Gberevbie, D.E.

Covenant University Repository

• Nigeria's Foreign Policy in the West African Sub-Region: The Imperative of Change in the Post-Cold War Era Kayode Aden iran Omoiuwa Ill • Contending Issues in Nigeria • Liberia Relations: An Appraisal C. Nna -Emeka Okereke 193 • National Security and Foreign Policy: Towa rds A Review of Nigeria's Afro· Centric Policy Cletus Okodolor Viable leadership and the Goals of NEPAD Daniel Gberevhie 223 I n t r o d u c t i o n  V i a b l e  L e a d e r s h i p  a n d  t h e  G o a l s  o f  N E P  A D  B y  D a n i e l  G b e r e v b i /  A f r i c a ,  a  c o n t i n e n t  o f  g r e a t  p o t e n t i a l s  a n d  p r o m i s e s ,  i s  i n  d i r e  n e e d  o f  r e s c u e  f r o m  t h e  d e p r i v a t i o n  o f  t h e  b a s i c  n e e d s  o f  l i f e .  T h e  N e w  P a r t n e r s h i p  f o r  A f r i c a ' s  D e v e l o p m e n t  ( N E P A D )  i s  t h e  l a t e s t  m e c h a n i s m  o r  i n i t i a t i v e  p u t  i n  p l a c e  b y  A f r i c a n  l e a d e r s  t o  r e s c u e  h e r  f r o m  t h e  y o k e  o f  h u n g e r ,  p o v e r t y  a n d  u n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t .  T h e r e  i s  n o  d o u b t  t h a t  t h e  N E P A D  i n i t i a t i v e  i s  a  b o l d  a t t e m p t  b y  A f r i c a n  l e a d e r s  t o  t a k e  t h e i r  d e s t i n y  i n t o  t h e i r  o w n  h a n d s  i n  o r d e r  t o  b r i n g  a b o u t  d e v e l o p m e n t  o n  t h e  c o n t i n e n t .  H o w e v e r ,  N E P A D ,  t h o u g h  a n  A f r i c a n  i n i t i a t i v e ,  i s  b a s e d  o n  t h e  t w o  p r i n c i p l e s  o f  o w n e r s h i p  b y  A f r i c a n s ,  a n d  p a r t n e r s h i p  b e t w e e n  A f r i c a  a n d  t h e  i n t e r n a t i o n a l  c o m m u n i t y .  T h i s  p l a c e s  e n o r m o u s  r e s p o n s i b i l i t y  o n  A f r i c a n  l e a d e r s  t o  p l a y  t h e i r  p a r t  a n d  a l s o  t o  *  D a n i e l  G b e r e v b i e ,  A s s i s t a n t  L e c t u r e r ,  D e p a r t m e n t  o f  S t r a t e g i c  S t u d i e s ,  C o v e n a n t  U n i v e r s i t y ,  O g u n  S t a t e .  2 2 4  ;, c tt e e ) t 1 f i get the international community to fulfill its -part if the goals of NEP AD are to be realized. This paper, which focuses on viable leadership and the goals of NEP AD shall not discuss in detail the goals of NEPAD, but will focus on viable leadership in Africa as the basis for the realization of the goals of NEPAD. And this study has become necessary because of the sorry state in which African nations are today, a situation that has been brought about largely by leadership, which is self-seeking instead of being focussed on the welfare of their citizens. The paper is organized into seven sections as follows: section one talks about the goals and financing of NEP AD, section two talks about viable leadership in Africa, section three talks about debt relief, section four talks about debt forgiveness, section five talks about challenges to African leaders, section six talks about the way forward for African leaders and section seven concludes with some recommendations. Goals and Financing of NEP AD NEPAD can be seen as a catalyst for the achievement of the developmental goals of the African continent. These goals can be deduced from the G8 (the eight most industrialized nations of the world) Africa action plan which