Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof Kingsley Moghalu, has emphasised that education is the key to transforming governance in Africa.

Speaking at an information session in Lagos on Tuesday, Moghalu, who serves as the inaugural president of the African School of Governance, Kigali, Rwanda, underscored the critical role of education in shaping both leadership and followership across the continent.

He noted that poor governance in Africa stems from a lack of structured leadership education, highlighting ASG’s commitment to addressing this gap through leadership training focused on corporate governance, gender equity, and public-private collaboration.

“The biggest challenge facing governance in Africa is not just leadership but also followership. Educating both leaders and the governed is essential for creating accountable and effective systems,” he stated.

He stressed the importance of training future African leaders to think differently, acquire new skills, and lead in a transformative way.

Also, Moghalu stressed the need to embrace and promote African culture, noting that development must be rooted in indigenous identity rather than external influences.

“We have to learn governance in the context of Africa. We are Africans, and we must now think in that way, not copy and paste from other civilisations or other cultures. We have our own cultures,” he said.

He further emphasised the importance of acknowledging traditional institutions in governance, adding that the exclusion of traditional systems from governance has created tension, which could be resolved by formally integrating them into advisory roles.

“Traditional institutions and traditional leaders must be part of governance in our societies. They are a reality, but we continue to ignore them,” he noted.

Speaking on ASG’s short- and long-term goals, Moghalu outlined the immediate priority as successfully recruiting for the Master of Public Administration and Executive Master of Public Administration programmes, both set to launch in June.

In the medium term, he noted that ASG aims to have its first cohort graduate within two years and assess its impact within five years.

In the long term, the institution plans to evaluate the influence of its alumni on governance in Africa and globally over 10 years.

He acknowledged the challenges of establishing a unique institution like ASG, identifying scepticism about governance education as one of such hurdles to cross at the early stage of the initiative.

He emphasised the need for inspirational teachers and a strong philosophical foundation rooted in Africa’s history and cultural revolutio

In her remarks, Director and Senior Policy Adviser, Ngozichukwu Njemanze, said ASG aims to equip professionals in both the public and private sectors with interdisciplinary skills tailored to African challenges.