Wike charges African leaders to embrace transformative rather than transactional leadership

By Ben Adoga, Abuja

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has charged African leaders to embrace transformative leadership and abandoned the transactional leadership that has bedeviled the continent for decades.

Wike decried  the pervasive culture of transactional and mediocre leadership across Africa, warning that the continent’s persistent underdevelopment, despite its vast resources, is a direct consequence of poor governance and self-serving politics.

The minister stated these on Thursday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address titled “Reimagining Africa’s Leadership and Investment” at the 2025 Innovate Africa Conference, held at the ECOWAS Conference Hall, Abuja.

“The time has come to move beyond transactional leadership to embrace transformational governance that empowers rather than exploits, serves rather than rules, and builds rather than blames,” he declared.

He lamented that Africa’s leadership trajectory, both in military and civilian dispensations has for decades been shaped by “self serving conspiracies that bear little or no relation to national interest or development priorities.”Bemoaning the situation, Wike further stated: “Africa today stands at a historic crossroads. On one hand, we are blessed with immense natural wealth, youthful energy, and creative potentials; yet, we continue to grapple with weak institutions, infrastructural decay, poverty, and widespread unemployment. This is the paradox of our age — how can a continent so richly endowed remain so constrained?”  He lamented.

Wike stressed that the decisive factor at the heart of the continent’s paradox lies in leadership, the kind that defines whether abundance becomes prosperity or stagnation.

“Leadership remains the fulcrum upon which the destinies of nations turn. When leadership is visionary, accountable, and courageous, even the most daunting obstacles can be transformed into opportunities,” he said.

He, there for called for a deliberate shift from “transactional leadership,” which he described as one driven by personal gain, patronage, and short term calculations to transformational leadership anchored on vision, service, accountability, and courage

He further lamented that Africa’s post-independence experience has largely been one of “groping in the dark,” as many leaders have emerged unprepared for the magnitude of national challenges before them.

“Consequently, we keep experimenting with the fundamentals of development, basic infrastructure, primary healthcare, credible institutions, and functional economies. The result has been decades of missed opportunities,” he added.

One of the high points of the event was that the minister, Nyesom Wike was honoured with the Innovate Africa Leadership Award 2025 at the event.

•••Africa Needs Servant Leaders

Wike also charged African leaders to rediscover the ethos of servant leadership, noting that true leadership is defined by empathy, humility, and a shared sense of responsibility.

“Africa needs servant leaders, not bosses who command, but mentors who inspire. Leadership is not about power or position; it is about trust, service, and shared purpose,” he said.

Comparing between effective leadership and infrastructural renewal, Wike cited ongoing transformations in Abuja as proof that vision backed by political will can translate aspirations into tangible outcomes.

“In Abuja, we have seen how infrastructural renewal, anchored on commitment and accountability, can redefine a city’s identity and inspire public confidence. Roads once impassable now connect communities, and abandoned spaces now thrive with enterprise,” he noted.

The FCT Minister, as usual used the opportunity to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “courageous and reform-driven leadership,” especially the removal of fuel subsidy, which he said previous administrations lacked the political will to implement.

“Tinubu demonstrated uncommon courage by confronting Nigeria’s toughest challenge – subsidy removal — a decision that is already yielding dividends in increased revenue for development and economic stability,” Wike said.

On Africa’s Economic Independence

The FCT Minister stated that Africa must break free from the cycle of dependency on foreign aid, insisting that “development cannot be donated; it must be built.

“For too long, Africa has looked outward for solutions that can only come from within. Aid has become a crutch that weakens our resolve. The time has come for Africa to rise beyond the rhetoric of dependency and take ownership of its destiny,” he asserted.

Wike stressed that the continent’s transformation depends on investments that are “productive, inclusive and homegrown,” adding that Africa’s greatest asset is not its natural resources but its people.

“Seventy percent of Africa’s population is under 30. This is not a statistic; it is a revolution waiting to happen. If we invest in education, innovation, and entrepreneurship, we will unleash the greatest demographic dividend in human history,” he said.

He urged African governments to prioritise infrastructure as the bedrock of sustainable development, arguing that “roads, power, and digital connectivity are the arteries through which development flows.”

On reinventing Africa’s future through African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA he said: “Africa’s second liberation the liberation of its economy.

“The AfCFTA is not just a trade agreement; it is a declaration that Africa will no longer be a supplier of raw materials and a dumping ground for finished goods. It is the cornerstone of our collective prosperity,” he said.

In his conclusion, he postulated:

“Africa’s future will not be given to us; we must build it. History will not remember what we merely dreamed for Africa, but what we did for Africa,” he said.

“Let us lead differently, invest boldly, and believe radically in the limitless potential of our continent. The time is now. The place is here. The responsibility is ours — and the future, unambiguously, belongs to Africa.”