Nigerians have been urged to develop a means of assessing the quality of aspiring leaders in a bid to rescue the nation from the brink of collapse.
Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Folusho Philips, made the call on Wednesday in a paper titled, 'The imperatives of an economic paradigm for Nigeria's transformation,' at the Silver Knights 2013 Annual May Day Lecture.
Philips said, "Nigeria is faced primarily with economic challenges, which the political leadership struggles to resolve. Our leadership quality is most acute in the political and economic arena. The method of choosing our political leadership at all levels is flawed.
"We have allowed leaders to emerge by default. Reluctant leaders have been put in power to manage the affairs of the most populous black nation in the world."
He said the need for proper evaluation of prospective leaders had become necessary considering the importance of politics and governance to national development.
"The responsibilities of political/economic leadership call for a much more thorough process. Politicians determine the state of our political, economic and social eco-system within which we try to manage our economic system. We must device achievement mechanism," the NESG boss said.
He added that when politicians indicated interest for public positions, they must show evidence of their experience and skills.
According to him, this will enable them to perform effectively when elected.
In setting standards, he said the people should consider the aspirants' level of education, pedigree, integrity and honesty.
"Of necessity are the level of education, strong and confident communication skills, experience in managing high level people, action orientation, team spirit, and capacity for hard work," he added.
Former Head of Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, stressed the need to address the cause of economic and political problems rather than seeking palliative measures.
"You have treated malaria; you have not treated the cause of malaria. We have not succeeded in treating the real issue," the ex-HOS said.
