Dr Obiagele Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education, has called on African countries to make deliberate efforts to ensure the evolution of democratic and leadership culture on the continent.
She said this at an African Conference, organised by the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) on Thursday in Abuja to as part of its 3rd graduation ceremony.
Ezekwesili, also the founder of SPPG said that democracy was very important because democracy brought about political freedom.
She said that it also brought about the rule of law which was the cornerstone of economic freedoms that lead to the proliferation of ideas, of innovations and creativity.
“If we know our mistakes, as evidence abound, we cannot then sit back and hope that somehow change will come.
“So if Africans need to transform our politics, and we just sit back as citizens, hoping that those who have entrenched governance, as a matter of political culture, will someday fall in the kind of situation of Apostle Paul and have a Damascus experience, we will wait forever.
“That is not something that this generation should do,” she said.
Ezekwesili said the the SPPG graduated 160 persons in 2021 and 134 in 2022 out of which 55 took part
at the primaries for 2023 general elections and nine won the parties tickets.
“The aim is to populate the political space with people with skills and of high moral standing to change the narrative,” she said.
Also speaking, Ms Martha Karua, a former Kenyan Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, said she had been in politics for three decades as member of parliament and a minister.
She said that election had became a ritual to give some legitimacy to those who grab power unconstitutionally.
“Right now we are focusing on the coups happening across Africa but we are not remembering that the real coups happen at the election period when elections are rigged.
“All hope is not lost, we cannot afford to give up, we must clean up this mess, and this we will do as citizens of Africa by choosing to become active and engage, using elections to overwhelmingly reject bad Governance for good governance,” she said.
Karua said that Africa was rich with the best of natural resources but most countries in the continent were often listed among the poorest countries in the world.
She said Africa’s best human and natural resources were being enjoyed everywhere across the world, saying that that had to change.
A member of the Angolan parliament, Ms Loundes Fenandes said that harnessing Africa’s human resources can transform the continent.
She said African had the best natural resources in the world and that Africa also had lots of sun and that it was time to shine over the world.
She said that the biggest problem on the continent was corruption and all hands must be on deck fight it.
