By PHILIP YATAI

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says the country needs leaders like President Bola Tinubu to achieve the ?Nigeria of our dreams?.

Wike said this in his 2025 Distinguish Personality Lecture, titled, ?The Nigeria of our Dreams? presented at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Thursday.

Wike pointed out that the greatest challenge confronting Nigeria and militating against its development was the plague of bad leadership.

He agreed with Chinua Achebe, whose seminar, ?The Trouble with Nigeria?, graphically captured the challenge, when he stated that ?the trouble with Nigeria is fairly and squarely the absence of proper leadership?.

?This statement, damaging as it may appear, is extremely difficult to controvert.

?Our leaders have, in the main, emerged through self-serving conspiracies that have little or nothing to do with national interests and development.

?This has been the case in both military and civilian contexts,? he said.

He, however, said that Tinubu had stood out as the leader the people needed to drive Nigeria to progress and prosperity.

He explained that Nigeria needs a leader that was prepared to lead with sound character and resilience in the face of challenges.

He added that the leader must also be a person who believed in the infinite possibilities that the Nigerian nation exemplifies, while taking solid, proactive, logical and well-informed decisions that would maximally actualise her potential.

This leader, he said, must have the courage and audacity to act, build, innovate and generally expand the frontiers of development with a hands-on approach that would emphasise excellence over mediocrity.

He added that more importantly, the leader of Nigerians? dream must create a society of free and responsible citizens whose potentials flowed freely and free enterprise thrived.

?Let me make bold at this juncture to state that today, in our country, we have such a leader in the person of Tinubu.

?He has shown in several ways and at different times, a stout commitment to the enthronement of democracy in our country, to the extent of even putting his own life on the line in the process.

?He has shown great capacity for engendering development as captured in the unprecedented rapid and exponential development of Lagos state under his watch and even beyond,? he added.

He also said that Tinubu had demonstrated a rare courage by removing fuel subsidy on his first day, upon being sworn in as President.

According to him, leaders before him all spoke about the evil of fuel subsidy, but none had the courage to dare the blackmail of removing it.

?Tinubu did and is fittingly grappling with the inevitable, unintended and sometimes orchestrated consequences of this removal.

?Today, our states have far more resources to develop, the debts are no longer piling and the price of petrol is gradually but steadily adjusting downwards in tandem with the forces of demand and supply and the strict implementation of regulatory conditionalities.

?Also, the overwhelming cry of over-centralisation of power and resources at the national level and the attendant abuse of the doctrine of federalism is being systematically addressed.

?This is being addressed through the creation of zonal/regional commissions empowered to devolve developmental impetus to the respective zones and regions, so that power can truly return to the people.?

On security, Wike said that the situation was being addressed through proper funding and the training and retraining of security forces.

The minister added that Tinubu?s approval for the recruitment of forest guards across the country to take charge of the nation?s forests, bandits and terrorists would no longer find incubation points and free territories to operate.

?Put simply, the era of banditry and terrorism will soon come to an end.

?These and many other policies and measures are being put together by Tinubu to reposition our country on the path of progress and development,? Wike said.

Earlier, Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun, described Wike as a straightforward politician, adding that his wealth of political experience and leadership style was exemplary.

Represented by the Deputy Governor, Kola Adewusi, the governor said that the minister?s infrastructural transformation in the FCT was visionary.

Also, the Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof. Adebayo Bamire, said that the theme of the lecture, ??Nigeria of our Dream? was timely and thought-provoking.

?At a critical juncture when our nation?s democratic journey, when the challenges of governance, civic trust, and equitable development are at the forefront of public discourse, this lecture offers a vital platform for reflection, engagement and forward thinking.

?It calls us to interrogate the structures that uphold democracy, the principles that guide responsible governance, citizenship and the strategies that can unlock Nigeria?s development potential,? he said.

The Royal Father of the Day, Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, said he has deep respect for Wike because of his fearlessness.

He described the minister as an ?upright politician? who ?said things as they are.

?Hate him; like him ? what will be will be.? (NAN)

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