Former Ghanaian President, Jerry Rawlings, Friday,
identified the failure of most African countries to ensure freedom, justice and
economic balance for the citizens as the major causes of incessant conflicts on
the continent.
He also said that corruption had remained one of the
main weaknesses of the African continent which must be effectively checked, to
enable the continent achieves appreciable economic growth.
Rawlings spoke with newsmen at the
AkanuIbiamAirport, Enugu on his way to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka , Anambr
aState, where he delivered a lecture entitled “Eradicating Corruption in
Africa” as part of the Zik Annual Lecture Series endowed by Senator Ben Obi,
Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Inter- Party
Affairs.
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The former Ghanaian president, who ruled as Military
and Civilian President of the Republic of Ghana for over 20 years, said he was
in Nigeria again after his last visit in 2012 for the funeral of the late
Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, “to share few thoughts on how we can eradicate, contain or control
corruption on the continent.”
“I think we all know that it (corruption) is one of
the main weaknesses in the countries in this continent. And I hope to share some thoughts from my own
experiences and I can tell you that the lecture will be very interesting to all
as I will speak from my own experiences in Ghana,” he said.
Asked if he was satisfied with the level of economic
development on the African Continent, Rawlings said: “To some extent I will say
yes we are but taking a looking at the Egypt, at Tunisia and to a lesser degree
Tripoli, the countries looked highly developed but I guess the development must
have taken place at the expense of the rights, freedom and justice of the
people and that is what led to the backfiring.
“So, I think the best form of development is where
you do not do it in the absence of, but as a compliment of the rights of our
people. It is important that we make sure that things are grounded in a strong
sense of freedom.
“The political atmosphere must truly be owned by the
people. That is the surest form of
stability but everything is the collapse of the bipolar world. And
globalization has created an environment where most Africa is being assimilated
and most of that assimilation is being done not on our terms.
“What we can do to claim our rightful place in the
global trend is something we will live to see or we will work harder to
achieve.”
On the causes of incessant conflicts being witnessed
in most African countries, the ex-Ghanaian president said though they were part
of the burdens inherited from the colonial era, the unfortunate development
should be blamed on the numerous socio-economic imbalances which had created
much stress on the society.
His words: “Most of these things are related to some
of the unfortunate burdens that we have carried from our colonial era. The nature of our development has also not
redressed some of those socio-economic imbalances – the ethnic aspect of things
and it has created much stress on our societies.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it explodes in form of
conflicts but I can only hope that when true justice falls into the hands of
our people, not just fall, if we create an atmosphere that ensures true freedom
and justice on our continent, such conflicts will be a thing of the past.
“But when you have an imbalance in terms of
development or impoverishment of our people, naturally it creates stress on our
lives, and it creates an unhappy ending and that is not what we want. That is why I am citing the Egyptian
situation as an example and that of Tunisia for instance; you don’t develop at
the expense of freedom and justice.”
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