Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, his Anambra counterpart, Mr Peter Obi, on Wednesday urged Nigerians occupying elective positions to give selfless leadership.
The governors spoke in Lagos at the 10th Annual lecture of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL), with the theme “Leadership and Values: The Challenge for the Next Generation of Leaders”.
Fayemi said that it was imperative for those in leadership positions not to use them for personal aggrandisement, but for service and development of their communities.
He decried the trend of attaching importance to titles like “His Excellency, Executive Governor, Honourable and other honorifics” among Nigerians.
“It is time that we all, old and young in public offices, begin to know that there are certain values which are critical to us as leaders.
“But today, we hardly have competent, selfless people with leadership values in leadership positions; we, therefore, need to change our mindset as leaders,’’ he said.
Fayemi called for urgent mentoring of young Nigerians in the act of true leadership values in positions of authority.
He said that it was imperative for Nigeria to learn leadership values from other countries of the world.
Obi ,who also stressed the need for mentoring young Nigerians on leadership values, urged political office holders not to see leadership as ownership.
“Everybody in Nigeria, including me, is guilty of the country’s poor leadership structure.
“Corruption has really eaten into every segment of this country; what we now need is collective mentoring of young Nigerians in good leadership qualities,’’ he said.