Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on those in leadership positions to equip themselves with the knowledge of economics if they want to succeed. Obasanjo made this known on Tuesday at the 15th annual leadership symposium put together by the Center for Values in Leadership (CVL) in Lagos.
The former president said, though, Nigeria had scored good marks in some areas, more still needed to be done by those in power. “The three ingredients of success are leadership, governance and development. Leaders should understand the world we live in; they should not live their lives in ignorance of what is happening around them,” he said.
“Any leader that wants to be successful must have a good knowledge of the economy but some of our leaders do not even understand demand and supply, which is the most basic aspect of economics. In Nigeria, we are not there yet, but, we would be deceiving ourselves if we do not speak home truths.
“What are these home truths? The first is that diversity must be acknowledged and be appreciated. We should make diversity an asset and not a liability.
“The second is infrastructure and the basis of our development must be adequate provision of infrastructure. We should also be able to transition peacefully from one government to the other or one party to the other. We must transition to a popular movement and give the people the feeling that power is in their hands.”
