We Need Leaders Who Wield Policy As Blade Not Slogan – President Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has charged African leaders to stop clinging to their old habit of depending on foreign plans, saying the continent is in dire need of leaders who wield policy as a surgical blade instead of a slogan.

He lamented what he described as “the tragedy of our time” whereby African leaders do not only confine themselves to foreign blueprints but have also refused to emancipate themselves from client-state mentalities and governance by hashtag activism.

President Tinubu spoke on Thursday in Abuja during the Dr. Kayode Fayemi commemorative symposium and launch of the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement, with the theme “Renewing the Pan-African Ideal for the Changing Times: The Policy and Leadership Challenges and Opportunities”.

Represented at the event by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the President said, “Whatever our differences across the continent, one fact that can’t be eroded by our infighting is that we are in the age of machines, and we can’t fight our development dilemma with spears and arrows while the rest of the world is fighting the same battle with missiles and tanks. The world is not waiting for Africa to catch up.

“While we parse political rivalries, others parse datasets. While we litigate history, others engineer futures. The train of progress accelerates, yet too many of our leaders cling to old carriages. These are our client-state mentalities, our dependency on foreign blueprints, and our governance by hashtag activism. This is the tragedy of our time.

“The founding of Amandla Institute emerges as an antidote to this paralysis. We are here not only to generate more ideas but to create executors. We need leaders who wield policy as a scalpel, not a slogan. We need visionaries who see AI as a collaborator, not a competitor. We need a generation of Africans who recognise that Pan-Africanism, renewed for this age, must be rooted in actionable sovereignty.”

President Tinubu pointed out that it would be wishful thinking to hope that the renaissance of Africa will happen as a gift, maintaining that it must be built.

He regretted that for too long, leaders in Africa have outsourced their thinking, relying on institutions and ideologies that treat countries on the continent “as consumers, not creators,” just as he insisted that the youth must be empowered to innovate in tech hubs across the continent.

“But the post-idea world dissolves excuses. With the democratisation of knowledge, we must empower our youth to innovate in tech hubs across the continent, from Cairo, down through Nairobi, to Lagos, building unicorns without the permission of any gatekeepers. What they lack is not ideas but ecosystems—systems where policy, funding, and political will converge to scale their genius,” he noted.

The Nigerian leader further urged African leaders to “evolve from custodians of power to architects of platforms,” adding that their “imagination of Africa must be one where every government ministry houses AI strategists, where continental trade policies are drafted by homegrown think tanks like Amandla Institute, not foreign consultants, and where “Made in Africa” signifies not raw materials but algorithms, green tech, and cultural capital.”

President Tinubu urged Amandla to sell Africa to the world as a continent that seeks collaboration, and not patronage, stating that “the institute must become a command centre for the continent, turning thinkers into doers, policies into progress, and Pan-African ideals into lived realities.”

He continued: “My candid advice for the African youth is that you are the first generation with tools to leapfrog colonial legacies. For those of us privileged to lead you through this interesting time, we must never forget that our legacy can only be sustained by the systems we institutionalise.

“Africa seeks collaboration, not patronage. This is the vision I expect Amandla to convey to the world. We are not a testing ground for experiments but equals in co-creating solutions.

“As we honour the Fayemis, let us channel their restlessness. Let this symposium be remembered not for its eloquence but for its ignition. It’s time for Africa to stop debating ideas and start deploying them”.

Earlier in a keynote address, former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, said development aspirations and targets across Africa have largely not been met due to a multiplicity of factors, including inadequate resource mobilization and poor leadership.

He noted that the way forward, in the context of the establishment of a global multipolar order, is for African leaders to prepare adequately to position the continent correctly in order for it to participate actively in the determination of the global agenda.

“Our continent must pay particular attention to the development of the right leadership capable of defending and advancing our vast interests within the context of competing global players and in a situation of continuing globalization and institution of a multipolar order,” the former South African President added.

He expressed optimism that the launch of the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement will go a long way in the actualization of Africa’s ideals and increase her chances of participating actively in the establishment of multipolar order.

Dignitaries present at the event included the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; former Nigerian Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd); former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Governors Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti and Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo; Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; former Governors Emeka Ihedioha of Imo, Gabriel Suswam of Benue, Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, Chris Ngige of Anambra, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, and Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa; former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi; Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, among others.