
By Akombo Aondona, Abuja
The nation is poised to get a brand new President come 29 May, 2023 as President Muhammadu Buhari completes his eight-year tour of duty as Nigeria’s helmsman on that date.
But what kind of president would Nigerians want to see occupy Aso Rock in 2023? What areas of national development should the next Nigerian president pay attention to?
The Dream Daily Newspaper hit the street to prod prospective voters and they bared their minds on this weighty matter.
A Senior Lecturer at the Innovative College of Education, New Karu, Karu, Local Government, Nassarawa state, Dr. Frank, O. Ebiedelu said “the incoming president should be God-fearing. Once we have a God-fearing president everything will take proper shape. He must think properly and preside in a way that will benefit the masses. As a true leader, he must be selfless, accountable and be a servant to the people and not being authoritarian. The president must be skillful, in human resource management. He should have an excellent knowledge of our diversity as a nation and treat everyone equally irrespective of party, tribe and religion affiliations.”
A Business Consultant and Advertising Executive in Minna, Niger State, Mrs. Oly-Onwukwe, Ngozi Francisca said the expected “the next Nigerian president to have good leadership qualities like being creative, someone with sound communication skills with social influence. In fact, the next president should be transparent and emotionally intelligent to be able to preside over our diverse populace.”
A respondent in Jikwoyi, Abuja who simply gave her name as Patience stated that “the next Nigerian president should improve our state of infrastructure. There should be construction of good roads to our local communities. On the social front, the next president should create employment opportunities for the unemployed. In addition, there should be adequate supply of portable water and drastic reduction in the cost of living in the country.”
Similarly, Mr. Ajiboye, Gbemisoye, secretary of a market association in Abuja, said “the next president of Nigeria must be a good leader. He should be open to new ideas, possibilities and perspectives and understanding that there is no “right” way to do things. He should know that success comes with the willingness to change how things are done. He should bring in fresh eggheads to inspire new ideas in addition thinking outside the box as much as possible. He must be able to listen, observe and be willing to change course when necessary.”
Also, Mr. Ornguga Joseph who spoke in Lekki, Lagos said “the next president of Nigeria should be a good leader and not a boss. That person should also be healthy. Our president should be a patriotic citizen and a very good negotiator. Our president should be well experienced in government policies. He should love and promote quality education. This is where most of the Nigerian problem originates. Universities are producing more illiterates every day. I can elaborate more on this. He should value human lives hence security of lives and properties should be of great importance to him. He should embrace technology because without technology we cannot actualise modern development. Most importantly, he should be patriotic and believe in a great Nigeria.”
In the same vein, President, Aso Pada Youths Development Association, Karu.Nasarwa State, Shamu John, said: “The next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must be a citizen of Nigeria by birth and his historical biography must be traced and confirmed, not a foreigner who has no lineage in my beloved country. He must be an HND holder or its equivalent and not a school certificate holder, which must be traced and confirmed.
“He must not be a leader imposed on citizen by any cabal through godfatherism who turns out to be dictator. The next Nigerian president must have conscience and be convinced of his decision and be elected by responsible people on free, fair and credible grounds. He must have a good family background, listening ears. He must have the ability to lead others with a high sense of responsibility, inspire and motivate others, set good examples for others to follow. He must be able to respond to issues and situations appropriately, free of corruption from the heart and keep to the rule of law and not place himself above the law.
“The next president must be conscious that he’s not there to rule for party interest but in the interest of the citizen of this country. He must also have good programmes for the good youths, knowing fully well that youth are the leaders of today, no longer tomorrow because tomorrow never comes. He must not be bias in all ramifications and he must work as Nigerian president, not a sectional or ethnic president.”
In the opinion of a former Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Karu, Nasarawa state, Chief Allahyayi, Makema, the next president “should be someone who can take us to a better level. The next president should have good economic knowledge to utilise the rich human and natural resources we have in the country and redistribute them accordingly so that people will be gainfully employed. This can help to check the insecurity in the country. He must be someone who has the love of the people at heart. He must provide water, hospital, electricity, roads and employment.
A civil servant in Abuja, Unom Samuel Shiaondo, said “the next president should have the spirit of team-work. Let him assemble his team according to their trained fields. He should be someone with a sound knowledge of the economy. The next president should provide loan facilities to farmers to boast agriculture production, provide shelter, roads, water, hospitals and fund education.”
An Abuja resident, Mr. Kpega James “prayed that God should give us an honest person as the next Nigerian president who will consider the less-privileged in the society. He should have in-depth economic knowhow to drive our economy. Let the next president set up price control agency to ensure that commodities are bought and sold at affordable rate. Above all let him be accountable to Nigerians.”
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