FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has urged African leaders to abandon “transactional leadership” for visionary and service-oriented governance, stressing that the continent’s future depends on transformational leadership.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said Africa cannot achieve sustainable development under a system driven by “transactional leadership.”
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at the 2025 Innovate Africa Conference, where he delivered a keynote address titled “Reimagining Africa’s Leadership and Investment,” Wike attributed the continent’s underdevelopment to poor governance and self-serving politics.
“Africa today stands at a historic crossroads. On one hand, we are blessed with immense natural wealth, youthful energy, and creative potential; yet, we continue to grapple with weak institutions, infrastructural decay, poverty, and widespread unemployment,” he said.
Wike said the key to Africa’s progress lies in “visionary, accountable, and courageous leadership” that prioritises service and collective prosperity over personal gain. “The time has come to move beyond transactional leadership to embrace transformational governance that empowers rather than exploits, serves rather than rules, and builds rather than blames,” he stated.
Citing infrastructural renewal in Abuja as an example of what political will can achieve, Wike urged leaders to act with urgency and conviction. “History will not remember what we merely dreamed for Africa, but what we did for Africa,” he declared.