The future of leadership is in the private sector thus captains of industry and entrepreneurs in general should be encouraged to take up strategic roles in the leadership of the country, the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China has said.

Mr. China said this at the weekend shortly after being inducted as a Fellow of the Global Institute of Leadership and Governance, and winning the award of ‘Icon of Hope and Societal Advancement 2023’ in Warri, Delta State.

The event, which was the 9th Oil City Advancement Awards and Summit 2023, with the theme: “Sustainable Development is Everyone’s Responsibility”, was organized by Mayorkings Agency Group led by its founder and President, Dr Temisan Louis, attracted top leaders in the private sector.

Mr. China, a real estate success strategist, noted that the track records of the conveners were valuable enough for him and his partners, stating that he felt honoured and challenged because whatever people like him were doing is being recognized.

“Today’s award is very important because it is going to encourage those making valuable contributions to do more. Many have lost hope in trying to build a sustainable society but I tell you the future is in the hands of private sector leaders.

“The private sector will be leading the charge of impact. I am really impressed with the due diligence process by the organization especially how they selected the police officer for an award. It is very exciting.”

He reiterated his commitment to scale up the scheme to national level, noting that “the fellowship into which I have just been inducted shows that individuals have the future of leadership in Nigeria”.

He said the impression that governance and leadership were only relevant at political levels was wrong because it is even more urgent and important at private levels such as homes, churches, communities, companies and firms.

My-ACE China, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Housing & Construction Mayor Limited,  further stated that the business environment remains the incubating centres for nurturing leadership and governance principles from which he said political leaders eventually emerge.

Earlier, the Founder and President of Mayorkings Agency Group, Dr Temisan Louis said the scheme was set up to encourage people in the Niger Delta to achieve things, stressing that “we want to encourage and motivate others to do what these few fellows are doing”.

He said that the Mayor of Housing has become a household name in the oil-rich region for offering solutions to the housing deficit in Africa through his social housing initiatives, pointing out that the Housing entrepreneur has created massive value in upper and lower rungs of the estate and property subsector of the Nigerian economy.

According to him, Mr. China has designed world-class apartments that have swimming pools at the top and smart apartments that can be controlled from anywhere in the world, and also found ways of using social funding to develop high class houses with very low funding mechanisms.

In various chats with Kristina Reports, some of the participants said the Niger Delta has managed to export an image of violence and destruction as if there were no achievers and peacebuilders who have worked to make the region thrive in positivity.

Several of them expressed the expectation that the annual awards would counter negative narratives by highlighting positive characters in the region that have stood out for creating good results.