President and founder of Guardians of the Nation International, Mr. Linus Okorie, talks about how he plans to address the leadership deficit in Nigeria
What is GOTNI all about?
GOTNI is a leadership development organisation that was conceived about 16 years ago while I was in the university. I thought about how we could help provide leadership capital for Nigeria. I thought that the leadership failure of this country has cost us great shame, disgrace and all kinds of calamities that could have been avoided. Leadership deficit is in every sector of our society. It was in the view of trying to solve this problem that GOTNI came about. And since then, we've been in the business of providing leadership capital for the Nigerian state. You cannot give what you don't have, and if a nation does not start early to groom young people that would be responsible to take over the leadership of the future, it would always have the challenge of leadership.
We have over 40,000 young people who have gone through our various leadership development initiatives. We look forward to a time when, in this country, we would have quality people making decisions and more quality people penetrating the political landscape, business and social arena; having critical minds and great people who think a lot of integrity, vision. We are making such people available in this country.
You are planning a leadership conference to present 1000 young leaders. What is the motive behind this?
I just returned from a programme that was organised by the American government to understudy the leadership development processes of the country; to understand how the American system works and what has made America different. It is called International Visitors Leadership Programme, which was started in the 1930s. During the course of the programme, we visited over four states. It would interest you to know that we found leadership institutions that have been providing leadership development opportunities for more than 100 years. We saw different leadership programmes and organisations; we saw the rule of law at work; we saw the value for time in place. The American government invests a lot of resources in building the next generation of its leadership.
I came back from America with a new zeal like never before, with an extra commitment that the role that I'm going to play in this country, owing to my experience, is going to be better than what I have done before. I said, 'Wouldn't it be a nice experience for us to look for a thousand change agents?' One thousand young people from across states in Nigeria; across all sectors of the economy; across Nigerians in the Diaspora; is it possible that we find a thousand young people who love this country? One thousand young people who are committed to the transformation of Nigeria; a thousand young people that will become role models. We will unleash them at the conference, into the Nigerian space to help inspire younger people so that they will grow to become leaders with honour, vision and potentials.
I thought that the fastest way to get that done was to set up the Emerging Leaders Conference. The conference, at this point, will provide the opportunity for the 1000 outstanding young people to gather at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. Not just gathering but, to gather and listen to one of the greatest minds that the world has ever produced. We would have the opportunity to listen to Professor John Adair, the first professor of leadership in the world. He is the chairman of United Nations Leadership Systems and has written over 80 books. He is coming to Nigeria to impact on these young people. We would also be having Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, who is a keynote speaker at the event.
I believe that the conference would afford the Nigerian an opportunity to change the conversations going on in this country for the past couple of months.
Do you mean that Nigeria is yet to have the right leadership to move the country forward?
We have many rulers. We have a lot of people who occupy public offices, from the local governments, to the state and national assembly, and the business community as well. We have many rulers but we have only few leaders. The quality of leadership that is needed to transform our country is a leadership that is driven by vision and commitment. If you have a critical mass of the people, they will begin to think differently. Those who would say, "I am not interested in self anymore. I'm no longer pursuing self. I will use every opportunity given to me by God to serve humanity." Those kinds of leaders don't fall from the sky; they are not wished for, they are searched for. They are invested in. That was what Singapore did. Singapore, many years ago, was at par with Nigeria in terms of development and growth. But, Singaporeans took the best of their young people, in the midst of the fact that they did not have money but only had vision, and began to teach them the meaning of the common good, service, can-do-it spirit, innovation and a life of legacy.
A nation without oil has built up its human capital and became an army of sort; see what Singapore has become. Our nation with oil, with all of the greatest resources we have in our control, yet we are not making progress as we are supposed to make it. Why must we continue to complain every day? Why must we continue to point fingers at government? Why must we continue to say certain leaders have not done well, when we have not produced the right leadership? The conversation must change. Nigeria has the capacity to provide leadership for Africa. We have the capacity to make things happen but we have stayed at the realm of potential for too long that it has become very disappointing for me. I can no longer hold it, and that is why I want a push from the realm of potential to performance
I want a mental revolution that will inspire this country like never before, such that the next generation of leaders are exposed to the principles of leadership. In the nearest future, we'll see an influx of quality minds in the decision-making blocks. And when you begin to make that happen for a country, then the growth processes we're talking about will begin to happen.
If we begin to think in that line, the public resources will no longer go into few pockets. The public resources will begin to go into projects that can make Nigeria work. We must look at the timing and see that it is ripe for Nigeria to join other progressive nations and help our citizens come out of poverty. The moment you inspire young people, what you do is that you're creating people that will become solution providers within systems. If we have such happening in this country, it will 'revolutionalise' it.
How would you draw the line between leadership and the political class? When you talk of leadership, many think of public office holders.
My mentor, Dr. Myles Munroe, defined leadership as the ability to influence, motivate, inspire and move a group of people towards a particular direction by inspiration, not intimidation or manipulation. In that definition, leadership starts with somebody who decides to take responsibility to make a difference. For instance, if we have members of a new political class that are groomed with the understanding that public service is not for self but for the public; that the position they occupy is an opportunity to make a difference in the life of the people, we'll have a mass of people who seek political offices to serve.
And once people begin to follow him, he leads them to a direction. People see his life and they are inspired and encouraged. They'll see his personal sacrifice because he has said 'I'll not touch public money; it's not for my personal consumption.' At the end of the day, he's adding value to his community. We need that kind of leaders – good leaders and leaders for good. We need change agents, servants and transformational leaders like that. If you ask me, this is the greatest need of Nigeria right now. Nigeria has got money, resources and everything that it needs. What Nigeria needs is more of good leaders.
We also need a followership that can understand the conversation that is changing. We need a followership that is aware of what leadership is about. One of the prerequisites of leadership is the ability to follow. If you cannot follow, you cannot lead.
One of the best ways to achieve this is for every Nigerian to nominate someone that is under 40 years of age and making a difference to be part of the conference.
How can people participate in the conference?
Anybody that is interested in the conference should send their profile, curriculum vitae and a letter of intent to us through electronic mail – gotning@gmail.com. The selection committee will look at it and get back to the nominees. It is meant for every young person under 40 that is doing great things. At the end, either you're nominating yourself or somebody is nominating you, everybody will have a chance to be part of the conference. The deadline for the entries is June 2, 2013. After that, people will start to receive letters of invitation. The events hold on June 13 and 14, 2013, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
