The founder, School of Politics, Policy and Governance School and Chair, #FixPolitics, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has linked Africa’s under-development to the absence of good governance and quality political leadership.
She spoke at the inaugural session of the SPPG Distinguished Guest Speaker Series, which was attended by thousands of Africans and global stakeholders.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Power, Performance and Legitimacy: Renewing Global Democratic Momentum’, she explained that, the central thesis of #FixPolitics research was that “the absence of good governance is the greatest obstacle” to Nigeria’s economic development.
Ezekwesili said: “the failure of the country’s variant of politics and public leadership inherently subverts public good and places their personal and narrow interests above the collective wellbeing of citizens.
“In the light of the above, whether it is 2020 or 2060, nothing about Nigeria can change without a transformation of its politics. Our democracy is coming out of deficit, as African politicians have not delivered on the contract between them and the people they govern.”
Explaining how nations grow, Ezekwesili said, the trinity of growth and development showed that citizens of Nigeria and the rest of Africa need a politics that leads to good governance.
According to her, sound policies, strong institutions and efficient priority of investment in public goods and services are crucial for private sector emergence and growth of the economy.
On the way out, she said, there was need to raise the influence of the electorate and make votes of the low income class expensive, saying, ‘this will happen by raising productivity, as well as improving political literacy and welfare of the people.’
Ezekwesili called for the establishment of unconventional SPPG to flood the political space with a new class of valued-based politicians that would emerge on a large scale.
She said, there was need for a new set of Nigerians trained on customised curriculum on ethical politics, policy and governance to offer a new dominant political culture that would subordinate personal interest to the collective welfare of Nigerians.
She stressed the need to mobilise the Nigerian public to collectively demand a new constitution, political, electoral and economic restructuring of the country.
Ezekwesili described monopolies as illegal and generally harmful to the economy and welfare of consumers.
On his part, Prof Larry Diamond from Stanford University, United States of America, condemned the practice where the ruling party controls the political pace, electoral process and makes credible elections impossible.
