Leaders Must Be Competent To Turn Ideas Into Action – Jerry Gana

Former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, has referred to as on Nigerian leaders to exhibit competence, integrity and knowledge in governance, stressing that management failure is a significant impediment to the nation’s growth.

Gana made the decision on Tuesday whereas delivering the keynote tackle on the 2026 convention of the Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria.

He stated efficient management was crucial to nationwide growth, noting that competent leaders may obtain vital outcomes inside a brief interval in the event that they had been dedicated to serving the individuals.

‘’Leadership constructing has an amazing energy of fine management. Good leaders can get a lot accomplished in such somewhat time. This is what’s lacking within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I’m telling you, if solely leaders can actually resolve to be good leaders. I would like you to have my paper as a result of I produced my paper. I hope they are going to reproduce it.

I spent a whole lot of time on my part of my paper on this concern of management. Extremely essential. We take it frivolously in Nigeria.

But management is so essential, it’s so central. Nothing occurs with out management. And you individuals which might be listening right now, you belong to the category of the leaders.

Leaders are those who get issues transferring. Disconnect? No, it’s not a disconnect. It’s a failure of management.’’

The professor stated Nigerian leaders should perceive the wants of the individuals and develop the capability to translate their aspirations into tangible outcomes.

According to him, the nation’s growth challenges can’t be addressed with out leaders who perceive their duties and possess the mandatory expertise to ship on their mandates.

Gana, a famend scholar and former senator, stated competence and character had been among the many most essential qualities anticipated of anybody entrusted with management.

He criticised conditions the place elected officers spend a number of years in workplace with out producing significant outcomes for the individuals they had been elected to serve.

‘’Leaders should be competent. You are elected, you spend 2, 3, 4 years doing nothing. Some individuals even spend about 8 years.

Oh, I shouldn’t go there. But it’s actual. At the tip of it, there’s nothing to see.

I’m not campaigning. Because you realize, I’m 80, 81 now. I’m going away.

I’m not campaigning. You individuals ask me to return, and once I come, I wish to converse my thoughts. Can I’m going on? Leaders should be competent.

Competence or the sheer capability to get issues accomplished. For God’s sake. If you’re a chief, you’ve gotten the capability to show concepts into motion.

Not simply going round doing nothing.’’

He additionally warned in opposition to inserting individuals in positions of authority solely due to their monetary sources, insisting that character should stay a significant consideration within the number of leaders.

According to him, the declining emphasis on integrity has contributed to governance challenges and weakened the nation’s means to attain significant growth.

‘’You should even have character. I heard this factor with Petron speaking about character.

Character is so essential. And right here, I outlined it a lot as a result of I like character. Character is so essential, so profound.

And in our communities, you realize, individuals, they prepare us to be women and men of character. As far as they’re involved, they admire character greater than different issues. But we’ve not turned it round.

So that folks with out character, as a result of they’ve cash, they’re main. That is incorrect. Extremely incorrect.

And they offer a whole lot of severe issues. You can not carry out. It is extraordinarily essential.’’

The former minister additional emphasised the significance of knowledge in management, explaining that leaders should be able to figuring out and appointing competent people to assist them obtain their goals.

He stated poor selections in deciding on individuals for public workplace may undermine governance and waste alternatives to rebuild the nation.

The former minister referred to as for a value-based management mannequin that prioritises good governance, accountability, transparency and repair supply.

He stated such a mannequin would strengthen the rule of regulation, promote peace and safety, deal with corruption, enhance productiveness, create wealth and scale back poverty.

‘’So, on this paper, I’m urging for a value-based management excellence in Nigeria. This form of management excellence, I wish to summarise analysis has proven, I reveal, that this value-based mannequin of management promotes good governance, ensures the rule of regulation, insists on sustaining peace and safety, it emphasises transparency in due course of, insists on accountability, tackles corruption firmly, elevates excellence in service supply, facilitates productiveness to create wealth, reduces poverty, and delivers growth.’’

