Africa Short of ‘true Leaders’ – Prof Alabi

Retired Rector of the University of Professional Studies Accra, Professor Joshua Alabi has advised the youth in the country to adhere to their dreams and never be afraid to climb higher heights.

Professor Alabi, speaking at a program organised by the Young Leaders Ghana (YLG) as part of the maiden ‘Legacy Lecture Series’, said many of African youth think leadership is about power or personal gains.

This, he said explains, why there is always scramble among one another for power.

“I believe our leaders aren’t good enough…,” he said

Too many of us think leadership is about power or possession, so we fight and scramble each other and the end we can’t make the needed impact after the gain of power. Money or influence doesn’t make on a leader. It isn’t about power…,” he said.

“Africa has the natural resources but remains the poorest. About 33 of the fifty world poorest countries come from Africa. Why should a continent so big with rich resources be poor…?” he queried.

Leadership, he continued, is about self-awareness, ability to overcome challenges, developing competence, increasing productivity, drive and focus, and more importantly creating positive values to help followers and the nation as a whole but not a family.

He added that the youth should pay heed to wisdom and understanding to be able to make rightful decisions than following the negative influence of others even when they’re not required.

Accountability, transparency and personal leadership he claimed are life keys hence one can’t move further in life as a leader without enforcing them.

“Accountability, transparency and personal leadership are life keys. If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead anyone. As a leader, you create values for yourself, others and not your family alone….”

“Our youth must be positive and realistic to set bigger goals to move the nation and continent forward. No dream is too big to achieve yet be realistic…,” he asserted

Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.