By Ben Adoga, Abuja
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has again publicly stated that Nigeria’s greatest challenge has been leadership and that the country needed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to achieve its dreams as a nation.
Wike said this in his 2025 Distinguished Personality Lecture, titled “The Nigeria of our Dreams,” presented at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, yesterday.
He said bad leadership was a plague hindering Nigeria’s development.
He agreed with Chinua Achebe, whose epic novel, ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’, where Achebe laid the challenge of Nigeria at the feet of its leadership. Achebe stated, ‘The trouble with Nigeria is fairly and squarely the absence of proper leadership.’
“This statement, damaging as it may appear, is challenging to controvert. Our leaders, in the main, have emerged through self-serving conspiracies that have little or nothing to do with national interests and development. This has been the case in both military and civilian contexts,” he said.
Wike, however, has recommended President Tinubu as the man to pull Nigeria out of the woods, describing him as the leader the people need to drive Nigeria towards progress and prosperity.
He said Tinubu had what it takes to lead with sound character and resilience in the face of challenges.
He also pointed out that Tinubu believes in the infinite possibilities that the Nigerian nation exemplifies and can make solid, proactive, logical, and well-informed decisions that would maximally actualise her potential.
A good leader must have the courage and audacity to act, build, innovate, and generally expand the frontiers of development with a hands-on approach that emphasises excellence over mediocrity, which he said Tinubu exemplifies.
He added that, more importantly, the leader of Nigerians’ dream must create a society of free and responsible citizens whose potential flows freely and where free enterprise thrives.
“Let me make bold at this juncture to state that today, in our country, we have such a leader in the person of Tinubu.
“He has shown, in several ways and at different times, a stout commitment to the enthronement of democracy in our country, to the extent of even putting his own life on the line in the process.
“He has shown great capacity for engendering development as captured in the unprecedented rapid and exponential development of Lagos state under his watch and even beyond,” he added.
Pointing to Tinubu’s courage, Wike said that he demonstrated remarkable courage by removing fuel subsidies on his first day in office as President.
According to him, leaders before him all spoke about the evil of fuel subsidy, but none dared to dare the blackmail of removing it.
“Tinubu did and is fittingly grappling with the inevitable, unintended and sometimes orchestrated consequences of this removal.
“Today, our states have far more resources to develop, the debts are no longer piling, and the price of petrol is gradually but steadily adjusting downwards in tandem with the forces of demand and supply and the strict implementation of regulatory conditionalities.
“Also, the overwhelming cry of over-centralisation of power and resources at the national level and the attendant abuse of the doctrine of federalism is being systematically addressed.
“This is being addressed through the creation of zonal/regional commissions empowered to devolve developmental impetus to the respective zones and regions so that power can truly return to the people.”
On security, Wike said that the situation was being addressed through proper funding and the training and retraining of security forces.
The Minister added that Tinubu’s approval for the recruitment of forest guards across the country to oversee the nation’s forests would mean that bandits and terrorists would no longer find safe havens and free territories to operate.
“Put simply, the era of banditry and terrorism would soon come to an end. Tinubu is putting together these and many other policies and measures to reposition our country on the path of progress and development,” Wike said.
Earlier, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State described Wike as a straightforward politician, adding that his wealth of political experience and leadership style were exemplary.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Kola Adewusi, the governor said that the Minister’s infrastructural transformation in the FCT was visionary.
Additionally, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Adebayo Bamire, stated that the lecture’s theme, “Nigeria of our Dream”, was both timely and thought-provoking.
“At a critical juncture in our nation’s democratic journey, when the challenges of governance, civic trust, and equitable development are at the forefront of public discourse, this lecture offers a vital platform for reflection, engagement and forward thinking.
“It calls us to interrogate the structures that uphold democracy, the principles that guide responsible governance, citizenship and the strategies that can unlock Nigeria’s development potential,” he said.
The Royal Father of the Day, Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, said he has deep respect for Wike because of his fearlessness.
He described the Minister as an ‘upright politician’ who spoke his mind.
“Hate him; like him – what will be will be,” the royal father stated.