has two dimensions, the political and the economic. On the political front, African leaders are committed to democracy and sustainable development through the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The accountability of African leaders to their people and to each other as well as the determination of developed partners to match their commitment is emphasized. This means that the international community and indeed the G8, will be 225 c o m m i t t e d  t o  t h e  g o a l s  o f  N E P  A D  o n l y  w h e n  A f r i c a n  l e a d e r s  s h o w  a  h i g h  s e n s e  o f  t r a n s p a r e n t  g o v e r n a n c e .  O n  t h e  e c o n o m i c  f r o n t  t h e  G 8 ,  c o m m i t t e d  i t s e l f  t o  p r o m o t i n g  p e a c e ,  s e c u r i t y  a n d  c o n f l i c t  p r e v e n t i o n  b y  s u p p o r t i n g  A f r i c a n  e f f o r t s  t o  r e s o l v e  t h e  p r i n c i p a l  a r m e d  c o n f l i c t s  o n  t h e  c o n t i n e n t  s o  a s  t o  r e a l i z e  t h e  g o a l s  o f  N E P A D .  T h e  r e a l i z a t i o n  h e r e  i s  t h a t  w i t h o u t  p e a c e  a n d  s e c u r i t y  o n  t h e  A f r i c a n  c o n t i n e n t ,  t h e r e  c a n  b e  n o  m e a n i n g f u l  d e v e l o p m e n t .  T h e  f o l l o w i n g  a r e  t h e  e c o n o m i c  a s p e c t s  f o r  w h i c h  t h e  G 8  h a s  a g r e e d  t o  a s s i s t  A f r i c a n  n a t i o n s  t o w a r d s  t h e  a c h i e v e m e n t  o f  p o v e r t y  e r a d i c a t i o n :  E c o n o m i c  G r o w t h :  I n  l i n e  w i t h  t h e  e c o n o m i c  g r o w t h  i n i t i a t i v e  o f N E P A D ,  t h e  G 8  c o m m i t s  t o  h e l p  A f r i c a n  n a t i o n s  a t t r a c t  i n v e s t m e n t  b o t h  w i t h i n  a n d  o u t s i d e  A f r i c a  a n d  i m p l e m e n t  p o l i c i e s  c o n d u c i v e  f o r  e c o n o m i c  g r o w t h .  D e b t  R e l i e f :  O n  t h e  a s p e c t  o f  d e b t  r e l i e f ,  t h e  G 8  c o m m i t s  t o  a s s i s t  A f r i c a n  n a t i o n s  t h r o u g h  t h e  H e a v i l y  I n d e b t e d  P o o r  C o u n t r i e s  ( H I P C )  i n i t i a t i v e  t o  r e d u c e  p o v e r t y .  T h e  H I P C  i n i t i a t i v e  i n t e n d s  t o  r e d u c e  b y  U S  $ 1 9  b i l l i o n ,  t h e  d e b t  o f  s o m e  2 2  A f r i c a n  c o u n t r i e s  t h a t  a r e  o n  t h e  p a t h  o f  s o u n d  e c o n o m i c  p o l i c i e s  a n d  g o o d  g o v e r n a n c e .  E d u c a t i o n :  K n o w l e d g e  i s  p o w e r ,  s o  t h e  G 8  c o m m i t s  t o  s u p p o r t  A f r i c a n  n a t i o n s  i n  t h e i r  e f f o r t  t o  i m p r o v e  t h e  q u a l i t y  o f  e d u c a t i o n  a t  a l l  l e v e l s  i r r e s p e c t i v e  o f  g e n d e r  a n d  r e l i g i o n .  H e a l t h :  A  h e a l t h y  n a t i o n  i s  a  w e a l t h y  n a t i o n ;  h e n c e  t h e  G 8  c o m m i t s  t o  h e l p  A f r i c a n  n a t i o n s  t o  c o m b a t  t h e  e f f e c t s  o f  H I V  I  A I D S  a n d  m a l a r i a .  I n  t h i s  l i g h t ,  F r a n c e  p r o m i s e d  t o  i n c r e a s e  h e r  s h a r e  o f  c o n t r i b u t i o n  t o w a r d s  t h e  h e a l t h  n e e d s  o f  A f r i c a n  n a t i o n s  t o  t h e  l e v e l  o f  1 5 0  m i l l i o n  e u r o s  a  y e a r .  