Former military president of Nigeria, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has called on Nigeria’s youth to take the initiative and lead the nation out of the woods.
The former military Head of State spoke to Leadership Scorecard’s team, led by it’s publisher Humphrey Onyima on a courtesy visit to the hilltop in Minna, Niger State, for the award presentation as a “Leadership Icon in Africa.”
Responding to the award, General Babangida stated that “older Nigerians must give way for the young ones to take over.”
He emphasised that the youth, with their passion and zeal, can propel the country on the path of development.
Babangida, Nigeria’s eighth head of state, was in office from 1985 to 1993.
“The older generation must give way for the new one,” he reiterated when the Leadership Scorecard team visited him at his residence in Minna, Niger state, on Friday.
“We have become analogue, but this is a digital age; so the young people should be supported to use their digital knowledge to move the country forward.”
He highlighted that by being adventurous and bringing fresh ideas to the table, young people across the world have steered their countries to greater heights.
Babangida noted that leaders like Yakubu Gowon and others, who ruled Nigeria at a young age, left positive strides behind.
Babangida has consistently advocated for a generational shift in the nation’s leadership.
“We need to deliberately provoke systems and models that will put an end to this recycling leadership experimentation and embrace a new generational leadership evolution with the essential attributes of responsive, responsible, and proactive leadership to confront the several challenges that we presently face,” he said.
After departing from General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s residence, where they celebrated his 82nd birthday, Onyima and his team proceeded to Babangida’s residence. They presented the Leadership Scorecard’s “African Icon Award” to the former military president, an award that was originally meant to be presented at the recently concluded Leadership Scorecard Public Lecture held in honour of His Excellency, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar GCFR.
Onyima described Babangida as a “national enigma, a colossus of knowledge and leadership capacity whose contributions to the development of national infrastructures and various government institutions, as well as human capital development in Nigeria, can never be overemphasised.”
He noted that Babangida, as a military president, realised the vision of Abuja as the Federal Capital City by providing its most vital infrastructures and moving the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja in 1991, among many other achievements.
Also in attendance during the Leadership Scorecard’s courtesy visit to the hilltop was Babangida’s eldest son, Alh. Mohammed Babangida.
