A former Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has called on African leaders to end the “supplicant mentality” of depending on foreign aid to solve the continent’s problems.

According to him, African leaders must expunge the development aid framework and “instead embrace the audacity in defending our rights and interests in global affairs that have eluded us for way too long.”

He said it is “demeaning” that African leaders are constantly summoned to the capitals of competing foreign powers to beg for aid and support.

The former governor made these comments at the yearly lecture of the Society for International Relations Awareness (SIRA), where he was a keynote speaker and delivered a lecture with the theme, ‘Africa in the Turbulence of a World in Search of Direction’.

Fayemi, who is now a Visiting Professor at the School of Global Affairs, Kings College, London, advocated strong visionary leadership for Africa if the continent is to find its place in the turbulence of the current global order.

“This is where visionary leadership must come in to help, in a forward-looking way, to develop a strategic, coordinated, coherent, and shared African approach to managing turbulence in the international system as the process of change gathers momentum,” he said.

Fayemi said African leaders must ensure that Africans are not made “casualties and cannon fodder” as various interests compete for advantage in the world, stressing that the hard-won sovereignty of African countries must not be compromised.

He said: “To rise to the challenge of the times, Africa must organise itself to develop and deploy necessary strategic plans, policy packages and leadership resources that are fit for the era of rapid and complex change. It is this task of policy and leadership advancement that must be addressed as an urgent necessity if Africa is to play its rightful role in the ongoing dynamic of change in global order.”

Fayemi explained that the world is currently experiencing transition to a multi-polar order, which comes with upheavals, challenges and opportunities. He said the continent must be prepared to navigate this new landscape and assert its interests in the world.

The event was attended by a wide range of stakeholders, including top government leaders, serving and retired diplomats, ambassadors, and representatives of foreign governments.