2 2 6  . Agriculture: A hungry man is an angry man, hence the G8 commits to help Afiican nations to wmk to improve food security through improved sustainable productivity and competitiveness by supporting Afiican nations• agricultural efforts. Improved Water Management: Because of the importance of water to m~ the G-8 commits to help African nations' efforts to improve water resomces development and management. To realize the above noble goals, paragraph 44 of the NEPAD action plan puts the financial implications of NEPAD to be jointly financed by Afiicans and her partners i.e. the international community. at US $64 billion yearly. Viable Leadership in Africa: In order to realize the goals of NEPAD, African nations have put in place a number of institutions to manage their affairs. The highest being the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee~ the Afiican Peer Review Mechanism and the Afiican Peer Review Panel which is to make its recommendations to the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee. APRM provides the means to monitor the progress of African leaders in the area of economic. corporate and good governance in Afiica There can be no meaningful development without viable leadership. The goals ofNEPAD will be realized only to the extent that African leaders involve civil society and non-governmental organizations. For now, there seems to be less awareness and involvement of the civil society of African nations about NEP AD. The emphasis of NEPAD as 221 o f  t o d a y  s e e m s  t o  b e  o n  t h e  H e a d s  o f  S t a t e  a n d  G o v e r n m e n t  o f  A f r i c a n  n a t i o n s .  W h a t  t h i s  m e a n s  i s  t h a t  t h e  s u c c e s s  a n d  f a i l u r e  o f  N E P  A D  r e s t  s q u a r e l y  o n  t h e  s h o u l d e r s  o f  t h e  p o l i t i c a l  l e a d e r s  i n  A f r i c a .  M o s t  c o n f l i c t s  i n  A f r i c a n  S t a t e s  t o d a y  a r e  b r o u g h t  a b o u t  b y  t h e  i n a b i l i t y  o f  i t s  l e a d e r s  t o  e v o l v e  s o u n d  p o l i c i e s  a n d  p r o g r a m s  d e v o i d  o f  b i t t e r n e s s  a n d  s e l f - g r a t i f i c a t i o n .  T h e  r e s u l t  i s  e t h n i c  r e v o l t  a n d  b i t t e r  c i v i l  w a r s .  I n  q u o t i n g  a  F r e n c h  d i p l o m a t ,  C h a r l e s  M a u r i c e  d e  T a l l e y r a n d - P e r i g o r d ,  E m e k a  A n y a o k u  s a i d :  " T h e y  h a v e  l e a r n t  n o t h i n g  a n d  f o r g o t t e n  n o t h i n g " .  H e  w e n t  f u r t h e r  t o  s t a t e  t h a t  d e m o c r a c y  c a m 1 o t  s u r v i v e  i n  a n  e n v i r o n m e n t  w h e r e  e l e c t e d  p o l i t i c i a n s  d o  n o t  a l w a y s  r e m a i n  m i n d f u l  o f  t h e  i m p a c t  o f  t h e i r  a c t i o n s ,  i n c l u d i n g  t h e  l a w s  t h e y  p a s s  o n  t h e  p e o p l e ' s  f a i t h  i n  t h e  d e m o c r a t i c  p r o c e s s .  I n  t h e  a r e a  o f  f o r e i g n  i n v e s t m e n t s  i n t o  A f r i c a  w h i c h  i s  o n e  o f  t h e  a r e a s  i n  w h i c h  t h e  g o a l s  o f  N E P  A D  c a n  b e  a c h i e v e d ,  i t  w i l l  r e q u i r e  l e a d e r s  i n  A f r i c a  w i t h  t h e  p o l i t i c a l  w i l l  t o  p u t  i n  p l a c e  t h e  f r a m e w o r k  n e e d e d  t o  a t t r a c t  t h e m .  