By Stella Odueme
The winner of the 2024 Verbatim Magazine Governor of the Year Award, the Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr, Abdullahi Sule has said that accountability, transparency, honesty and sincerity of purpose are some of the hallmarks and virtues of quality leadership that can lead to the advancement and growth of a society and a nation.
“Well, leadership is all about problem solving. It’s about understanding your environment, understanding the solutions that the people need and being transparent, being accountable, having integrity and having a character that aligns with the wishes of the people. And in Nassarawa State, that’s all we did. We came in with an idea, with a focus, knowing what to do and collectively as a team, we have done that and the state is better than what we met,” he said on Thursday during the award night.
The Governor, who also delivered the 13th Anniversary and Award Lecture with the theme; ” Changing Times & Challenge of Leadership in Nigeria: Candid Views of An Uncommon Patriot” stressed that leadership is about problem solving and that leaders must understand the environment and the needs of the people and have character that aligns with the wishes of the people.
He spoke about even before he became governor, he had carried out the feasibility study of Nasarawa State to know the prospects, opportunities, and challenges in the state to guide him on how rule to bring development to his people.
“We identified the areas of our focus, area of education, agriculture, mining, and health.But more importantly, we established the instruments needed to drive the opportunities in Nassarawa State.
“We used the KPMG document to be able to come up with what we today call the Nasarawa Economic Development Strategy. So, I think a leader must know where he’s going. And that’s the reason why, knowing the prospects, the opportunities, the challenges in Nassarawa helped us to develop the Strategy. You need a team to follow and implement that strategy. You need some guidance and in developing the team, we came up with an agency that will drive investment into the state and Nassarawa, in all its sense of humility, is one of the richest states in Nigeria,” Governor stated.
He commented the management of Verbatim Magazine for keeping the flag flying in the past 13 years doing investigative journalism.
The Chairman of the occasion and Registrar of National Examination Council, NECO, Prof. Dantani Wushish
The Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Christopher Musa thanked the organiser for initiative, stressing that leadership has always been at the heart of national progress.
“Let me express my profound gratitude to the organizers, that is the editorial team of the Verbatim Magazine for this timely and insightful initiative.
“The challenges of leadership in Nigeria today are complex, requiring those in positions of authority to demonstrate resilience, adaptability and an unwavering commitment to the ideals of good governance, national security and economic transformation. I must say the Governor has shown the way. I’m not a politician but I agree and I need to point it out that he has been sincere in this lecture.
“As leaders, we must embrace innovative approaches, leverage technology and uphold principles of transparency and accountability to inspire confident among the peoples we serve. A critical aspect of leadership in changing times is ensuring national security.
Security is the bedrock of stability, development and economic growth. The Nigerian Armed Forces have remained steadfast in tackling the multiplicity of security challenges confronting our nation which range from insurgency and banditry to secessionist agitations and cyber security threats.”
The Governors of Katsina and Edo States were also honoured with awards among others awardees.
