Don urges greater synergy among African leaders

A lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Amaechi Akwanya, has charged Pan-African leaders to collaborate in order to surmount the challenges confronting the continent.
Akwanya gave the charge in his keynote address at a leadership conference on Thursday in Owerri.
The event was organised by the Pan-African Association of Scholars of Humanities and Social Sciences (PASHASS), a civil society organisation.

Me spoke on the theme: “Pan-Africanism, the African Union and those left behind”.
He called on African leaders to synergise in order to harness viable solutions to developmental challenges on the continent.
Akwanya, a professor of English and Literary Studies, decried the “developmental backwardness” in Africa.
He, therefore, urged leaders at all levels to trade personal ambitions for collective interests.
He commended PASHASS for organising the conference and underscored the need for huge investment in education as a catalyst to development on the continent.

“An organisation such as this should be supported and allowed to flourish so that with time, we can begin to chart the way forward.

“We have come a long way as a continent and people but critical analysis reveals a spate of developmental backwardness due to individualistic ambitions rather than collective growth.
“We have come down from where we were and we need to embrace international cooperation within Africa to unite peoples of the continent with the aim of collectively addressing concerns and reclaiming our position in the league of continents,” Akwanya said.
In an address of welcome, the President and Founder of the association, Dr Abah Ikwue, said the conference was convoked to address the dearth of quality leadership in Africa from the Pan-African perspective.
Ikwue, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, called on African leaders to harmonise ideas to address leadership challenges in the continent.
He condemned national, ethnic and religious divisions, describing the development as the bane of unity on the continent.

He urged scholars and political leaders to look inwards so as to identify areas where they needed improvement.
“We have gathered as researchers and scholars of the humanities and social sciences to interact and harmonise ideas toward addressing humanistic and leadership conundrums within and outside the African sub-region.
“All men are equal and it takes a combined effort from the Pan-African point of view to achieve the Africa of our dreams.
“I strongly believe that this begins with our readiness to bridge religious, ethnic and other divides as countries so that gradually, we can achieve the greater Africa of our collective dreams,” Ikwue said.

Supreme reports that the two-day conference, which lacked off on Thursday, was attended by a cross-section of scholars from various tertiary institutions in the country.