Nigeria, May 5 -- While sentencing former US business magnate, Bernard Madoff to 150 years' imprisonment for his massive Ponzi scheme which cost his clients billions of dollars, the judge made a striking observation about Madoff's leadership and lifestyle: "In terms of mitigating factors in a white-collar fraud case such as this, I would expect to see letters from family, friends and colleagues. But not a single letter has been submitted attesting to Mr. Madoff's good deeds or good character or civic or charitable activities. The absence of such support is telling".

History is however replete with leaders who astonished the world with their brilliance but ultimately imploded because they lacked character, moral rectitude and shunned ethi...