Former Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), at the weekend argued that Nigerians will need to amend their ways, rather than seeking to rework the constitution all the time.
Fashola, a former Lagos governor, spoke at the Nigerian Air Force Officers Mess Honorary Members Forum (HMF) 2023 Annual Lecture in Lagos on the topic: “Leadership – Leading the Change.”
Stressing that leadership is hard and demands example, courage, character, vision as well as the ability to think and do, Fashola described the recent impasse in Ondo as a “sore thumb.”
He pointed out that until an act of leadership by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to transfer power to his deputy spared everybody the trouble, people behaved as if there were no rules even when there was a constitution that should ordinarily be obeyed.
There had been calls from various Nigerians before the Ondo matter was settled for President Bola Tinubu to intervene in what appeared a brewing constitutional crisis in the state and the ongoing altercation between Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers state and his predecessor, Mr Nyesom Wike.
But Fashola said the calls were unnecessary when the constitution clearly states the roles to be played by certain individuals when such situations arise.
“We have amended the constitution, so what is left to amend, except ourselves? Is this a matter that required presidential intervention when some people were calling for the president to intervene. Does the constitution assign a role to the president in this matter?
“Are those inviting the president to act in Ondo and in Rivers state not aware that the president has no constitutional role in these matters?
“Are they not also those who argue that the federal government and by extension the president are too powerful and encroaching the powers of state governments? Is this a case of passing the buck when tough leadership calls are requested to be made?
“Happily, in our Ondo case, some blue blood Ondo indigenes have stood up to be counted (but they are in an obvious minority), even in the pursuit of law and constitutionality before the governor’s letter restored calm and we want for leadership in Rivers state to do the needful,” he stated.
Talking about leadership courage and character, the former minister noted that for instance, the decision to stop providing foreign exchange at official Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate for the import of food items like rice as well as the decision to remove the subsidy on petroleum products, were expressions of both.
Arguing that the decisions did not serve the self-interest of the makers, on the contrary, Fashola noted that they serve a public benefit purpose in the long run even if that requires proper explanation and communication to those impacted adversely by the change of circumstances.
“A first look at the decision relating to food items like rice will show that this was an area of economic competitive advantage that we had ceded to other nations, to our own detriment.
“So for almost five decades, other economies had prospered because we refused to venture. To say that they fought back is an understatement because old habits die hard. Some of them with whom I spoke were unpretentious about their intent to cripple the Nigerian economy if that decision was not rescinded in 2015,” he added.
According to him, the question that was not asked and the communication that was needed were the impact of a lack of decision on Nigeria’s foreign reserves in the face of crashing crude oil prices at the time.
“This kind of communication would have been helpful to show the beneficial nature of this decision because as crude oil prices crashed, so did our dollar receipts diminish, and with it our ability to fund payment for imported rice.
“With regard to the petroleum subsidy removal, it is still necessary to continue conversations about the benefits, and to define for Nigerians what harm was avoided by its removal,” he pointed out.
Fashola stated that one thing that was clear was that its continued prevention was the clear road to national insolvency.
A new lesson that today’s leaders must learn, he said , is how to communicate in this world of information overload and how to get the truth across in this age of fake news.
Explaining that mistakes are part of the process of learning and are useful to the extent that leaders learn from them and never repeat them, Fashola said that the fear of making mistakes must not hinder decision-making, insisting that otherwise the call of leadership would have been abdicated.
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
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