Funmi Olaitan, Ibadan
A cleric, Rev. Fr. Vincent Anadi, has warned that the country can only move forward when it has Godly leaders that will inculcate and leave good legacies for the youths to emulate.
Anadi who is of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, gave the charge in Ibadan, while delivering a lecture titled, "Leadership and nation building: The Nehemiah's approach", at the 2017 Zonal Annual Development Conference of the Christian Rural and Urban Development Association of Nigeria (CRUDAN).
According to him, the country presently is lacking the type of the much needed patriotic leaders that are determined to put the country aright, stating that it is important for leaders and followers to be patriotic and have clear understanding of expectations of their people.
He said with his experience as a priest and social worker who works with youths, it is glaring that people do not follow good leaders but would rather follow corrupt leaders because of immediate gratification.
He said, "Godly leaders lead with a view to leave something for the youth but in Nigeria history is removed from the curriculum to deprive youths of the light. We do not have leaders galvanizing us towards patriotism as followers are constantly kept in the dark about events. Bad leadership has clogged the wheels of development heightened by indiscipline on the part of the leaders and the led".
He added that as part of solutions to the lack of the type of leadership Nigeria presently deserves, there is the urgent need for sense of belonging, shared value, common goal and acceptability in the country's leadership level.
He then advocated for the establishment of institutions that promote enabling environment to make these thrive, noting that the framework should be able to hold the nation together to achieve its potentials as well.
While making reference to the book of Nehemiah which he said "is about action, a skillful political actor whose thoughts and actions coincide with the actions of the king", he said "a leader must be just, for 12yrs in office Nehemiah did not receive money for himself or anybody because he was a man of integrity".
"The leadership style of Nehemiah shows the significance one person's decision can have on a nation, a leader must understand that power comes from God. Both leaders and followers must work together through accountability, hard work, and a strong belief system", he said.
Another speaker, Mr. Femi Omowole, in a lecture titled, "The management of solid waste", stressed the importance of an ideal society which he said was one that is beautiful, developed, progressive, attractive and a reference point.
He said, "the term development must be seen as a continuous process and how a developed nation is seen as one with economic success".
While defining health as a state of the environment, he said money spent on waste disposal and management can be controlled, saying "30% of our waste is considered recyclable and 60% organic which can generate wealth sold as organic fertilizer, factors militating against proper waste management are poor transportation, waste revaluation hardly being considered by past administrations".
Omowole defined waste as anything not needed, something worthless and not useful but which can still be managed, saying, in John 6:12b God said "gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost."
"The language of waste management uses three 'Rs' - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The handling of waste begins with a conscious state of mind, asking ourselves germane questions- is there a storage? do I need that new thing I want to buy?", he said.
