Nigeria’s former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has declared that only leaders with strong political will to formulate and implement innovative policies in agriculture could make the desired impact towards improving food production and meaningfully reducing hunger in Africa.
Speaking during his keynote statement at the inaugural CGIARS Science Week which opened in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, President Jonathan also emphasised the importance of deploying science and technology in advancing agriculture and development on the continent, noting that political will is crucial in driving it.
The former President also counselled African leaders to devote more time to matters concerning the welfare of the people and expend less energy and resources on seeking to hold on to leadership.
He further stated that every African country has a rich reserve of qualified and well experienced experts that could deliver on the task of good governance, adding that it takes the right and dedicated leadership to identify and engage them productively.
The former President asserted that even when the leader is not a scientist, he should appoint competent people in every discipline who will deploy their knowledge and expertise to move the country forward.
Jonathan who was President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, further said: “In terms of agriculture, for the five years I was president of Nigeria we did very well. That was because I picked one of the best in that area as my agriculture minister. He is the present African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Dr. Akin Adesina.
“I believe that if you appoint people into positions of authority, not because you know them or because they belong to your political party, but because they are good and competent, you will always get good results. Some of the people I appointed as ministers were not even around when electioneering and voting were conducted. People like Adesina and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the current director-general of World Trade Organisation (WTO), who was my finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy, were not in the country when we conducted elections. But I knew that they would help the country, and I brought them in to hold various portfolios and that was how we succeeded in managing the economy of our country.”
On what African leaders could do to leverage research and improve policy implementation, Jonathan emphasised that research must be demand-driven and aligned with local realities.
While speaking at a side event organized by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, (IITA), he stated: “Policies that are not informed by the lived experiences of the people they are meant to serve often fail to achieve their intended goals. Another lesson is the importance of continuity—many research-backed programs take years to yield results, and frequent policy shifts can hinder long-term progress.”
He further charged governments to establish mechanisms to incorporate research into policy planning and execution while urging the private sector to get engaged in research and innovation as partners, not just beneficiaries.
He also advocated for collaboration between governments, academia, and the private sector to ensure that research findings are not just published but implemented for real-world impact.
