Improve Governance, Otti, Princewill Urge Africans

Abia State governor, Dr. Alex Otti and businessman mogul, Prince Tonye Princewill, have called on Africans to focus on the advancement of politics and governance in the continent.

The duo spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt during the opening of the first international conference on “Advancing politics and governance for sustainable development,” which was organised by the Centre for Politics of the University of Port Harcourt.

The conference, with the theme: “Politics, Resource Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa” is being attended by participants from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United States, Canada and Australia.

Speaking at the conference, Otti,who was represented by former Senate Minority Chief Whip, Senator Darlington Nwokocha, said development in simple language is the fair distribution of resources among the people.

“Politics is about people and where human withdraws psychologically from the field for reasons of disappointments and disillusion, what follows will mostly be in line of rein-seeking and system theft.

“The sad truth is that almost at a point where majority of the populace seek to distance themselves from the political process, electing to play no part, than choose the pattern of cheatry that has become imbedded in the system.

“You find striking evidence of this in the continued declining of voters’ turnout over successive elections, despite the rising cost of political mobilization,” he said.

On his part, chairman of the conference, Prince Tonye Princewill, said it is becoming increasingly clear that sustainable development cannot be achieved by economic growth.

Princewill said: “When politics is reduced as competition for power, rather than the platform for service, progress faulters. When governance becomes transactional, instead of transformational, development becomes a mirage.

“When politics, however is guided by vision and verifiable impacts and when governance is rooted in transparency, inclusion and accountability, nations rise.”

Earlier in his welcome remarks, director of the Centre for Politics, University of Port Harcourt, Professor Fidelis Allen, said how Africa manages its economic resources will determine the condition of the continent in the future.