A seasoned Ghanaian academic has called on wealthy Africans like Dangote to consider investing in the creation global media networks such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Cable News Network (CNN) to champion the new African narrative.
The western media like BBC and CNN focus and perpetuate the negative image of Africa as a continent of conflicts, hunger and deadly diseases, ignoring some modern positive achievements of Africans. But Prof. Goski Alabi, President of the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), wants that negative narrative to be changed with the setting up vibrant Africa-friendly media networks by very rich indigenes of the natural resources-endowed continent.
She stressed that Africa should focus on using its films, music, dance, food and emerging technologies like social media to project the narrative Africans want, a story that every African would be proud to be associated with. This requires training a new breed of public relations experts and journalists to advocate and pursue the new narrative of Africa.
Prof. Alabi spoke on the theme ‘The Narrative on Leadership and the Role of Education’ at a symposium at the Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Nigeria, to herald the 85th birthday of former Nigerian President Olusengun Obasanjo. The event was chaired by Nicephore Dieudonne Soglo, former President of the Republic of Benin, under the control of Prof. Peter Okebukola, Chair of the Organizing Committee.
Among prominent speakers were Paul Kigame, President of Rwanda; Sheikh Shakbook bin Nahyan, Minister of State Foreign Affair of the United Arab Emirates (UAE); Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General World Trade Organization (WTO); and Professor Juma Shabani, former Director UNESCO Cluster Office in Bamako, Mali.
Prof. Alabi, who is the Founder and former President of the Laweh Open University College, said Africa’s past educational leadership has been built around the prioritization of primary and secondary education, to the detriment of higher education.
She said the leaders have built an educational system that disfavours skills in favour of certification. This system, she observed, perpetuates semi-illiteracy, and often produces certified but unempowered educated persons.
She noted that for Africa’s educational leadership to transform its developmental narrative, the phenomenon of prioritizing certificates over skill and attitude must give way to a complete overhaul and re-engineering of the educational system, the African mindset and attitudes.
She said in responding to all the development plans of Africa, from the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) through the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) to the Africa Agenda 2063, there is the need to echo “Leaving no one behind,” including the individuals who have already been left behind.
This requires, she stated, the deployment of technology and Open, Distance and Blended Learning as key vehicles. She called on African leaders to learn from the shining example of former President Obasanjo who established the National Open University of Nigeria about 20 years ago, and which today enrolls over 600,000 students.
She also urged African scholars to do more to develop their own literary materials for teaching and learning, particularly textbooks that rely on African experiences and cases.
She added that research should be tailored towards the strategies of the agenda 2063, the Africa we want. But this would require investment.
Prof. Alabi recommended that African education should focus on technology, skill and attitude. It must also prioritize the arts and the preservation of culture in a way that responds directly to the labour market and social needs of Africa while recognizing global trends.
The ACDE presented the African Strategic Leadership Award for Education to President Obasanjo for his role in promoting inclusive and equitable education for all, and prayed for good health and long life for the former Army General, who is considered Africa’s Father of Modern Leadership.
Credit: Graphiconline
