Obasanjo urges African leaders to re-examine governance systems

A former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has called for a re-examination of governance systems in Africa to achieve African Renaissance.

Obansanjo said this while speaking on the topic “African Renaissance in an Era of Turbulence: Are the Lions Still on the Move?” at the 32nd Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2025) in Abuja on Thursday.

He emphasised that Africa’s progress depended on the ability of its leaders to work and move together and prioritise the continent’s interests.

The former president noted that the current system of Western liberal democracy, inherited from colonial powers, was not working in the best interests of the continent and needed to be interrogated and reviewed to suit Africa’s interests.

He suggested that Africa’s pre-colonial systems of governance, which emphasised communalism and collective decision-making, could provide valuable lessons for modern governance and stop corruption.

“Our system does not look at the opposition and the government. So it should be a government of everyone working together. We had it before the advent of colonisation.

“Now is the time to say that the government and opposition are not working for us, it is not even working for them either. Our system and democracy have been monetised,” he noted..

Responding to whether the lions were moving, a metaphor for the continent’s most powerful and influential countries, he said they were moving but not at the desired pace.

Obasanjo identified the nations to include Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), South Africa, Kenya, Senegal and Morocco, which possess significant economic and demographic strength.

He noted that Nigeria, Ethiopia, the DRC and South Africa are not where they ought to be economically and politically.

According to him, the lions are not moving as they ought to move, and they need to move the way they are expected to move for progress to be recorded.

Responding to what was needed to get the lions to move, he said leaders should be equipped with the knowledge needed to navigate the complexities of the global economy.

“ How much of the world do our leaders understand? What does the world owe us as Africans?

“If we have knowledge, we will get the right policies starting from the community level to the national, sub-regional and continental level, and those policies will relate to the situation of the world we are in.”

He emphasised that Africa’s progress is possible, citing examples of success stories such as Ethiopia’s self-sufficiency in wheat production, which has yielded impressive results, with the country now exporting wheat to neighbouring countries.

Also, Afreximbank’s payment system, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System(PAPSS), which enables payment transactions across Africa to beneficiaries in their local currencies.

Another success story he noted was the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which offers a platform for economic integration and cooperation, promoting intra-African trade and investment.

“ The message is that in areas where we have made progress like I have said, we should keep at it.

“ There are other areas that are working, we should learn from ourselves and we will get the lions to move and when they move the cubs will follow the lions,” he said. (NAN)