Obasanjo Institute ‘ll Be Model For Africa, Says Ghanaian President Mahama

President John Mahama of Ghana on Tuesday said the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute (OOLI) has the potential of being a model for leadership capacity building in Africa.

Mahama stated this while inaugurating the 13-member Governing Board of OOLI in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

The board which has Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as chairman also has General Martin Luther Agwai (retd) as Director.

The governing board comprised of notable personalities such as former President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa, former President Macky Sall of Senegal, and former President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius.

Also on the board are President of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Okey Oramah; Professor Funmi Olonisakin of King’s College London; Ambassador Barry Desker of Singapore; Professor Patrick Lumumba of Kenya; Dr Kofo Obasanjo-Blackshire of London; Professor Peter Okebukola; and Vice-Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Professor Jeremiah Ojediran.

Speaking to newsmen after the inauguration, the Facilitator of OOLI, Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola quoted President Mahama to have lauded the institute “as a timely response to Africa’s enduring leadership challenges.”

He recalled his commissioning of the Institute’s headquarters in March 2024 and hailed the inauguration of the governing board as marking the “institutional take-off” of a bold Pan-African vision.

“I praise the high-calibre composition of the Board, comprising statesmen, scholars, diplomats, and development experts, as a reflection of the credibility and global reach of OOLI, founded by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo,” Mahama said.

He underscored the urgent need for ethical, courageous, and visionary leadership across the continent, noting that Africa and the world have high expectations for the Institute.

Speaking further, Mahama expressed confidence in the future of the Institute and affirmed that under Obasanjo’s leadership, and with the support of the Governing Board, OOLI would emerge as a global centre for transformational leadership.

In his remarks, Director of the Centre, General Agwai (retired), catalogued the physical and programmatic milestones achieved by OOLI since it was commissioned in 2024.

Agwai also outlined the major plans in place to ensure the rapid take-off of the Institute’s activities and its long-term sustainability.

Delivering his goodwill message, the Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Professor Ayo Omotayo, highlighted the significant role that NIPSS has played in Nigeria’s development over the years.

He highlighted the importance of quality leadership in national development, stating that OOLI was well positioned to contribute meaningfully toward bridging capacity deficits in Nigeria and across the African continent, and envisioned a mutually beneficial partnership between NIPSS and OOLI.

In his address, the chairman of the newly inaugurated OOLI Governing Board, former President Obasanjo reflected on his decades of experience with Africa’s developmental challenges.

“For more than 70 years, I have observed and engaged with the complex tapestry of Africa’s developmental journey. While our continent is rich in human and natural endowments, we have persistently fallen short in translating this potential into sustainable development, peace, and prosperity, largely because of deficits in leadership at various levels.

“Through the triumphs and the trials, one fault line has remained stubbornly persistent: the deficit in effective, ethical, transformational, inspirational and visionary leadership. This leadership gap has often been the difference between progress and stagnation, between peace and conflict, between prosperity and poverty,” Obasanjo said.

He further noted that the establishment of the leadership institute is one of his earnest responses to this challenge. “I conceived OOLI as a platform to raise and strengthen leaders who are not only equipped for today’s realities but also prepared to navigate the complexities of tomorrow.

“Today, I am pleased to formally announce that the Institute, which has received the blessing of the National Universities Commission as an affiliate of Bells University of Technology, is now ready for the full take-off of its programmes. This is not just an institutional milestone, it is a personal dream fulfilled.

“Our mission is clear: to equip leaders at all levels with the skills, capability, understanding, values, orientation and vision necessary to transform our nation’s individuality and our continent’s collectivity,” Obasanjo said..

The ceremony drew stakeholders from top leadership institutes across Africa, Europe, and the United States, including delegates from Burundi, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Also present were members of the OOLI Special Management Advisory Group (OSMAG), comprising some of Nigeria’s most distinguished academics and administrators.

They include former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede; former Vice-Chancellor of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Professor Nasir Maiturare; Professor Uchenna Nzewi of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and Professor Joy Eyisi, former deputy vice-chancellor (Academic) of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

Others include former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) and Senior Professorial Fellow at the University of Warwick, Professor Anthony Kola-Olusanya; Director of Academic Planning at Bells University of Technology, Ota, Professor Ngozi Arisa; former Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr Bode Agbaoye, and Dr. Biodun Saliu, also a former deputy executive secretary of the NUC.