T h e  f r a m e w o r k  m a y  i n c l u d e  g o o d w i l l  o n  t h e  p a r t  o f  t h e  l e a d e r s  i n  t h e  i n t e r n a t i o n a l  c o m m u n i t y ,  a  p r o p e r  s e c u r i t y  n e t w o r k  t o  p r o t e c t  l i v e s  a n d  p r o p e r t i e s ,  a  g o o d  busines~ c l i m a t e  d e v o i d  o f  c o r r u p t  t e n d e n c i e s  a n d  a  p r o p e r  f r a m e  o f  m i n d  o n  t h e  p a r t  o f  t h e  c i t i z e n s  t o w a r d s  f o r e i g n  i n v e s t o r s .  A s  p o i n t e d  o u t  b y  M o h i d d e n  t h e  r e c u r r e n t  n e g a t i v e  f e e l i n g s  a b o u t  A f r i c a  a s  a  c o n t i n e n t  o f  d e s p o t s  a n d  d e e p  i n  t r o u b l e s  p o r t r a y s  t h e  p e o p l e  a s  u n a b l e  t o  s o l v e  t h e i r  o w n  p r o b l e m s .  N o  d o u b t  t h i s  w i l l  f u r t h e r  r e d u c e  t h e  c h a n c e s  o f  A f r i c a  r e c e i v i n g  t h e  n e c e s s a r y  e x t e r n a l  f i n a n c i a l  a n d  t e c h n o l o g i c a l  s u p p o r t  f o r  t h e  r e a l i z a t i o n  o f  t h e  g o a l s  o f  N E P A D .  H e  w e n t  f u r t h e r  t o  s t a t e  t h a t  A f r i c a  r e q u i r e s  n e w  l e a d e r s  a n d  s t y l e s  o f  l e a d e r s h i p  t h a t  a r e  c o m p e t e n t ,  h o n e s t ,  v i s i o n a r y  a n d  c o m m i t t e d ,  a n d  t h a t  c a n  s t e e r  A f r i c a  a w a y  f r o m  t h e  v i c i o u s  2 2 8  circles of hunger, poverty, deprivation, underdevelopment, corruption and the scourge of HIV I AIDS and malaria. For African leaders to have the full support of the international community towards realizing the goals of NEPAD, they have to develop the political will to fight the authoritarian tendencies and corrupt practices that have eaten deep into the African political environment. To Alhaji Masari, Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, it was of great concern to learn that Nigeria has over US $170 billion dollars kept abroad in foreign banks, yet the nation is yearning daily for investable funds. To him, the figure represented about five times Nigeria's foreign debt, and this is associated with public sector corruption. Debt Relief According to World Bank estimates, sub-Saharan Africa's total debt stock was nearly US $209 billion at the year's end in 2001. The debt burden is another issue that may prevent African states from contributing their part financially to the goals ofNEPAD. We hope that the introduction of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative will help to take care of this. Debt Forgiveness The current wave of democratization in Afi·ica no doubt is yielding dividends. According to the deputy foreign minister of Russia, from 1998 to 2002, Russia wrote otf the debts of African nations to the tune of US $11.2 billion including US $3.4 billion in 2002. He went further to say that relieving African nations of their debt burden has become Russia's priority contribution to the development of the continent. 229 T h e  C h a l l e n g e  t o  A f r i c a n  L e a d e r s  T o  w h a t  e x t e n t  c a n  t h e  A P R M  g o  i n  m a k i n g  A f r i c a n  l e a d e r s  c o n f o r m  a n d  b e  r e s p o n s i v e  t o  t h e  n o r m s  o f  g o o d  g o v e r n a n c e  i n  o r d e r  t o  e n c o u r a g e  t h e  i n t e r n a t i o n a l  c o m m u n i t y  t o  w h o l e h e a r t e d l y  c o n t r i b u t e  t h e i r  p a r t  f i n a n c i a l l y  t o w a r d s  t h e  r e a l i z a t i o n  o f  t h e  g o a l s  o f  N E P A D ?  