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“We will lay emphasis on transparency and accountable governance, people-centred leadership, clear feedback mechanism, shared responsibility, data-driven policies and the boldness to access opportunities, deliver on promises and show confidence and competence to attract investors into the state.” – Frank Nweke Jnr., in ‘A New Type of Leadership’
Each time I read Frank Nweke, the governorship hopeful of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Enugu State, I feel that the full potential of his mind has not been fully explored, not by Nigeria and not by Igboland. But now there is a yawning opportunity for the people of Enugu State to give to Igboland a star that would shine forth to bring joy and spread happiness by dedicatedly replicating the leadership ideals of Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara, the only leader, so far, who was able to demonstrate selflessness in transformational leadership of the South-East region. Interestingly, Okpara operated from Enugu State, which Nweke frankly aspires to lead. Nweke’s aspiration is propelled by the desire to work for the people, wipe the tears of past governmental failures and change the trajectory of Enugu’s growth story.
Okpara delivered for the South-East a sense of pride. Okpara led the old Eastern Region transparently and remained accountable to the people till the end. His was a people-centric leadership, which made him deliver on numerous projects that changed the development narrative of the region while taking and keeping nothing for himself.
Though those ideals were lost in the process of arriving at today, Nweke boasts of the capacity to redraw the map and espouse a leadership that will transformationally deliver a new Enugu State that would be the real capital of the South-East while remaining deeply accountable to the people. He promises an open government that will let the people have a say in how they are governed as well as listen when they speak.
He desires to land Enugu on the map of the fastest developing states in Nigeria by using data to plot the graph of deliverables that would help the people achieve their goals. He wants an Enugu, which will be a true representation of the Igbo ideals of hard work, entrepreneurship, justice and equity. Simply put, Nweke aspires to lead the way for a new Enugu that will guarantee the youths a voice in government as well as provide opportunities for them to explore their true potential in all fields of endeavour.
Thankfully, Nweke is frankly Obidient! For those in the Obidient school, it is about a paradigm shift, a departure from what now seems like tradition; a focus on competence, capacity, and know-how. It is about humility. It is about being affable, about being honest and expressing what Dutch Catholic priest, existentialist psychologist and founder of the Institute of Formative Spirituality at Duquesne University, Rev. Fr. Adrian Van Kaam, calls “gentility of spirit”. It is also about embracing technology – one of Nweke’s favourite hobbies, and attracting foreign investment into Enugu State through exporting and marketing leadership competence and honesty. Get the facts right, Enugu is naturally blessed. It also boasts some of the best minds and hands in the IT world. It ought to be an investor’s paradise, but poor leadership insight and shortsightedness have laid it out as desolate, poor and insecure.
To attract the needed investment and grow a state, three ideals are very important. They are meritocracy, pragmatism and honesty. It is called the MPH of leadership. Reading Nweke, one understands his focus on merit-based leadership. This simply means putting square pegs in square holes. Not taking advantage of office/power to install kith and kin in positions and tasks they lack the capacity and competence to drive. According to Nweke, pragmatism speaks to the thoughts of Deng Xiaoping, a former Chinese leader who said it does not matter that the cat is black or white so long as it catches rats. Simply put, the cat has to do its job irrespective of its colour. It is about getting the job done.
This speaks to leadership competence. Finally, he promotes leadership honesty. Many believe that this is the most difficult aspect of leadership because, challenged by what is available to a governor, some will fail. However, for Nweke, the leadership of a state is not an opportunity to make up for previous deprivations or elevate the financial status of friends and associates. No, it is about creating and delivering value for a greater number of the population.
Investors in the Enugu State’s economy would love to see a government of competent minds who understand the implications of growing investments. They would love to see honest leadership whose word is bond, bonds that aim to deliver positive outcomes for the greater percentage of the population. Serious-minded investors bring in their money because they have established trust in a government. Such trust is built on the background of merit, pragmatism and honesty. Nothing else! When you look at states that have failed to attract investments, foreign and domestic, you will find evidence of government by family, by the incompetent, by the dishonest, and by the incapable. Sadly, the South-East seems to have suffered this most.
Interestingly, Nweke has had the best of time in leadership skills development. With tutelage under President Olusegun Obasanjo as minister over three ministries (Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs, Special Duties and Youth Development; Minister of Information and National Orientation; and Minister of Information and Communications), he returned to school at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a second master’s degree in Public Administration with a certificate in Strategic Management. He is one of the few to go back to school after exposure to political power. His first master’s was from the University of Maiduguri, while his first degree was in Zoology. It was earned at the Federal University of Technology, Yola. Nweke is an Edward S. Mason Fellow and an alumnus of the Aspen Institute, Colorado, USA.
As director-general of Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nweke ingrained himself in the operations of corporate Nigeria and successfully pushed for the adoption and incorporation of resolutions of Nigeria Economic Summits into policy documents for consideration and execution by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). It was a massive achievement for the NESG, which re-positioned it as Nigeria’s policy formulation powerhouse.
To be frank, Nweke is good enough to be burdened with the task of driving a new Enugu. The people of Enugu can’t be wrong with him. He is prepared. They also cannot be wrong with APGA where the cock crows to remind South-East people that it is time to eschew deliberate backwardness and begin to fix Igboland using the best hands around, like Frank.
