By Salisu Sani-Idris
Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Thursday in Abuja urged African leaders to embrace homegrown development models rather than depending on foreign plans.
Shettima made the call at a Symposium and launch of Amandla Leadership Institute commemorating the 60th birthday of Dr Kayode Fayemi.
The theme of the symposium was, “Renewing the Pan-African Ideal for the Changing Times: The Policy and Leadership Challenges and Opportunities.”
Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu, stated that the African continent was in dire need of leaders who implemented appropriate policies instead chanting slogans.
“The tragedy of our time is that African leaders do not only confine themselves to foreign blueprints but have also refused to emancipate themselves from client-state mentalities and governance by hashtag activism.
“Whatever our differences across the continent, one fact that can’t be eroded by our infighting is that we are in the age of machines.
“And we can’t fight our development dilemma with spears and arrows, while the rest of the world is fighting the same battle with missiles and tanks. The world is not waiting for Africa to catch up,” he stated.
Shettima pointed out that it would be wishful thinking to hope that the renaissance of Africa would happen as a gift, maintaining that it must be built.
He regretted that for too long, African leaders outsourced their thinking, relying on institutions and ideologies that treated countries on the continent as consumers, not creators.
The Vice President insisted that the youth must be empowered to innovate in tech hubs across the continent.
“We must empower our youths to innovate in tech hubs across the continent, from Cairo, down through Nairobi, to Lagos, building unicorns without the permission of any gatekeepers.
“What they lack is not ideas but ecosystems—systems where policy, funding, and political will converge to scale their genius,” he noted.
Shettima also enjoined African leaders to embrace homegrown think tanks like Amandla Institute, to promote green tech and cultural capital, rather than than relying raw materials.
The VP urged the Amandla ainstitute to sell Africa to the world as a continent that seeks collaboration, and not patronage.
He stated that, “the institute must become a command centre for the continent, turning thinkers into doers, policies into progress, and Pan-African ideals into realities.
“As we honour the Fayemis, let us channel their restlessness. Let this symposium be remembered not for its eloquence but for its ignition. It’s time for Africa to stop debating ideas and start deploying them.”
Mr Thabo Mbeki, a former South African President, on his part, stated that development aspirations and targets across Africa had not been met due to a multiplicity of factors.
According to him, the factors include inadequate resource mobilisation and poor leadership.
He noted that the way forward, in the context of the establishment of a global multipolar order, was for African leaders to prepare adequately to position the continent correctly.
“Our continent must pay particular attention to the development of the right leadership capable of defending and advancing our vast interests within the context of competing global players,” said Mbeki.
He, however, expressed optimism that the inauguration of the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement would go a long way in the actualisation of Africa’s ideals.