I n  a  l e c t u r e  d e l i v e r e d  b y  t h e  P r e s i d e n t ,  C h i e f  O b a s a n j o ,  h e  s a i d  t h u s :  I n  t h e  p u r s u i t  o f  g o o d  g o v e r n a n c e ,  w e  h a v e  i n t r o d u c e d  a  u n i q u e  s c h e m e  c a l l e d  t h e  A f r i c a n  P e e r  R e v i e w  M e c h a n i s m  ( A P R M )  w h e r e b y  w e  c a n  p e e r  r e v i e w  o u r s e l v e s .  l n  o t h e r  w o r d s .  w e  c a n  a s s i s t ,  w e  c a n  p r e s s u r i z e  o n e  a n o t h e r ,  w e  c a n  l e a r n  t h e  b e s t  p r a c t i c e s  f r o m  t h e  o t h e r .  w e  w i l l  s e t  s t a n d a r d s  t h a t  w i l l  g o v e r n  t h e  p e r f o r m a n c e  o f  e a c h  n a t i o n .  S o u n d  a s  t h e  a b o v e  s t a t e m e n t  m a y  s e e m .  t h e  c h a l l e n g e  i s  o n  t h e  e x t e n t  t o  w h i c h  A f r i c a n  l e a d e r s  a r e  r e a d y  t o  g o  t o  p r e s s u r i z e  t h e  l e a d e r  o f  a n  i n d e p e n d e n t  s t a t e  t o  a c t  i n  a  p a r t i c u l a r  w a y .  c o n s i d e r e d  t o  b e  t h e  b e s t  i n  t h e  v i e w  o f  t h e  i n t e r n a t i o n a l  c o m m u n i t y .  T h e  W a y  F o r w a r d  A f r i c a n  l e a d e r s  c a n  b r i n g  a b o u t  g o o d  g o v e r n a n c e  o n  t h e  c o n t i n e n t  b y  i s o l a t i n g  t h o s e  r e c a l c i t r a n t  l e a d e r s  w h o .  f o r  r e a s o n s  b e s t  k n o w n  t o  t h e m ,  w i l l  n o t  w a n t  t o  c o n f o r m  t o  t h e  d i c t a t e s  o f  t h e  A f r i c a n  p e e r  r e v i e w  p r o c e s s .  H o w e v e r ,  w e  m u s t  n o t  u n d e r e s t i m a t e  t h e  f a c t  t h a t  t h e  b a d  b e h a v i o u r  o f  o n e  l e a d e r  i n  A f r i c a  c a n  a f f e c t  t h e  b e h a v i o u r  o f  f o r e i g n  d o n o r s  t o w a r d s  t h e  f i n a n c i a l  g o a l s  o f N E P A D .  2 3 0  Conclusion and Recommendations This paper looked at the place of viable leadership in Africa in the realization of the goals of NEPAD. The study identified factors like corruption, authoritarian rule and despotic tendencies on the part of African leaders as possible set-backs that could hinder the goals of NEPAD. When we look at the ideals or initiatives of NEPAD, there is no doubt that the African continent is capable of moving forward. However, when one looks at the challenges of leadership in Africa, we may be tempted to take the position that the majority of African leaders. by their attitude, orientation and disposition, may not allow the goals of NEP AD to be achieved. Should we give up? African leaders should, as a matter of importance involve the civil society in every area of NEPAD if its goals are to be realized. Leaders will go and other sets of leaders will come, but the people remain. African leaders should be more proactive in the area of putting their fellow leaders in check to avoid misrule and corrupt tendencies. The African populace should not stay aloof from the ideas of NEP AD because at the end of the day the people will actually be the beneficiaries of the goals of NEP AD. 231 

Viable Leadership and the Goals of NEPAD

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Viable Leadership and the Goals of NEPAD

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