A lot has been said about those coming out for the office of the president, Federal Republic of Nigeria, which seems to be the main concern – of the coming general elections – for most citizens within and outside the shores of the nation as well as the international community at large. Who will be Nigeria’s next president? We all ask, but come to think of it, is it only the position of the president that will affect the desired change we expect? My answer is No; then why the apprehension?

Though we are not forgetting the import of the others to national development, we continue to seek support as we canvass for interest in the elections of the other tiers of government especially the grass root governance. We still cannot undermine the significance of it on our lives as an enclave in the nation; let us look at this in the light of what sums up our political existence as a nation.

An amazing change is sweeping through the nation and this is starting from the top echelon of Government, as the periscope of this, is the aspiration of those seeking the office of the president. Before now we use to see aspirants with military background come out to be elected, most of them with looted funds and daunting personality which is imposed on the populace; but the tide is changing fast, of all the aspirants now out, only Retired General Muhammadu Buhari has military background.

Gone are the days when one of the most admirable qualities of our leaders is their military background. Coming from years of military rule, even after the transition to civilian rule; leadership was still run in the form of military administration on civilian clothing with stringent political impunity back by undue hold on to power, we have long began a gradual cleanse of the mess left behind by the military which we had for decades.

Another one of the change is the academic background of those aspiring to be our president, which is a sharp contrast from the past, many of our past leaders or those contending had been academic pedestrians, and this to a large extend affected their leadership output. You cannot give what you don’t have is a common saying. There will be a big difference in the leadership of the nation when we have leaders with intellectual potency.

A lot is to be said of the decline in our Educational standard, I will argue that an intellectually grounded leader will always see Education as the light to success, and will do everything possible to pass it across; to him it is not just good both a must, such a leader will push it with passion and have it as a top priority.

Another stride is that majority of the present aspirants are middle age, we now hope for a leadership of the future, there is vibrancy in most of them, we are sure that they can give their best going through the rigors of leadership, being at their prime gives the right perspective to deliver a qualitative link between the old and young and gives the over a hundred million youth a sense of belonging; the polities and decision of the leadership will directly affect their generation and those after them.

We have seen religious tolerance in the new setup, we sincerely hope that we can build on this; we cannot ignore the need for us to work together going forward. Ethnic, cultural as well as social tolerance will also go a long way in stabilizing our national unity. Our strength is in our diversity.

A change of guard is eminent as we seek new ways to leadership, new ways of thinking, renewed national consciousness, and new ways of politicking, legislating and execution a lot is expected and this can only be brought about by a new generation, there is no need doing the same thing the same way and expect a different result. We do sincerely believe that we have a generation that is prepared and ready for the needed change.

It is time for us to come out and take our chance to change our destiny; we cannot continue to be passengers in the affairs of our future. Let us take our lives in our hands and deliver to our children living and unborn what we can defend. We have no excuse other than delivering the change we so desire.

Change is an action word in leadership!!!