In African Arguments Richard Dowden reports on a speech by Oby Ezekwesili:
More here
It is not often you hear a Vice President of the World Bank calling for revolution, but Oby Ezekweseli did just that at the Royal African Society’s Annual Lecture last week.
There is an unwritten rule among politicians globally that they do not rubbish their rulers when they are abroad, but Oby – who would not describe herself as a politician – did not hold back.
We should have guessed how fired up she was when the former minister in President Obasanjo’s government in Nigeria and World Bank Vice President set the title: “Africa Rising? What will happen when her citizens arise?” You can watch her presentation here
She traced the lack of participation by the vast majority of Africans in their own development over the past 50 years which has left 70 – 80% of them absolutely poor. She blamed the “parasitic” African elites, not just for looting their countries, but for preventing any of the benefits of economic growth reaching their people. Her own country, Nigeria, is very rich but has some of the worst human development figures in the world.