Former governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, has emphasized that the economic challenges facing Nigeria did not originate with President Bola Tinubu’s administration but have deep-rooted historical causes.
Speaking at the 2024 Akinjide Adeosun Foundation (AAF) Leadership Colloquium and Award in Lagos, Ambode urged Nigerians to understand the historical context of the country’s problems and emphasized the need for unity and courage to address them.
The colloquium, titled “Economic Asphyxiation – The Wisdom of Authentic Leaders,” provided Ambode with a platform to share insights into the nation’s economic struggles and the way forward.
According to him, President Tinubu, whom he described as a courageous leader, possesses the qualities needed to address Nigeria’s long-standing issues.
Ambode stressed the importance of Nigerians coming together for a common cause and refraining from engaging in blame games.
Ambode said: “It (challenges) has nothing to do with the singular person called Mr President; but if we don’t understand the fundamentals, we will start doing the blame games. We need to face our problems frontally.
“The major issue is that we are even tired of not fixing our issues. Now, we have found somebody that has decided in person of President Tinubu.
“Until we decide ourselves to say that we should unite for the common cause called Nigeria, the security issues will not go.
“We are all in a position to actually support Mr President, let us start to look at it from a different prism.
“We don’t have to wake up in the morning and be talking ill of Nigeria. We get what we profess about Nigeria.
“We must think out of the box. We have to feed ourselves. When we start to think by ourselves and today we will resolve the issues concerning Nigeria, we will smile.”
He said no matter how weak the followers are, Nigerian leaders must stand in front and continually show confidence that tomorrow would be all right.
“You must stand in front and show them that you are in the challenge with them. You must show them empathy,” he said.
“It (authentic leadership) is more about the emotional intelligence that actually understands the frustration of the followers, what is going on around them.
“The issue is, we cannot afford to play propaganda because something is bad but we keep saying that it is not bad.”
