The scientific theory of evolution describes the different stages of human evolution from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens. The evolutionary theorists recognize that early human evolved in a more revolutionary manner with the discovery of tools, through which he was able to hunt, farm and domesticate animals. In essence, man gained independence from nature the moment he was able to fabricate tools that allowed him to adapt in a more efficient way to his environment.

The concept of leadership like the theory of evolution has gone through several stages. It has moved from the pre-historic stage in which leadership attainment was by brawn, through the era of monarchical or natural rulers to what we have today where leadership attainment is guided by painstaking selection processes. Like the discovery of tools by early Homo sapiens, the ability to groom leaders in the shape and image desired has become a major determinant of how nations adapt to the challenges of nationhood.

Leadership grooming could be likened to farming where the farmer identifies healthy seeds or crops, set them up in a nursery, transplant the nursed seedlings to already prepared farmland, provide manure and water to nourish the young plants, protect them from pests and weeds until they mature, start fruiting and become ripe for harvesting, In agriculture, the plant, nurture and harvest cycle is a continuum. With better research and modernized farming techniques, the cropping cycle is now shorter resulting in better yields and cropping cycles. Like farming, leadership grooming starts from identifying potential leaders, educating them through formal and informal character molding institutions, exposing them early to minor leadership roles and allowing them to make errors from which they could gain leadership insights such that whenever they are eventually saddled with the responsibility of leading they would be sufficiently ready. It is a non-ending cycle. At all times, the production line remains active. This is the reason educational institutions like Eton College in the UK and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge were seen as institutions for training of future leaders in the United Kingdom. In the US, Ivy League schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton are notable for the training of leaders in business and the public service. In these institutions, the result of modern research is embedded into the grooming of new leaders thus producing better leaders with each grooming cycle.

So where do we train future leaders in Nigeria? Does the nation make any painstaking effort to groom future leaders? A peep into our past will reveal that secondary schools like Kings College, Igbobi College, Saint Gregory’s College in Lagos, CKC Onitsha, Barewa college, Kano and the first generation Universities in Nigeria were institutions of excellence where potential leaders undergo tutelage and horn their skills preparatory to assuming leadership positions. Unfortunately over the years, the capacity of these institutions to serve as production line for new leaders has been eroded due to neglect, rot and the negative consequences of our societal disequilibrium. In the absence of such centers of excellence in our nation most of our youths now acquire leadership grooming through membership of secret cult groups in run down educational institutions, ethnic militias, religious organizations, area fathers and of course the social media. Unlike the situation in other nations where the leadership training process undergoes continuing and never ending improvement, the situation in Nigeria is the reverse. It is for this reason that the fastest ladder to political leadership in our nation today is through membership of ‘confraternities’. Nature they say abhors a vacuum.

Is there a correlation between the quality of leadership offered by the political class and the selection process? The answer is Yes! It is a fact that most of the contemporary political leaders in Nigeria were thrown up by nature. Most neither obtained good leadership education nor possess leadership experiences. Some do not even have basic work experience. Compare the entry requirement for the job of Manager in a branch of a Bank with the qualification for the office of a Governor. Whereas the Bank would require a graduate degree from a University and at least ten years experience in a similar field, all that is required to be the governor of a State in Nigeria is a secondary school certificate. No work experience of any kind, no leadership experience, just the West African School Certificate and a Godfather! Little wonder governance remains perpetually at the pedestrian level across the length and breadth of the nation. Like the popular maxim…‘garbage in garbage out!’

Anyone who expresses surprise that life in Nigeria is not very far from Thomas Hobbes description of the state of nature must be coming from Mars. The fact is that our dear nation has been running on free gas since the white men left us. We depend on natural resources like crude oil for economic sustenance, we wait on God to rain on our farmlands and look up to nature for leadership selection. Ours is a nation of freeloaders. We operate like the fish that floats on water. Unfortunately whereas a dead fish can float down a river, only the living ones can defy the current.

