Adedeji challenges leaders to rethink power, control, trust

Nigeria’s ambitious overhaul of its revenue architecture will rise or fall not on policy frameworks or digital systems, but on leadership mindset, according to the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji. Speaking at the 2026 NRS Leadership Retreat, Adedeji shifted attention away from strategy documents and institutional charts, arguing instead that the […]

Nigeria’s ambitious overhaul of its revenue architecture will rise or fall not on policy frameworks or digital systems, but on leadership mindset, according to the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji.

Speaking at the 2026 NRS Leadership Retreat, Adedeji shifted attention away from strategy documents and institutional charts, arguing instead that the success of the newly created agency depends on whether its leaders are prepared to confront their own internal limitations.

“The creation of the NRS represents a clean break from the past,” he told senior management, stressing that the transition “will not be secured by résumés, hierarchies, or institutional memory”, but by leaders’ willingness to adapt and stretch beyond familiar habits.

Adedeji challenged executives to “suspend the comfort of familiarity”, warning that titles, tenure and inherited methods of operation could not serve as reliable anchors in a rapidly evolving institutional landscape. “What worked in the past, no matter how successful, will not be sufficient for the future being built,” he cautioned.

Drawing on leadership research, including ideas popularised in the Harvard Business Review, he argued that public-sector leaders rarely fail due to lack of intelligence or strategy. Instead, they are often constrained by “invisible beliefs” — deeply embedded assumptions about control, authority and perfection — that quietly shape institutional behaviour.

In large organisations, he noted, such beliefs rarely manifest as overt resistance to reform. Rather, they appear subtly. Leadership becomes equated with always having the answers, fostering directive management instead of empowerment. Tight control is mistaken for accountability, producing decision bottlenecks that slow responsiveness.

Adedeji was candid about the risks these tendencies pose to reform. Leaders, he observed, frequently expect others to operate at their personal pace and according to their own standards of quality. When results diverge from expectations, the instinct is to tighten control rather than reassess the process. “Over time, this approach erodes trust, stifles initiative, and limits organisational learning,” he said.

In a rare moment of introspection, the chairman reflected on how his own background shaped his management style. A drive for high achievement and perfectionism, he admitted, influenced how he delegated tasks and reviewed performance. What appeared to be a commitment to excellence often concealed “a deeper fear of being held responsible for failure”, a fear that fuelled rigidity and unnecessary mistrust.

His turning point came with the realisation that “efficiency does not require uniformity” and that “excellence does not require replication of one individual’s style”. Leadership, he said, is about enabling others to rise. “Trust is not the absence of oversight; it is the deliberate choice to focus on outcomes rather than policing every step of the journey.”

The implications extend beyond the retreat venue. As Nigeria undertakes one of its most consequential institutional transformations, the credibility of its revenue system — and investor confidence in the broader economy — hinges on the NRS’s ability to operate with integrity, agility and public trust.

“These qualities cannot be legislated into existence. They must be led into being,” Adedeji declared, insisting that reform “is not first a technical exercise; it is a human one”.

With that message, the NRS chairman signalled that the future of Nigeria’s revenue system will depend as much on who its leaders choose to become as on the policies they design.