Lack of transformational leaders is responsible for the persistent insecurity in Nigeria, according to the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC).
The registrar of the Institute, Segun Ogunyannwo, made this known while speaking with journalists at a one-day transformational leadership workshop on preventing and countering violent extremism for security agencies, media and civil society organizations in Abuja on Thursday.
He said: “In fairness to the security agencies, they are doing well. The major challenge we have in this country is that of leadership.
“We have the local government chairman who is to be the chief security officer of his local government, yet he has no control over those who are suppose to provide security.
“This is a country where there is dearth of proper leadership. We have our leaders going about with security officers in a country where we have just one policeman to 5000 ordinary citizens.
“This shows that they are not serving us, they are serving themselves.”
He stressed that what Nigeria needed at this point were “leaders who are selfless, who believe in providing leadership that can give security to the people and not just for themselves alone.”
On his part, Lord James Okpanachi, founder of Royal Initiative Against Poverty and Starvation (RIAPS) -organiser of the workshop in collaboration with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, said the event was to bring about difference in leadership style in fighting insecurity in Nigeria.
“We are looking at strategies as we understand that you can not implement certain policies without the place of leadership.
“There is a connection between leadership and violent extremism and in our own opinion, leadership that can not bring change need to be changed,” he said.
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