Gana additionally referred to as for a reassessment of Nigeria’s understanding of growth, arguing that growth shouldn’t be measured solely by modernisation, financial progress or the amount of infrastructure initiatives undertaken.

He maintained that real growth should contain transformation, significantly the power to provide items and providers domestically.

‘’And now, I additionally emphasise in my paper, I’m rethinking in nation constructing, we now have to rethink what’s the which means of growth.

For me, growth isn’t just doing fashionable issues. It’s not modernisation. No, that’s not growth.

It’s not even financial progress. It’s not the form of issues we predict is that this. That’s why we’re simply losing time, borrowing cash right here, borrowing cash there.

That isn’t growth. Development is transformation.’’

He defined that transformation required constructing the technological capability to fabricate items, present providers and utilise native sources to strengthen the economic system.

To illustrate the significance of productive capability, Gana cited Malaysia’s palm oil business for example of how international locations may remodel their agricultural sources into main sources of income.

He recalled visiting Malaysia whereas serving as chairman of the Mass Mobilisation for Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), the place he noticed intensive plantations of palm produce and rubber timber.

According to him, the similarities between Nigeria’s atmosphere and Malaysia’s made the nation’s agricultural achievements significantly instructive.

‘’When I used to be chairman of MAMSA, I went to Malaysia. And I noticed Malaysia, one thing, an atmosphere that’s just like us. And what I noticed, I used to be taken out.

And I noticed, you realize, rows and hectares and hectares and hectares of palm produce and rubber timber. But I stated this atmosphere is rather like our personal. Why can’t we do that? They stated, sure.

In truth, we got here to choose the seedlings from Nigeria manner again in 1957. I stated, you probably did? He stated, yeah.’’

Gana stated Malaysia established the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) to help agricultural growth, including that the nation had demonstrated the financial potential of investing in palm oil manufacturing.

He recalled that the Nigerian authorities subsequently established the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) following a memorandum he submitted to former army President Ibrahim Babangida.

However, he lamented that the programme was discontinued after some years, regardless of its potential to spice up agricultural manufacturing and generate income.

‘’And in Malaysia, they created the Federal Land Development Authority, FEDA. You can see it for hectares. And if you happen to suppose it’s a quite simple factor, imagine you me, the cash they make from sale of palm oil, the straightforward palm oil to the world now’s $24 billion final 12 months. $24 billion.

How a lot is our oil? How a lot is our oil? 8, 12 billion, I don’t know. This is all simply from oil. Not oil and fuel that we promote.

Just palm oil. Selling to the world. $24 billion.’’

He stated Nigeria may generate considerably extra income from palm oil if it invested adequately in agricultural growth and allowed establishments corresponding to NALDA to function successfully.

‘’And I’m telling you, in case you have NALDA in Nigeria, if you happen to’re allowed to work, we received’t be doing it as a result of Nigeria is huge, greater than Malaysia. They’re doing 24 billion. Maybe we ought to be doing 40, 60 billion.

Just from palm oil alone.’’

Gana urged the federal government to prioritise agricultural manufacturing, strengthen related establishments and create an atmosphere that might allow native industries to thrive.

The former minister additionally recognized Nigeria’s massive inhabitants as a significant financial benefit that would help industrialisation and home manufacturing.

He stated the nation’s market measurement supplied alternatives for companies and industries to broaden, supplied the federal government adopted insurance policies that inspired native manufacturing and productive funding.

‘’My associates, lastly, if you wish to rethink and construct business, it’s a must to be daring. You know Nigeria, we’re 200 million plus.

We have the largest market in Africa. It’s a leverage. We have the largest market.’’He stated.

Gana is a Nigerian professor, political scientist and statesman who served as a senator within the Second Republic and held a number of ministerial positions, together with Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Minister of Information and Culture, Minister of Cooperation and Integration in Africa, and Minister of Information and National Orientation.

He additionally served as chairman of MAMSER beneath the administration of former army President Ibrahim Babangida and as political adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He is broadly recognised for his contributions to Nigeria’s political growth and public service.