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The Director General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, weekend, called for purposeful, people-centered and results-driven leadership.
True measure of leadership, he said, lies not in the authority an individual wields, but in the strength of the institutions they leave behind.
Professor Sulaiman made this assertion while delivering a keynote address titled : “Leadership in Practice, Making Decisions, Managing People and Delivering Results” at the International Leadership Summit held at the University of Brighton, United Kingdom, on 16 October 2026.
Addressing an international gathering of leaders, thinkers and change makers, he drew on more than three decades of experience spanning academia and public service to highlight the principles that distinguish effective leadership from the mere occupation of public office.
“Leadership is not the privilege of those who occupy high office; it is the discipline of those who accept responsibility for changing the trajectory of institutions and improving the lives of people. Titles confer authority, but only character, competence and vision confer leadership,” he declared.
He identified three enduring pillars of leadership in practice: making sound decisions, managing people with different expectations, and delivering measurable results.
He said contemporary institutions require leaders who can navigate uncertainty, cultivate human potential and translate vision into tangible public value.
Using NILDS as a practical case study, Professor Sulaiman demonstrated how deliberate leadership, institutional resolve and strategic execution can reposition public institutions for greater relevance and impact.
He recounted the institute’s evolution under his leadership, highlighting its expansion from four operational departments to thirteen professionalised departments, the establishment of new institutional centres and Democracy Radio, and the strengthening of its research, legislative drafting, academic and capacity-building functions.
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