I recently graduated from the School of Politics, Policy, and Governance after ten months of intensive, rigorous, and robust intellectual calisthenics. In those ten months, my perspective on the significance of politics witnessed a seismic and paradigm shift.
Not only that, I learned, unlearned, and re-learned in painstaking detail, the many sides and shades of politics, and its intersection with policy and governance – particularly in the context of Nigeria’s chaotic, hot-button, and ridiculously unpredictable political environment.
From the disruptive curriculum that captured the essence of the three Cs: Character, Competence, and Capacity, to the globally acclaimed faculties, and to the unconventional evaluation method: Community of Practice, Capstone Project, 360 degrees etc, everything about the school came as a mind-blowing experience – one that is frankly difficult to replicate anywhere else.
My background as a student of politics (spent three years as a political science student in one of Nigeria’s top colleges of education), to becoming an ardent follower of both local, national and international politics, and a commentator (on several radio stations, in addition to having my opinions published in national dailies) at a relatively young age ultimately prepared me for the tough and rewarding program that received more than a thousand applications but eventually kicked off with four hundred students and ended up with just two hundred and sixty-two graduates.
The simple truth – that the quality of life in any society is squarely and inherently determined by the quality of its leaders – has been known for a long time; in fact, for as long as human records exist. This chilling and uncomfortable truth, for decades, explains why Nigeria, often dubbed the most populous black nation on earth and one of the most resource-rich countries in the world and Africa, a continent that represents 18.8% of the global total population, with a staggering one billion and fifty-three million people, have remained stubbornly stuck at the backwater of every developmental metrics, indices, and indicators.
For one thing, the challenge of leadership that rises above primordial sentiment, parochial prejudice, and personal interest has been at the heart of the country’s chronic underdevelopment – exemplified through economic hardship, increasing multidimensional poverty, disillusionment among the citizens, uptick in unemployment rate, endemic corruption, state-sponsored terrorism, and protracted insecurity, etc.
For the past 65 years, Nigeria and many African countries have tirelessly and ceaselessly wandered through the labyrinth of dictators and democrats searching for cosmetic answers to their many deeply fraught, multifaceted, and multilayered challenges. While nations such as Rwanda and Botswana have made remarkable progress in human capacity development, the rest are still caught in the web of underdevelopment, tribal politics, economic subjugation, division, and polarization.
How can Africa be rich in resources while millions of its people languish in abject poverty? Answers to this and many more tough and difficult questions of reinventing politics, reworking policy, and restructuring governance dominated much of the School of Politics, Policy, and Governance’s model, method, and measurement. Interestingly, that I combined this program alongside a master’s degree program in sustainability studies undoubtedly pushed me out of my comfort zone.
To ultimately cross the finishing line of this course implies that I overstretched myself, went beyond my predictable zone, and kept my feet grounded and my eyes on the ball. These past months have truly tested my commitment, dedication, and resilience.
First off, the acculturation week set the tone for the program last year in November and ended in January of this year. From the moment I stepped into the program, I knew the experience would be phenomenal and my perspective would be utterly transformed. Right into the course, we had our minds prepared, our schedule disrupted, and our time redirected. Either you’re fully in or completely out. No hanging on the fence.
But how did the school come into existence in the first place?
A walk into the past. As an accomplished public servant with decades of multi-sectoral experience under her belt, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili’s intimidating credentials at the Ministry of Education, Solid Minerals, and the World Bank made her the sort of leader with the lion heart. It is people like her that can start a school that challenges the status quo while recruiting brilliant minds into politics, policy, and governance in Nigeria and Africa. That extensive experience, global exposure, and powerful connection made her the most suitable person to start a school whose mission is to “educate present and future leaders dedicated to the good of the nation and ready to serve as stewards of the well-being of all Nigerians”. But she didn’t just wake up one day to become a founder; two incredible eureka moments transformed her perspective about politics.
One was the truth that emerged during her fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin between September 2019 to February 2020. The academy, for instance, had noted while announcing Dr. Oby’s award fellowship that “She will design a pathway for Nigeria out of its stagnant politics” after the program. That announcement was followed by a statement by her spokesperson, Mr. Ozioma Ubabukoh, who posited that “politics badly trumps economics in Nigeria and Africa broadly”. And that, bad politics and poor governance then combine to terribly trap the majority of our citizens in extreme poverty. In effect, Dr. Oby’s explosive research became the touchstone of the #FixPolitics movement, which eventually gave birth to the School of Politics, Policy and Governance with branches in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Senegal.
Anyone who has read enough literature about the problem of Africa will not blink twice in identifying leadership as the bane of the continent. Late Chinua Achebe said it in the Problem with Nigeria. Martin Meredith proclaimed it. Walter Rodney and the late Pius Adesanmi argued it. While Achebe’s diagnosis simply puts leadership at the background, late Adesanmi only added followership to the mix. Meredith on his part contended in his epic book, The State of Africa – A History of a continent Since Independence that “Africa’s primary problems stemmed from the legacy of corrupt and authoritarian leadership that took over after independence”.
For Walter Rodney, the problem of the continent originated from slavery, colonialism and imperialism. He argued in his seminal book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa that “Africa’s resources and labor were exploited for the benefit of Europe’s own development, revealing that “Europeans actions systematically drained Africa of wealth and stunted its ability to develop economically, politically and socially on its terms”. Of course, the School of Politics, Policy and Governance recognizes and acknowledges the pernicious effects of slavery and colonialism and imperialism on Africa and Africans but went on to design a curriculum that chronicles the history and complexity of the past, addresses the challenges of today and forecast the opportunities of the future.
In class, we learned that poor leadership and poor decision makers only represent one side of the pie while the recruitment process of those that lead reflect the other. In essence, to address the poor leadership crisis that has stifled growth and development, we must first sanitize the process that throws them up in the first place. This, based on data is never going to be a walk in the park.
But perhaps, the stark reality that manifested itself in 2019 elections where Dr. Ezekwesili contested as Presidential candidate of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) in addition to the shenanigans of the ruling class who worked behind the scene to thwart her ambition must have jolted her to lead the fight for the enthronement of politics driven by ideas, healthy competition, decency and common sense. My biggest takeaways are twofold: one, that Africa and indeed Nigeria has been abducted by poor leadership and poor decision makers who have in turn weaponized poverty, hardship, tribalism, religion etc for too long and for selfish gains. Emerging from the class, I have no doubt that it is time to team up with rescuers wherever they are, whoever they may be.
Finally, I also learnt the that kind of politics we play determines the kind of policy we will implement. The two alongside governance are coterminous and inseparable. Plus, the kind of governance model that will redistribute resources will be greatly influenced by both our kind of politics and policy. In essence, politics in this context can no longer be left in the hands of the same elements whose governance ideology is steeped in nepotism, favouritism, cronyism, tribalism, prebendalism and lastly do-nothingism. That to me is the upsides of the SPPG Audacity!
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @Upliftnuggets on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
