‘Leadership mistakes since independence still haunts Nigeria’

Director of Hikmah Group of Schools, Jos, Abdulhafis Imam Bello, has said that the mistakes the country made since independence were still haunting it till today.

Bello, who argued that the mistakes were essentially those of leadership, said the Nigerian civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970 led the killing of prominent leaders due to ethnic inclinations.

He spoke during a leadership training programme organised for secondary school students in the community, which was held at the school premises.

He said Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo and other Nigerian nationalists were the prominent Nigerians who paid the supreme sacrifice for the nation.

“Up till today, Nigeria has not broken that yoke of ethnicity, which culminated in their being murdered in cold blood.

He urged the participating students to always toe to the path of piety and honour, adding, “As leaders of tomorrow, you must be different from other corrupt men and women and take mankind to the next level. You should think positively.”

Bello said that their mission was to inculcate state of-the-art leadership training and development skills for youth leaders of student organisations.

“This is so that they can become proficient in stewardship with a vision to produce a pool of epistemic and dynamic future leaders with confidence and integrity.

“It is a promising event that will help student leaders break barriers of ethnicity and uncover their full potential, find freedom from fears, break-down-concepts about themselves and their abilities, radiate refined and improved identity of who they are and what they can do,” he added.

The lead paper presenter at the event, Samuel Dan-Auta, lamented that Nigerian leaders have not been forthcoming in leadership trainings and urged the Federal Government to introduce leadership training or creative mentoring in public and private schools across the country.

Dan-Auta recommended chess game to be made compulsory in schools as it would spur students into leadership positions, as the king in the game represents leadership structure of the school and society.

He lamented that Nigeria is where it is today because its leadership structure was destroyed and truncated.