Prof. PLO Lumumba Expected as Guest Speaker at Presentation of Book on Transformational Leadership

 Prof. PLO Lumumba Expected as Guest Speaker at Presentation of Book on Transformational Leadership

By Auwal Ahmad Umar

Renowned Kenyan lawyer, academic and governance advocate, Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, is expected to serve as the guest speaker at the public presentation of Military Transformational Leadership in Action: The Buratai Era, a new book that examines the leadership of former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lt Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

Widely regarded as one of Africa’s foremost public intellectuals, Prof. Lumumba has earned international recognition through his lectures and public engagements on leadership, ethics, governance and nation-building, making him a prominent figure for the academic discourse planned around the book’s launch.

Ahead of the official presentation, the book’s author, Dr. M.S. Abubakar, presented a copy of the publication to Prof. Lumumba in Nairobi, Kenya, formally inviting him to participate in the event scheduled for September 16, 2026, in Abuja.

Published by Sprezzatura Publishing Ltd, Military Transformational Leadership in Action: The Buratai Era offers a scholarly examination of the reforms and leadership strategies implemented during Buratai’s tenure as Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff between 2015 and 2021, a period marked by insurgency, banditry and other evolving security threats.

Rather than serving as a biography, the book analyses how transformational leadership principles were applied within the Nigerian Army through reforms in military doctrine, institutional development, operational readiness, troop welfare and civil-military relations during one of the country’s most challenging security periods.

Drawing on military records, policy documents, interviews and detailed research, Dr. Abubakar explores how the Nigerian Army adapted its operational doctrine to confront the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency while responding to emerging security challenges in the North-West and Middle Belt.

The publication also evaluates reforms in training, logistics, equipment acquisition and command structures, alongside leadership decisions aimed at strengthening troop morale, discipline and public confidence in the armed forces.

According to the author, the book presents the Buratai era as a case study in transformational and crisis leadership, highlighting strategic decisions, institutional reforms and practical lessons that could benefit military professionals, policymakers, scholars and students of leadership, governance and security studies.