Former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar has identified bad leadership as one of the factors responsible for Africa’s stunted growth.
Delivering a paper on Friday at the maiden University of Nottingham Africa Summit, at the University of Nottingham Great Hall, University Park, Nottingham, England, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain expressed concerns that the entire continent was at the mercy of individuals who placed personal or sectional gains above collective interests.
“Let me also say that Africa must get its politics right in order to accelerate its development. This will include improvements in electoral systems, deepening of democracy and accountability, and reduction in corruption. Let’s not forget that these priorities have to be adopted and implemented by governments, by the political leadership. Therefore, Africa needs mechanisms for producing leaders who put their countries and the continent over personal or sectional gains and interests.
‘’Thus, Africa’s civil society and Africa’s development partners have important roles in pressuring African governments on important political reforms to help provide the democratic spaces for policy dialogues and democratic interventions in Africa’s development,” he said.
Atiku, whose paper was entitled, “Where is Africa Going?: Thoughts on African Development Bank’s High 5s for African Development,” also advised that conscious efforts be directed at giving quality education to Africa’s teeming populace.
‘’ I also believe that education should get more attention than the bank’s high 5s seem to allow. Education should indeed be one of the top priorities for Africa.
‘’While education should be the primary responsibility of governments, it is also clear that Africa’s educational challenges, in the context of competing demands and available resources, are beyond the capacity of many African states. Thus the private sector should be encouraged to do more in providing high quality education under clear standards maintained by the governments. The AfDB and other development banks can identify some public and private educational initiatives for support through, for instance, improving educational infrastructure including libraries, ICT, laboratories and technical workshops, and support for transitioning to renewable energy such as solar and wind.”