By Seyi Odewale
The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has asserted that Nigeria’s challenges are fundamental and solvable within a single four-year tenure if the nation is led with sincerity, competence, and strategic focus.
Adebayo, a legal practitioner and presidential candidate in the 2023 elections made this known during a recent public engagement, where he strongly differentiated between politics and governance, warning that conflating the two is at the root of Nigeria’s leadership failure.
“People often assume that politics and governance are the same, but they are not,” he said. “You can be a master in political strategy but an absolute failure in governance. If governance fails, everything else crumbles.”
He emphasised that quality leadership requires more than political popularity—it demands the capacity to manage resources effectively and deliver results through a team of capable professionals.
“There are people who are excellent at delivering good governance but are not necessarily good politicians. That’s why leadership must include those who understand policy, infrastructure, education, and other areas of life—even if they can’t make fiery political speeches,” he explained.
To illustrate, Adebayo referenced the colonial era in Lagos, when the city boasted some of the safest and best-quality water in the English-speaking world.
“In those days, colonial journals told travellers from London that once they arrived in Lagos, they could drink water straight from the fountain—it was safe. The people who made that possible weren’t politicians; they were experts in water engineering.”
He also pointed to past education successes achieved by people who may not have had political charisma but knew how to run effective education systems. According to Adebayo, politics should be about assembling the best minds in every field—not just those who are politically savvy.
Speaking further, he stressed the role of altruism in governance.
“True political leadership means doing things that don’t benefit you personally. Altruism is what makes a soldier give his life in a war that has no selfish aim. It’s what drives a leader to build schools for children who are not their own and to establish national institutions that outlive them.”
He criticised self-serving leaders who rename or claim credit for projects initiated before they took office, describing it as a sign of the absence of genuine public spirit.
“Our problems are not insurmountable,” he said. “We’ve had secure, prosperous civilisations in the past. Communities where women could go to the stream without fear and where no one went hungry. We’ve solved these problems before—we can do it again.”
Citing the example of current FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Adebayo argued that Nigeria’s problems could be addressed within four years if leaders are genuinely committed and serious. “What Wike is doing shows that if the person in charge of education, health, infrastructure, and communication is competent and decisive, transformation is achievable.”
He cautioned against vague calls for patience, urging leaders to match such calls with visible action.
