Africa needs liberation from rentier politics and politicians – Soludo

Chukwuma Charles Soludo, the incoming governor of Anambra State says there must be liberation from rentier politics and politicians to get Nigeria and indeed Africa on the part of development.

Soludo who made the remark as guest speaker at the first graduation ceremony of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) held at the International Conference Centre Abuja with the theme: “Emergence of Unconventionals’ said Africa needs a new liberation movement.

According to him, the first struggle was liberation from the colonial masters, but the second will be liberation from rentier politics and politicians, stating that there is almost a sense of nostalgia, recalling the mission and accomplishments of our founding fathers, especially as we contemplate the world without oil in Nigeria.

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According to him, much of the existing social order is founded on competition for and distribution of rents. Oil and the easy money that came with it destroyed the social fabric and the elite created new institutions and political structures to maximize their gains, but as the noose tightened globally on other rentier/criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking or internet scamming, many of the barons flocked into politics as the next easy alternative.”

Applauding Obiageli Ezekwesili, founder, SPPG for the initiative, Soludo said he understood that the school was founded to radically and deliberately transform the quality of political and public leadership in Nigeria and Africa, with a view to building a pipeline of value-based and disruptive thinking political class equipped with requisite knowledge and skills to solve complex problems of development in order to reposition Africa in the 21st Century.

He said the Dark Continent remains potentially the land of opportunities and could indeed be the global economic driver of the 22nd century but the time to lay the foundation is now.

“The second scramble for Africa is raging, with the Chinese on the loose. Africa indeed needs new orchestra teams and new songs. It needs to run at the speed of a thousand kilometres an hour to seize back its future and shape its narrative. The graduates of SPPG have onerous and daunting tasks ahead of them.

“For starters, let me suggest that the Alumni of SPPG should form themselves into a New Nigeria Network for change. As SPPG expands, an African network would emerge. Over the next decade, I can see a network of thousands of Africans who share a common template for redeeming our heritage. A Pan African movement may eventually take the stage by storm.”

“The SPPG graduates must literally inculcate and profess a messianic philosophy as the driving force behind their network. It is good to look up to a role model for continuous inspiration or let each SPP member carry the badge of honour and integrity everywhere.