Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, yesterday reaffirmed African School of Governance (ASG), commitment towards addressing a leadership gap through training focused on corporate governance, gender equity, and public-private collaboration.
Moghalu who made this submission at an information session in Lagos, explained that the biggest challenge facing governance in Africa is not just leadership but also followership.
He stated that educating both leaders and the governed is essential for creating accountable and effective systems.
According to him, “education is the key to transforming governance in Africa. ASG seeks to nurture a new generation of leaders by offering programmes that emphasise policy innovation, ethical governance, and economic development.”
He stressed the importance of training future African leaders to think differently, acquire new skills, and lead in a transformative way.
Moghalu, who serves as the inaugural president of the African School of Governance (ASG), Kigali, Rwanda, underscored the critical role of education in shaping both leadership and followership across the continent. He noted that poor governance in Africa “stems from a lack of structured leadership education.”
He stressed the need to embrace and promote African culture, noting that development must be rooted in indigenous identity rather than external influences.
“We have to learn governance in the context of Africa. We are Africans, and we must now think in that way, not copy and paste from other civilisations or other cultures. We have our own cultures,” he stated.
He further stressed the importance of acknowledging traditional institutions in governance, adding that the exclusion of traditional systems from governance has created tension, which could be resolved by formally integrating them in advisory roles.
“Traditional institutions and traditional leaders must be part of governance in our societies. They are a reality, but we continue to ignore them,” he noted
Speaking on ASG’s short and long-term goals, the president outlined the immediate priority as successfully recruiting for the Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) programmes, both set to launch in June.
In the medium term, he noted that ASG aims to have its first cohort graduate within two years and assess its impact within five years. “Over the long term, the institution plans to evaluate the influence of its alumni on governance in Africa and globally over a 10-year period.
He acknowledged the challenges of establishing a unique institution like ASG, identifying skepticism about governance education as one of such huddles to cross at the early stage of the initiative.
He emphasised the need for inspirational teachers and a strong philosophical foundation rooted in Africa’s history and cultural evolution.
In her remarks, Ngozichukwu Njemanze, Director and Senior Policy Adviser, as well as Chief of Staff to the President of ASG, said ASG aims to equip professionals in both the public and private sectors with interdisciplinary skills tailored to African challenges.
