DESPITE the harsh, cold weather of Paris, which forced many Nigerians to wear hand gloves, the International Summit on African Leadership and the African Leadership Awards ceremony held over two days at the weekend, still witnessed an impressive turnout of mainly Nigerians.
The seminar, which was awash with frank, borderless exchange of ideas, took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, while the awards ceremony was held at Marriot Hotel, both within close proximity, in the small settlement of Roissy.
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Interestingly, the crux of the informal discussion, on Day one of the programme, bordered on development in Africa, and how education is closely related to it. Dr. Chidi Onyia, of Orglearning Consult, New York, who spoke extensively on "Developing Education as a Tool for Leadership," emphasised the importance of relevance of what is being taught in schools, to the country's developmental needs. He noted that from his experience in Nigeria, the contents of the curriculum were still not adequate to prepare the products of the Nigerian education system for the knowledge driven global village.
To him, it is not just enough the graduates are being turned out of the universities, the question to ask is, how really relevant those graduates are to the overall needs of the country. According to him, while many Nigerians send their children to the United Kingdom and the United States for further studies, the two countries are currently grappling with daunting challenges facing their own educational systems.
For instance, he explained that a study is currently being conducted in the United States to find ways of how to apply the school curriculum content to real life situations at the secondary level.
According to him, while theoretical aspects are good, school curriculum must prepare youths for real life situations, such that they will be in the position to take independent decisions that would enable them to succeed in their chosen professions. But he also regretted that corruption among some civil servants was robbing the country of some good things some Nigerians in the Diaspora were prepared to bring in.
Without mentioning names, he relayed an experience in which he sought to give assistance, but was stalled by some officials of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), who asked for bribe.
For Dr. Joyce Ayree, Ghana's former Education minister, holding seminars on education would be fruitless unless every stakeholder "is prepared to do the right thing."
According to her, each participant ought to look at himself or herself and make a decision on how he or she could contribute to the educational needs of his or her community, rather than pass the buck and blame other people.
According to her, while some Nigerians send their children to Ghana with the belief that the education system there was better, Ghana also has its own fair share of challenges, similar to what other countries in the African continent face.
"So, it is right to say we all have challenges undermining our education systems in Africa," she affirmed. "But what is important is, are we really prepared to do the right things? Are we interested in really moving forward for the sake of our children? What are we doing, either individually or collectively to help our education systems so that our children can have a future? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves."
Chairman of the African Leadership Advisory Board, Alhaji Bamagar Tukur agreed with Ayree. He implored those in various positions of authority to be guided by good conscience in deciding educational policies for the country.
The Governor of Abia State, Mr. Theodore Orji noted that many people tend to blame leaders without appreciating the challenges they go through.
He cited an example, "I am the governor of a state in Nigeria. You see, I can give a directive on what should be done in the education sector for instance. But I am not the same person that will carry out this directive. Now, those who are supposed to carry out the directive may default, or hamper the good intentions of government, but it is still the leadership that people will blame."
He regretted that some of the failed policies of the states in the country have been due to sabotage perpetrated by those who are saddled with the responsibility of carrying out directives. He explained further, "now, government faces a lot of challenges too. As a governor, I am faced with demands from all sectors. There is education, health is there, transport, energy, and sometimes, it is difficult to determine which one to face first. That is the problem leaders face."
The Director General of the National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Prof. Sam Ale called for the entrenchment of good policies in the education sector. He regretted that some necessary things have not been done to make the sector run smoothly. He noted that the NMC had already taken several steps to encourage the study of mathematics among youths in the country. He also noted that the centre has embarked on research programmes in partnership with some tertiary institutions in the country, to boost the mathematical sciences.
However, a staff of the FME, who spoke under anonymity, faulted Ale over his failure to inform the audience of the various steps the FME had recently taken to improve the education sector.
"A Roadmap for the Education sector has been launched. The Nigerian Educational and Research Development Council (NERDC) has also launched new curricular for the primary and secondary levels. So, the impression should not be that government or the FME has not been doing anything," she complained.
The awards ceremony, which took place on Day two, also provided participants with an opportunity to discuss leadership problems in Africa.
Billionaire Sudanese businessman and communications guru, Dr. Mo Ibrahim told the audience that Africa has remained poor due to the collective failure of leadership. To him, those who still argue that slavery and colonialism have both been responsible for Africa's poor state should also remember that many African countries have been independent for some 50 years, yet have remained very poor.
His words, "unless we (Africans) take a look at ourselves in the mirror, see and admit what is good and bad about us, and be brutally frank about it, we will not make progress."
He argued that some other countries like Malaysia and Singapore, which started at about the same time when many African countries got their independence, were already far ahead in all ramifications.
His words: "Why then is Africa so poor? The truth? Failure of leadership." Continuing, Ibrahim regretted that Africans were their own worst enemies, whose leaders have perfected the art of short changing their own people.
He wondered why Africa, with 53 countries, could not come together under an economic union to make greater progress.
"Look at France. Its economy is equal to that of many African countries. Look at Germany, its economy is strong. Yet these guys still came together to form the European Union, as a bloc, against America and Asia. If they could do that, who then do we (Africa) think we are, to imagine that, with 53 tiny economies, we can compete globally? It doesn't work that way," he reasoned.
He also revealed that, it was in his bid to encourage good governance in African that the Mo Ibrahim Foundation instituted the African Leadership Prize, to reward African leaders who behaved well while in office.
"Part of what we are trying to do is that, if somebody had served his country well, did not steal public funds, when he leaves office, after all the privileges of office must have been withdrawn from him, he should have something to live on. Our idea is that, life after office, for good leaders, should be interesting."
He also stated that his foundation applies 86 parameters under four broad areas to determine who wins the prize.
Orji also canvassed the strengthening of democratic institutions and a culture of transparency in Africa. He agreed with Ibrahim that only good governance and economic co-operation could save African countries from dominance by foreign powers. While he regretted that many African leaders had failed their people over the years, he submitted that the culture of accountability in governance was also important.
Orji also caused a mild stir at the event, when he asked the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to also institute an award for state governors in African countries, because, according to him, no President could be successful without the cooperation of the governors.
"If any President is successful, it means the state governors have also been doing very well," he declared.
Several Africans were given leadership awards at the ceremony. Significantly, three heads of Parastatals under the FME were included. They are, the Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede, Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Ahmed Modibo Mohammed and the Director General of the National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Prof. Sam Ale.
Other Nigerians, who received awards were, Orji, the wife of the Benue State Governor, Mrs. Yemisi Suswan and the Nigerian Ambassador to France, Mr. Gordon Bristol. Africans that also received awards include Ibrahim and Aryce.
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