Ezekwesili and others offer solutions as governance failures persist in Africa

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African countries continue to face underdevelopment, and this situation is directly related to leadership failure and poor governance systems.

Apart from some countries currently ruled by military dictatorships, other governments have also struggled with democracy, with power transitions from one government to another always characterized by poor electoral processes. are forced to.

This is primarily attributed to the lack of focused political leadership and, therefore, to the stagnation of growth in most African states.

One person who is angry about the situation is Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, a former education minister and one-time presidential candidate.

Ezekwesili, who is also famous for the “Take Back Our Girls” movement, is concerned about Africa’s worsening leadership problems.

But she feels the only way forward is to educate young men and women across the continent to stand up and take over the country.

Speaking recently at the graduation ceremony of the Graduate School of Politics, Policy and Governance, she said that the school aims to attract, develop and produce a new generation of political leaders who will listen to and serve a new class of citizens. He said that it is an unconventional school with the aim of their rights.

According to her, the mission of SPPG is to educate future leaders and public servants who are dedicated to the interests of the nation and ready to serve the well-being of all citizens.

“Over the years, we have built a reputation for providing leaders with the right values, knowledge and skills needed to solve complex public problems.

“The first world-class institution of its kind to develop a new type of public leader, the school’s 33-week program equips future leaders with the knowledge they need to be effective, disruptive and progressive leaders. We offer a unique opportunity to develop the skills, values, and skills needed in public leadership.

“The program includes a wide range of carefully selected courses in 24 modules that are analytically and empirically relevant to solving Africa’s complex development problems,” she declared passionately.

The former minister added that “SPPG is focused on developing ethical and competent leaders and creating at scale a new genre of public leadership that serves the people and delivers governance.”

“Leadership that delivers results and positive impact is the mission that SPPG has determined to engage in the most important dialogue in the public space in Nigeria and other parts of Africa,” said Ezekwesili, founder of SPPG. .

She spoke to African leaders about the need to leverage technology and current disruption to foster economic growth across the continent.

Ezekwesili, who is also the convener and chairperson of #FixPolitics, said the continent continues to have a growing leadership deficit in the areas of policy analysis, development and good governance, adding to the gaps that the SPPG is experiencing in these areas. He has made it clear that he is determined to fill in the gaps. A well-tailored curriculum for African students with a global perspective.

Commenting on the lack of leadership on the continent, Ezekwesili said the world needs Africa and Africa needs the world.

She said: “The existing multilateral order is broken and needs to be fixed urgently to enable our world to make important decisions and take the right action on issues that affect us all.” need to do it.”

“Africa must be at the center of conversations on global governance, economic growth, poverty and inequality, climate change, disruptive technologies, and related issues of human and social development.

The world will do better by actively working with Africa at the table to redesign today’s global structures for a future that provides equal opportunities for everyone, everywhere to excel. will bring about. ”

To prepare for this, she stressed that Africa needs disruptive leaders who are always interested in finding better solutions to local, national and global problems.

The former education minister has linked the root of Nigeria’s leadership problems to a distorted political culture where leaders prioritize personal interests over the public interest.

She says a change in mindset among leaders is needed to address the country’s growing economic and security challenges.

She pointed out that there is a lack of character, ability and capacity to produce good leaders in Africa, stressing the need for disruptive thinking in the country’s political space.

“We found that there is a distorted political culture, not just in Nigeria but across Africa. It is a political culture where public leaders subordinate the common good, the common good, to their personal and narrow interests.

“So what this means is that the public interest is not being served by the people it should be served. To fix this, we need to customize a new leadership mindset.

“Therefore, the training provided at SPPG is designed to reset the way people who want to become leaders think.

“They lead by serving, putting character at the foundation of the knowledge we give them, articulating their abilities and sound policies, and designing institutions that enable social progress and social fulfillment.” “Improving the ability of countries to make appropriate choices to invest in the goods and services they need to grow,” she said.

Analysts are united in the fact that Africa, and Nigeria in particular, needs exemplary leaders and followers to build polities and enable their people to enjoy the benefits of democracy.

Unfortunately, it has been observed that almost all Nigerian governments, military and civil, have failed to provide good governance.

Several scholars believe that Nigerians as a whole lack a clearly defined vision espoused by their leaders, and this has been the country’s political juggernaut since independence more than 60 years ago. claims.

Nigeria’s multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious society would probably be better off if it were based on a clearly defined national vision.

But that wasn’t the case. The cost is clear in the country’s repeated failures to develop as a nation and realize its enormous potential.

She is not alone in her work to improve quality leadership in Africa.

Mr. Arelo Aida Otobo, Chief Executive Officer of SPPG, will develop new leaders with policy formulation and good governance mindsets, while educating a new cadre of political leaders who are committed to good governance values ​​internally and externally. I believed there was an urgent need to do so. We provide Nigerian education based on the school’s values.

“We want to contribute to instilling in politicians and administrators a deep moral commitment to the common good as the basis for the future prosperity of Nigeria and Africa.

“SPPG aims to strengthen the bonds between governments, public administrations and people by promoting dialogue, accountability and transparency,” she said.

She added that most African countries have similar development challenges as Nigeria, stressing that “this is why Fixed Politics and SPPG are promoting us across the continent.” Although she started in Nigeria, she plans to cover all 54 countries on the African continent.

“SPPG is one of the three pillars of the Fix Politics Initiative. What we do is critical to the future of Nigeria. Our mission is to improve the status of our citizens. We want to educate the public.

“Our goal is to develop politicians for the 21st century with values, character, unquestionable competence and undeniable competence,” said Aida Otobo.

Meanwhile, Bar-Olu Omotayo, chairman of the Civil Rights Realization and Promotion Network CRRAN, believes Africa needs strong institutions that go beyond developing men and women as future leaders.

He told DAILY POST that despite strong leaders, Africa lacks strong institutions.

“In the Western world, no matter who comes to power, their actions have no effect on the institutions. The institutions are already powerful.

“When President Obama visited Ghana, he said that what Africans need is not a strong leader, but a strong organization. If the organization is strong, things will go well.

“But we do not have a strong organization. That is why the president can sit in his villa and ask the central bank governor to bring a certain amount of money.

“That doesn’t happen in developed countries. You have to go through a process. The president is the head of the government, but he has no authority over those institutions. The institutions are separated from the operation of the government.

“But here, we as institutions feel that we are subordinate to the executive. When you come to Nigeria, for example, even the judiciary, in reality, the judiciary and the legislature are not really able to stand up. These problems are the reason why Africa is still underdeveloped.”

However, while he praised the efforts of Ezekwesili and others, he said more efforts should be directed towards developing more people who can stand up to the status quo and protect the system.

“I have always believed that the problem in Africa, and of course Nigeria, is the lack of united efforts of the people.

“If the people are determined that our institutions have to be strong, then they have to be strong too. So we shouldn’t focus on leadership. If you say you want to be there, you should demand it.

“Look at the FOI law in Nigeria, it was put in place so that people would always hold their leaders accountable, but how many cases have you seen? Those are the problems.

“So we need to educate people to take their destiny into their own hands. They must be able to challenge authorities and demand accountability. We don’t just need to train leaders. We need to train people to stand on their own two feet.”

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Source: dailypost.ng