Africa needs people-centred leaders — Former World Bank Vice-President
Africa needs a new set of public leaders who are knowledgeable and capable of addressing the totality of issues facing its people, a former Vice-President of the World Bank for the Africa Region, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has said.
She explained that the pervasive corruption within the political landscape and the nature of politics practiced on the continent did not sufficiently address the needs of the people, hence the urgent call for a transformation in political leadership on the continent.
“The pathway into politics corrupts, leading to undifferentiated suppliers of the same poor governance,” Dr Ezekwesili, who is also the founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), said when she paid a courtesy call on the Editor, Graphic, just before the December 7 polls.
SPPG is an educational institution with the mission of transforming politics in Nigeria and the rest of Africa by building a large pipeline of a new value-based and disruptive thinking political leaders with the requisite knowledge and skills to lead effectively.
Dr Ezekwesili was in the company of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SPPG, Africa, Alero Ayida-Otobo; the Coordinating Chair of #FixPolitics Work Study Group 1, Bolatito Adeniyi-Aderoju; Executive Director of #FixPolitics Africa, and the Technology Lead at SPPG, Century Favour.
The News Editor, Samuel Doe Ablordeppey, and the Corporate Affairs Manager of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd, Emmanuel Agyei Arthur, were part of the team that received the delegation.
To combat the challenges, she said SPPG had adopted a revolutionary approach to political education aimed at cultivating a new generation of public leaders equipped to challenge existing governance models.
At the heart of this initiative, she said was customised public leadership curriculum designed specifically for Nigeria.
Dr Ezekwesili explained that the curriculum was informed by comprehensive analyses of the country's challenges, ranging from economic stagnation to human development issues.
The multidisciplinary approach adopted by the school, she said, encompassed 140 course topics, delivered by 94 distinguished faculty members, including academics and practitioners from renowned institutions such as Harvard and Yale.
“Our goal is to massively build a new kind of politicians and public leaders who are knowledgeable and capable of addressing the totality of the issues facing our society,” she asserted.
Education
By investing in the education of future leaders, Dr Ezekwesili and her team believed that positive change in governance was not only possible but imperative for the country’s progress.
She added that the school had since 2021 graduated 720 and was having discussions to establish one in Ghana.
Of the number, Dr Ezekwesili said 55 of them picked up forms to run in the 2023 elections in Nigeria with nine of them getting their party tickets.
She added that although none of them won, 80 per cent of them were mostly second and third.
“But it showed us that what we are designing is on the right track,” she said
Dr Ezekwesili further stressed the need to have an informed and engaged citizenry, saying “without that in a democracy, the monopolists will continue to act in the monopolistic way they please.”
Again, she said there was a need for evidence-based policy making for results.
That, Dr Ezekwesili stated, was one of the things the continent lacked capacity in and the school existed to bridge that gap as part of its curriculum.
Commendation
For his part, Mr Yartey commended the delegation for their efforts in refining the democratic process and calling for accountability.
He pledged the Daily Graphic’s support to the cause of SPPG through publications, adding that he would consider a call from the delegation to be a member of faculty of the school.