Former Tanzanian President Delivers NDC Graduation Lecture In Abuja
The Former President of Tanzania, HIs Excellency Dr Jakaya Mrisha Kikwete has on Monday 19 August 2024 delivered the Graduation Lecture for graduating participants of National Defence College Course 32. In his lecture titled “Democracy Beyond the Ballot Box: A pathway to Africa’s Unity and Development”, Dr Kikwete stated that the importance of democracy to development in Africa needs no emphasis as many indices and ranking have acknowledged thar. He reveals that the topic of the lecture resonates well with African Union’s Agenda 2063 which he says is Africa’s blueprint and masterplan for transforming the continent into a global economic and political powerhouse of the future.
According to Kikwete, the Africa Agenda 2063 was founded on seven aspirations namely, A prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development, an integrated continent politically united based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism and vision of Africa’s Renaissance, an Africa of good governance, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law and a peaceful and secure Africa.
He further added that leaders should be more concerned on how best to ensure that democracy in whatever form or name answers to the needs of the people. “Elections should reflect the wishes of the electorate. To appreciate democracy, one should look at the process and the results. Focusing only on results or process is being myopic. One common flaw in this respect is to focus on elections as the metric of democracy instead of looking at elections as a continuum of democracy,” he added.
He further defined Elections as a vehicle of democratization as well as goal of democracy and charged the participants to ensure that their 11 months training at NDC is deployed to the service of their nations. In his remarks, the Honourable Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar commended the commandant NDC, Rear Admiral OM Olotu for maintaining the graduation lecture culture. He thanked the guest lecturer for attending the graduation lecture in person despite his tight schedule. He described the guest lecturer as a thorough breed technocrats and scholar who led his country for 10 years as a democratic elected president.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commandant, Rear Admiral Olotu thanked the guest speaker for honouring the College with his presence and Lecture delivery The Commandant avers that the lecture has provided the participants an opportunity to listen to an experienced strategic leader on a selected topic geared towards preparing them to fit in any responsibility they might have found themselves after graduation.
