Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has said the responsibility of changing the political culture in Africa lies with the youths to achieve meaningful development for the continent.
Ezekwesili made the recommendation at the matriculation ceremony of the 2023/2024 session of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) in Abuja on Friday.
She said that the school was established to correct the abnormality in politics and find a solution to the quality of economic performance.
Ezekwesili said there is a dominant political culture and low-cost leadership across Africa, insisting that a new pipeline that would contest against such a monopoly is needed.
She said, “Finding solutions to the quality of politics and economic performance of Nigeria was her reason for establishing the school.
“We have low-cost leadership in our politics today, and you cannot produce anything from low-cost leadership.
“To correct these, we need to design a new pipeline that would contest against this monopoly political class that has a dominant culture.
“You can cry as loud, the next National Assembly, if filled with the same existing pipeline of political players, lawmakers will still buy new sets of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV).
“The next set of Executives, even at the state and local government levels will carry on with the same, nothing will change.
“You are a response to this hopelessness, you are the ones that will change it; we need a critical mass of people thinking with a mindset of service to the country and to the people at all levels.
“It is not about you, it cannot be about you, you represent an answer to the most significant answer to our problem as a continent.
We are in a place of competent anger that pushes you to design solutions; you have to be purposeful and intentional.”