If we hope to rise beyond the state of nature, we must defy nature and make deliberate attempt to direct the course of our destiny. The best place to start is from our educational institutions. Our Government must deliberately set aside funds to create new centers of educational excellence not the private schools that the children of our leaders attend where British curriculum is taught to the neglect of our history and culture, but institutions that would be opened to all Nigerians irrespective of their social or economic background. Institutions that would identify the best-in-class and nurture them towards areas of national need, such as Technology, Science, Economics and Leadership. With deliberate nurturing, our nation will create a pipeline of champions in all areas of national need. Rather than waiting for the price of crude oil to determine our economic fate, we will be in a position to drive our nation to excellence using our deliberately nurtured champions as catalysts.

We must realize that nations attain greatness through deliberate planning and not through forces of nature. The foray of Russia and USA into space in the 1960s was through deliberate planning. That Brazil earns more foreign exchange from its soccer exports than Nigeria earns from crude oil is the outcome of deliberate talent development. Notwithstanding its distance from the USA the emergence of the Bangalore region in India as an outsourcing destination for American IT companies was the outcome of a well conceived IT development program. Mauritius, a small nation not so far from us has a ‘Young Leaders grooming Program’ (GMYLP) that ‘offers an unparalleled opportunity to young Mauritian leaders to grow their networks, interact with and or be mentored by top leaders in public/private sector and the community and strengthen their leadership through unique capacity building programs’. What is in us that abhors planning?

As a nation we need to start setting standards for leadership attainment by way of benchmarking the performance of our leaders against the best-in-class from other nations. If we as citizens set higher standards of expectations, the political class would be forced to raise the entry bar for political leadership. It is only through benchmarking and constant demand for higher standards of governance that the political leaders would have no option but to look beyond their kitchen cabinet of ‘yes boys’ when selecting members of the governance teams or those to be saddled with important leadership responsibilities. It is only then that meritocracy would take firm root within our political space.

As much as we blame political leaders for our leadership deficiencies, the fact remains that all of us are culpable. It is foolhardy to plant tomatoes and expect to reap potatoes. The grooming of leaders is a process that starts at the family level therefore every family unit has a role to play in grooming their children and wards to be future leaders. The failure being exhibited today is the display of the failures of individual families in the past. How do we as individuals and family units raise our children? Do we raise them to be responsible and selfless? To respect societal values or to win at all cost? Do we teach empathy or encourage our children to be bullies? Do we teach ‘win at all cost’ like Jose Mourinho or ‘winning is good but not at the cost of our values’ like Arsene Wenger? Are we good role models for our children by our values, conduct and respect for others? Do we ever consider the impact of ‘home training’ on how our leaders turn out to be or blame our failures on the usual suspect? Enough of that folks! Backwardness is not in our genes but embedded in the failure of our character.

Since the root of character is planted in children from the socializing unit, no society can divorce itself from the character deficiency of its offspring. That most of our leaders are ruthless in their embrace of graft is a product of the survival instinct imparted into them as children by parents and the environment in which they are raised. Therefore we must appreciate that leadership is anchored on solid ‘home training’ while the education offered by government is nothing but a finishing school. On this account every citizen should contribute to the leadership grooming process by deliberately sowing seeds of leadership in their children, wards, colleagues, subordinates and acquaintances, through honesty, diligence, hard work and commitment to the unity of the nation. All aspect of daily activities should be seen as opportunities to teach, groom, learn and impact positively on others. As our democratic process evolves, the citizens should not abandon the political field to the professional politicians whose hold on national political leadership is the outcome of the ‘sidon look’ attitude of majority of the elites. If we want our nation to make progress, all citizens of goodwill must take positions within the political space to guide the vulnerable citizens who are led to making wrong choices on account of their economic vulnerabilities. It is only when we are involved in the political process that we can join others to incubate and birth the right leadership for our nation.