The Convener of Correct Connect Africa Foundation (CCAF), Father Aleakwe Odior, has stated that Africa's persistent poverty, despite its immense wealth, is due to a governance crisis fueled by the systematic dismantling of African institutions.
Speaking during a program to mark Africa Memorial Day 2026, themed 'Political leadership and governance in Africa,' Odior emphasized that Africa's extraordinary resources contrast sharply with its extreme poverty. He noted that talented young Africans risk dangerous journeys at night, not from lack of ambition, but because their nations have failed to create conditions worthy of that ambition.
'This is the governance crisis of our time. And it did not arrive by accident. It arrived through the systematic dismantling of African institutions over centuries of conquest. It was deepened by borders drawn to divide people and unite enemies,' Odior said. He added that the crisis has been sustained by leaders in government, business, and religion who speak of liberation while practicing extraction.
Odior, a Catholic priest, referenced the ancient Kemetic philosophy of Ma'at—truth, justice, and balance—as a governing standard. 'The ruler who violated Ma'at did not merely fail politically. They failed cosmically. They betrayed the order of things,' he explained.
According to him, much of today's governance in Africa constitutes a betrayal by that ancient measure. However, history offers examples of genuine African leadership: Nkrumah in 1957 declaring not just Ghanaian independence but continental liberation; Nyerere building a nation on Ujamaa, where development without dignity is no development; Amílcar Cabral warning against colonial mentality; and Sankara reducing his own salary and driving his own car.
'These were not perfect men. But they each asked the right question: Governance for whom? That remains the only question that truly matters,' Odior stated. He concluded that Africa Memorial Day was created to keep that question alive, refusing the comfort of amnesia and insisting that remembrance is not nostalgia but orientation.
