A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has said the African continent must tackle the issues of governance and right leadership because getting them right will engender economic growth and development. He said this in Lagos during the launch of the African School of Governance, ASG. ASG came into being as a result of some leaders becoming worried with the challenges of governance and structure leadership in the continent, leading to two prominent Africans, the president of Rwanda, HE Paul Kigali, and the former Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, HE Hailemariam Desalegn setting up the ASG. ASG, according to the founders, has as its mission premised on three tiers to nurture leaders that will drive sustainable development vis-a-vis providing innovative public policy education, cutting-edge research, and a platform for policy engagement that fosters transformative governance tailored to the continent’s unique values and opportunities.
Meanwhile, the school, whose admission process began on February 1st and academic activities are set for September, has appointed Moghalu, a globally recognised leader as its inaugural president. Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Moghalu spoke extensively on the reason behind setting ASG, including the future goals of the school. According to him:” ASG is set to tackle the issues of governance and leadership systematically based on our three thematic areas. This is because with the right leadership comes economic growth and development. We also hope to train future leaders with a mindset that promotes our values such as equality, inclusivity, and public service spirit, among others.” Moghalu added that the earlier curriculum of the school currently under review, the calibre of faculty members that included former president of Nigeria, HE Olusegun Obasanjo, Managing director, International Finance Corporation and former Minister of Finance and Economy, Senegal, Rwanda president, himself, and a host of other prominent personalities, including the academic programmes, were machineries set in place to have a prosperous and peaceful Africa where purpose-driven leaders are equipped.
Speaking on the academic programmes of ASG, the former presidential aspirant noted that the school runs Masters programmes for young persons showing prospects of leadership, existing leaders or mid-level professionals, and senior executives. Also, the ASG president noted that the school, which has strategic support from world-class institutions such as the Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the University of Singapore and the Mastercard Foundation, boasts of culturally relevant curriculum and global engagements. “Our goals, therefore, in the short term, are to recruit class faculty and teaching faculty and get our campus, a six-storey building donated by the government of Rwanda, refurbished. For the medium goals, we hope to see our first cohorts graduate after two years of their programmes. This will enable us to assess our performance. Then in 10 years, we want to see the impacts of our alumni within their spaces, in the continent, and the world at large.” Moghalu said. Giving an overview of the programmes to be run, the Director and Senior Policy Adviser and Chief of Staff to the President of ASG.
Ms Ngozichukwu Njemanze, explained that ASG also offers fellowships and scholarships based on the need-blind process. Her words “Those seeking admission into ASG are to pay a non-refundable fee of 50 dollars. Then, they have to process, fill, and upload the needed documents virtually. We have these programmes on ground: Master of Public Administration, MPA. ASG flagship programme, a two-year full-time programme; Executive Master of Public Administration, EMPA, a two-year part-time hybrid programme; and General Executive Courses that run for two or three weeks. Others are the Young Professional Training Programme, six weeks and full-time, and lastly, the Senior Leadership Fellowship, a six-month residency programme.
Africa must tackle governance, leadership issues—Moghalu
