Proactive leadership: A necessity in recession

It was Peter Drucker, the management guru, who observed several years ago, that most men are underprepared for the second half of life, and that there is no tertiary institution to equip them for it.

With some level of research, I am yet to find a university where politicians are taught how to prepare for the second half of their tenure in public office, so that they can fulfil promises made to the electorate during political rallies. For President Buhari to regain his popularity in the eyes of Nigerians, he needs to “dream dreams” as to where he wants Nigeria to be by May 2019.

Leadership, vision and change are inexorably linked in governance. I have always suggested whenever the opportunity presents itself that it is not good for leaders to be overeducated in management and undereducated in leadership. The reason is that where management stops, leadership takes over. What stands out in leadership are the determination and creativity which leaders bring to bear in solving national problems.

By the time Buhari was sworn in as the President on 29 May 2015, I thought he would have begun his work with the end of his tenure in mind. I could not agree more with scholars who say that it is a terrible thing for an individual to see but have no vision.

The vision of a leader has positive consequences in governance provided relevant people are aligned behind his or her strategies. When a leader has no vision, there are negative consequences for a nation. If you know any political office holder who was successful while in office, it was the power of such leader’s vision that kept him or her going.

Nigerian leaders cannot govern reactively in recession; they must be proactive. The Buhari-led government has spent more than 18 months in office, but the nation’s economy is in recession. If President Buhari had been proactive bearing in mind the low price of oil in the international market, may be the nation’s economy wouldn’t have been in recession. You may argue that the treasury was empty when President Buhari was sworn in. So, is that the reason why he reactively crafted the proposed Emergency Economic Stabilization Bill 2016?

The proposed bill, which according to some critics, was to secure emergency powers to address the nation’s economic crisis hit a brick wall. Most federal lawmakers kicked against it saying, “it would turn Buhari into a tyrant.” The next reactive measure to our economic tsunami is a proposed bill to obtain US$ 30 billion loan from foreign creditors. Often, loans taken by the federal government in the past has only spread poverty, not prosperity. Meanwhile, the Senate has disapproved all proposals forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration.

A prolonged economic recession is not desirable because firms are laying off their staff in thousands and they are folding up. A recently published United Nations report on Nigeria’s Common Country Analysis shows that youth unemployment is about 42 percent in 2016. This is considered very high. Even the Vice President, Yemi Oshibajo sometime disclosed that about 110 million Nigerians are living in poverty, stressing that two-tenth of the figure were in extreme poverty. With these figures, Nigeria is regarded as one of the poorest countries in the world. Nigeria cannot continue with this lacklustre credential as “a rich nation, but poor people.”

When some eminent Nigerians advised subtly that “President Buhari must change his strategy or retrace some of his steps or stand the risk of ending up like former President Goodluck Jonathan,” some government officials were unhappy. I think the advice is timely and it needs to be taken seriously.

A good example to show that strategies are not aligned to policies and vision of leadership is the recent ranking of Nigeria by the World Bank on the ease of doing business. As I write, Nigeria occupies the 169th position out of 189 economies assessed in 2017 ranking, according to a recent World Bank report. The nation moved up only by one position from its 170th position in the 2016 ranking. It is due to the mismatch between policies and strategies of the federal government towards ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Have you heard what Vice President, Yemi Oshibajo, said about the current ease of doing business ranking? He says that Nigeria is in 169th position because “President Buhari administration’s various reform initiatives put in place towards instituting positive business environment is slowly but gradually yielding some dividends.” Doing business includes a gender dimension in the following areas: “starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property and access to credit.”

Regrettably, workers are laid off in formal and informal sectors of the economy. Yet, it seems the presidency is excited over the poor performance of the economy. Perhaps, that is why former President Olusegun Obasanjo is reported to have told government officials that “what you say you are doing is commendable; let us see the results. We have to ensure that doing business in Nigeria is easy. We have to make them (investors) come to Nigeria. We need to be able to register a company at a one-stop shop.”

If President Buhari is to take Nigeria out of economic recession, he needs to be proactive with a change in policies and strategies for growth. President Buhari must change some of his personal staff and cabinet members, particularly those whose baggage are very heavy because of allegations of corruption and ineptitude. The idea of leading Nigerians in the same direction as other leaders did in the past may not work in a recession.

What President Buhari needs to do now is to appoint those who will key into his vision. President Buhari should look for cabinet members with personal humility and professional will, to bail Nigeria out of this economic tsunami. Time is of essence in governance.