution being readily available. And generally, disagreements and differences are better managed in such an environment.
Some of the finest moments in human history, where people demonstrated resilience, empathy, and innovation, were brought about by leaders, who inspired an environment of trust. Think of Winston Churchill and the resilience of the British through the Second World War; FDR and the cocktail of ideas that pulled America through the great depression; Mandela and the generosity of spirit that broke apartheid and forestalled anarchy. Trust is important, all the more so today.
We live in times of great distrust. To say people across the world are growing increasingly wary of leadership and where it stands between the interests of the common people and the concerns of the elites would be stating the obvious. Disappointments and the failures of leadership to keep its promises are also some of the reasons people are losing trust in leadership. This is as true for nations as it is for organisations. Recent research shows that only 49 percent of employees trust senior management, and only 28 percent believe CEOs are a credible source of information. Also, Edelman, a company that has been surveying people around the world on their trust in government institutions for the past sixteen years, found that in 2016, people viewed people like themselves to be twice as credible as a government leader. It is, therefore, important that leaders everywhere redouble their efforts and build bridges of trust connecting them to the people. To do this, we must prioritise and reassert our commitment to:
• Respecting the people: We have to respect the people we have been called upon to serve, by making their welfare a priority.
• Truth and transparency: Being upfront with the people about the challenges we’re facing and what we’re doing to tackle them, also goes a long way to building trust. There is equally the need to accept responsibility, when mistakes are made.
• Celebrating small victories: Results are important. More than anything, people want leaders to achieve results that would affect their lives positively. Even when the achievements are small, celebrate it. People are encouraged, when we make progress. Only make sure the results are real and not propaganda.
• Keeping promises: Keep promises, no matter what and communicate clearly why they are no longer tenable in the event.
It is true that Nigeria has a long history of leadership distrust, and the reasons are not farfetched. The gap between the political class and the people, between the rich and the poor, still remains a yawning one.
So, not even sixteen years of democratic rule has been able to repair the breaches of trust. The current administration, in spite of the huge amount of goodwill that attended its ascension to power, has not been able to change that mindset.
The widespread economic hardship has seen a swift dissipation of hope across the country. People are losing trust in the government’s ability to deal with the issues by the day. Something drastic has to be done to reverse the tide and restore hope and trust. A lot of this will ride on concrete steps, small but continuing and measurable victories and strategic communication to allay people’s fears, thus reigniting their sense of optimism.
While there is no illusion that the problems facing us today would be resolved by the wave of a wand, seeing it took years to get us here, and it will take a while to get us out, continuous improvement should be visible. We have to demonstrate strong ability to solve the problems we are currently facing. Without that, gaining and sustaining the people’s trust may be an illusion. God forbid.
Nigeria Has A Great Future
Leadership and the people’s trust
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