As Nigeria celebrates its 56th independence anniversary, the interchange of blame and faults as well as the role of followers in the Nigerian project was the focus of participants at a leadership conference at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun state.
Speakers at the conference agreed that the current economic challenges facing the country is as a result of collective misappropriation of the country’s past by both the leaders and the led.
Leading discussions at the conference, a member of the Osun state House of Assembly representing Ife North constituency, Babatunde Olatunji said the age long fantasy of Nigeria as a country of enormous resources culminated in the coordinated raping of the nation’s sovereign wealth by its leaders as encouraged by the greed of followers.
While calling for patriotic commitment from all Nigerians irrespective of social or political class, Olatunji said only a change of attitude will reverse the current negative trends.
Participants at the conference called for a bottom up approach to attitudinal change where the change starts with followers since leaders emerge from followers.
Author
