Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Ogun State Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), David Otaru, has said bad leadership in the country will persist as long as Nigerians vote people who lack credibility into political offices.
Otaru, who noted that Nigeria is facing serious socio-political and economic challenges as a result of several unscrupulous leaders at the helm of its affairs, added that Nigerians must stop choosing their representatives without properly cross checking their backgrounds and antecedents.
The PFN chairman stated this at the sidelines of a one-day leadership capacity building conference, held at the weekend at the Deeper Life Camp, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
The conference, organised by the Ogun PFN for its members with the theme, ‘Overflowing Grace’, had in attendance the state Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, House of Assembly Speaker, Kunle Oluomo, Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) Chairman, Tunde Akin-Akinsanya, PFN National Vice President, South West, Reuben Olu Oke and Femi Emmanuel, who was the guest speaker.
Otaru said credible people with good track records need to be put at the helm of affairs for the country to get over its leadership challenges.
“Everything rises and falls with leadership – the first, second and third problems of Nigeria is leadership. When we get it right with leadership, we will get it right in everything. The solution to leadership problem is to vote for the right person, credible people, because nobody emerges without the followers. Let’s look for those that have been tested in their family and community before they are showcased to the nation,” the cleric said.
On the conference, Otaru explained that leaders of churches in the state must be trained in leadership to equip them with the right values, which will be further inculcated in members, who, according to him, are potential leaders in their respective endeavours, submitting, “you can’t blame them if you don’t train them.”
“This leadership programme is to address some salient issues, not just in the secular world, but among men of God. Leadership permeates all strata of human endeavours, so we are trying to get it right even from the church,” he said.