The Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Prof. Ayo Omotayo, has charged senior public officers, military and paramilitary personnel to subordinate personal and sectional interests to the collective good of the nation.

Omotayo gave the charge in an address at the National Values and Leadership Course, Batch 7, held in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State.

The programme, which drew participants from ministries, departments, agencies and paramilitary organisations, was organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), in collaboration with Tomruk iHub Multiverse and the Dakrisbenic Foundation for Unity and Development in Africa (DAFUDA).

Omotayo, who was represented by the NIPSS Director of Research, Prof. Musa Umar, said Nigeria stood at a turning point where the character of its leaders, and not infrastructure or policy alone, would determine the country’s direction.

He argued that Nigeria’s problem has never been a shortage of talent but a lack, at critical moments, of a unified commitment to shared values.

Consequently, he called for value-based performance systems across public and private institutions, with integrity, transparency and accountability built into internal processes, clear ethical standards, consequences for misconduct, and rewards for exemplary conduct.