The GAMJI Club, an association for the preservation of legacies of late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, today declared that Nigeria is in dire need of capable and effective leadership that would tackle the multitudes of problems confronting it.

As the country inches towards the 2015 general elections, the club stresses that Nigeria requires a leader that would lead the war against insurgency and tackle the insecurity challenge within 60 days.

President-General of GAMJI in Kwara State, Dr. Abubakar Ibrahim stated this yesterday in Ilorin during the club's 2015 public lecture titled "Wither; The Sardauna Leadership Legacies?".

"Nigeria is now in dire need of good legacies for it to overcome its current social, political and economic crises", he restated.

Highlighting the leadership qualities Nigeria desires, Ibrahim said, "Such leader must possess moral authority and esteemed values of integrity, honesty and must be ready to undergo hardship and suffer deprivation on behalf of the poor masses.

"Such leader must be competent and sound in the art of managing diverse people and abundant resources and must properly understand his mandate as father of the nation, not as a son or daughter of Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw, Nupe or Ebira.

"Such leader must clearly know that Nigeria is a pluralistic society. He must be capable of bringing out a vision of what he wishes to achieve and have the requisite knowledge and experience about how to solve the mirage of problems currently bedeviling our nation. Such leader that must be ready to be fair to all and must be capable of managing crises as they arise".

He added, "In fact, Nigeria requires a leader that will end insurgency in sixty days. Leader that will lead the war against insurgency, leader that will recover our daughters from insurgents, that will diversify our economy.

"Leader that will end power problem, create industries in all state capitals to provide employment for teeming youths, leader that will restore security to all nooks and crannies of our nation, leader that will declare his personal properties and forfeit same, leader that will lead by example, leader that will be incorruptible, honest, trustworthy and accountable. This is our search in GAMJI".

The President disclosed that to address the leadership deficit, the Club would establish a GAMjI centre for leadership in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital where the visionary and exemplary leadership qualities of the late Premier of Northern region would be inculcated in the younger generation.

He recalled that Sardauna "in spite of wielding enormous power in First Republic", he was "a simple, upright and incorruptible man whose guiding principles in public services were honesty, public probity, accountability, efficiency, dedication and hard work".

"In the pursuit of these principles, he did not care whose ox was gored. In fact, after several years as Premier of Northern Nigeria, with a land size of about 56 per cent of the present day Nigeria and undoubtedly the most powerful man in Nigeria during his time, when he died exactly 49 years ago, he left virtually nothing except the two local mud houses in Sokoto town and Rabbah which he had built before becoming Premier", he said.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed who was represented by the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Alhaji Saka Onmimago, noted that the lecture would "explore the Sardauna's leadership legacies especially in the context of the country 's current search for transformative leadership.

"It is on record that the foundation for much of the development and unification of Northern Nigeria was laid by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello", he said, while advocating for the introduction of "combined leadership and entrepreneurial skill in school curriculum to catch the children young and prepare them for leadership role".

Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Zulu Gambari recalled that GAMJI was a nick-name given to Sardauna which symbolizes the greatness of the late nationalist.