From Ifeoma Ejiofor
The former Minister of Aviation and Chancellor of the Athena Centre, Chief Osita Chidoka, delivered a keynote address that captivated Rotary International District 9142’s “Irresistible DisCon 2025.”
Speaking on the theme “You Cannot Give What You Don’t Have: The Imperative of Transformational Leadership in Africa,” Chidoka issued a clarion call for fundamentally reimagining African leadership and governance.
“Across Africa, we suffer not just from poor governance but from a failure of leadership formation. We keep expecting transformational outcomes from individuals shaped by broken systems.
“But how can they offer equity when they were raised on exclusion? How can they deliver fairness when their rise comes through favours? How can they pursue the public good when loyalty is owed not to the people but to power?” Chidoka noted.
The former Aviation Minister while tracing Africa’s governance crisis to its colonial roots, noted: “We inherited from colonialism the machinery of domination, a state designed to extract, not to serve, and too often, we merely repainted its surface without rebuilding its soul.”
He argued that Africa stands at a crossroads, pursuing development through material symbols – highways, skyscrapers, oil refineries, while neglecting society’s moral and institutional foundations.
“We have built states without societies, governments without guardianship, economies without embracing inclusion, and cities without citizens,” he asserted.
As a way out of what he called foundational crisis, Chidoka introduced the FCC Vision, a framework built on the trinity of Family, Community, and Country:
“A strong family raises a principled citizen. A strong community nurtures and tests that citizen. A just country gives them the platform to lead. Transformation does not begin at the top, it begins at the dinner table.” he concluded.
Chidoka’s words resonated deeply with the audience of Rotarians from seven states under District 9142 which in an unprecedented gesture, unanimously voted to induct Chief Chidoka as a Rotarian on the spot.
District Governor, Prof. A U Nnonyelu, remarked: “Today, we witnessed the embodiment of our creed – Service Above Self. Osita Chidoka has not only spoken truth to power, but he has also spoken power to service. His induction is not honorary but a historic call to service.”