By Abdulkabir Muhammed
A former Nigerian Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries and former Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Dr. Godknows Igali has argued that Africa can rule the world if African countries are politically and economically united.
Speaking at the Foreign Policy Lecture Series organised by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos on Wednesday, the Nigerian diplomat frowned at the consistent denigration of Africa by the Africans.
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While acknowledging, in his lecture titled “Realising Africa’s Rising Importance and Significance in International Relations, Geopolitics and Global Finance”, that the continent was confronted with many issues, Ambassador Igali criticised those who “believe that things are so bad, so we should only talk about bad things.”
The scholar highlighted the potential of Africa as a great continent where civilisation emerged, its demographic factor, a continent with a skyrocketing regional growth trend and biodiversity, and being home to a vast amount of resources.
Igali cautioned Africans not to compare their countries with global powers that have achieved independence long ago. He also highlighted cultural diversity as a form of setback for African countries like Nigeria, which witnessed political instability 40 years after it gained independence.
“There were many times that Nnamdi Azikiwe told Tafawa Balewa: ‘We are one. We are one people.’ Then Tafawa Balewa reminded him, ‘No, you are wrong, we are not one. We are different people, simply different historical experiences, but we have decided and resolved to be one.’
“So for that to happen, there were little shakiness, and that was why the first 40 years were almost like wasted years, years of understanding each other, years of knowing each other, and we compare ourselves sometimes unfairly with nations that have existed for hundreds of years, for many years, which are still, themselves, trying to discover the champion. So those first 40 years, 1960s to 1990s, were very complex: inadequate political institutions, institutional capacity was very low for governments, persistent political instability, and a lot of changes of governments.”
The former ambassador, however, noted a few issues to be resolved in the continent, including terrorism, sit-tight democracies, insecurity, and corruption. He further argued that Africa had to be democratic to take its rightful place on the global stage.
“We, the citizens and civil society, must insist that democracy should be allowed to take root all over Africa. So that our people can be respected. The world can trust us to do business. That is why, in the past few years, several African countries have been privileged to chair the Security Council of the United Nations. Because we are more responsible. We are more predictable. And our diplomacy is now respected in the United Nations Committee of Nations,” he argued.
Ambassador Igali also urged the African leaders to unite to make gains from their several bilateral and multilateral agreements with countries of the global north. Responding to a question on power disequilibrium and interest as manipulation factors in Africa-China relations, he said:
“When we talk about the fact that countries like China want to take advantage of us, yes, they will, if we don’t get our acts right. It will be very difficult for a very small country, resource-rich country, to deal with China as an entity and not fall victim. If we have a strong continental partnership between the strongholds in the continent… We have Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission, but we need to strengthen our relationship.
“We need to emphasise more on the fact that there’s no basis and there’s nothing like competition; we are partners. France and Germany are driving change in Europe; they look at complementarity. How do I complement you? And I think that should be the spirit.
“So we can have a strong African Union that includes countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt, and we would take Africa through. And this is possible. And this was how the organisation of the African Union was,” he submitted.
The maiden Foreign Policy Lecture Series had in attendance Nigerian statesmen, including former foreign affairs Ministers and Ambassadors Ike Nwachukwu, Lawrence Obisakin, and Olushola Enikanolaiye; technocrats, civil society organisations, and civil servants.
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