Ezekwesili: Without fixing politics, we can’t have good governance

Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, says if politics is not fixed, there cannot be good governance in Nigeria.

Ezekwesili spoke while addressing the pioneer students of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) on Monday.

She said it is erroneous to think politics has no relation to good governance, adding that both are inter-dependent.

The former minister said the world-class curriculum of the school would enable the students to break the norm of poor leadership.

“The point is that without our fixing politics, it is totally irrational to imagine that we will have good governance. And to those of us who in time past always thought that we just needed to do something about governance without caring about politics completely missed the ball.

“We missed the ball because politics is the foundation on which governance is conducted. Without politics in democracy, you cannot have governance. The quality of your politics will determine the quality of your governance.

“We should worry about people who, knowing that the citizens do not see the link between politics and governance, therefore provide leadership that is of no degree in excellence.

“That lack of leadership that provides and produces good outcomes ends up being a dominant variant of leadership that spreads across our continent. And so our continent is held down by poor leadership.

“We have designed a world-class curriculum that will enable you to have the seismic mindset shift that is necessary to destroy the dominant culture of subordinating the public good for private interest.”

She urged the new students not to miss classes as their attendance will show their readiness to serve.

The school is a brainchild of the Fix Politics initiative designed to transform governance in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.