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Perhaps, his name does not ring a bell and I have not come across it before. But recently, the former President of Botswana, Festus Gotenbaye Mogae, made headline news as this year’s winner of Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.

The $5 million annual prize with other additives was instituted by the Sudanese business mogul and billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, to encourage good governance and transparent leadership in Africa.

With this award, Mogae has joined the maiden winner of the prize, Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, as laureates of the prestigious award in Africa . The winner of the award is given $5 million over a period of ten years and $200,000 annually for life. In addition, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation will grant another $200,000 a year to causes of Mogae’s choice.

The prize is given to only democratically-elected former heads of states from sub-Saharan African countries who have left office within the last three years. Last year, the former president of Mozambique became the first Ibrahim Laureate. He ruled Mozambique for 18 years leading the country out of devastating civil war. The award committee praised his “achievements in bringing peace, reconciliation, stable democracy and economic progress to his country.”

Mogae won the award for his outstanding and exemplary leadership. The award committee lauded him thus: “President Mogae’s outstanding leadership has ensured Botswana’s continued stability and prosperity in the face of an HIV/AIDS pandemic which threatened the future of his country and people. Botswana (under him) demonstrates how a country with natural resources can promote sustainable development with good governance in a continent where too often mineral wealth has become a curse.”

The humble Mogae acknowledged that neither he nor his country created democracy but that he consolidated and deepened the cause of democracy by practising accountable governance, respect for the rule of law, independence of the courts, respect for human rights, including women’s rights.
One thing going for Mogae is that he has the moral and academic qualities that equipped him to lead his country to achieve the feat he is being celebrated and eulogized.

The 69 year-old is an Oxford University trained economist. His country is the leading exporter of gemstone diamonds in the world and a large beef exporter to the European Union. He has been the equivalent of a Central Bank’s Governor of his country as well as the Minister of Finance and Development Planning.

Botswana is among the few African countries that have never witnessed a military coup. Since independence in 1966, it has practised stable democracy and has had regular multi-party elections. Mogae came to power in 1998 and ruled his country for ten years of steady growth and stability.

He ruled for two terms that the constitution allowed. If Mogae were a Nigerian or Zimbabwean, he would have asked for more years to consolidate in his programmes. He would have no need to deepen the cause of democracy or have respect for the rule of law and human rights. He would have ruled with impunity and even act as the Lord of the Manor.

Ordinarily, African leaders do not need or deserve this award. Why must somebody be rewarded for doing a job he willingly and graciously applied for? That is the irony of this leadership award. But, nobody should blame Mo Ibrahim for instituting the award in the first place considering the incalculable harm bad leadership has done in Africa . He knew that the problem of African countries lies squarely with leadership crisis as identified by Prof. Chinua Achebe in his treatise, The Trouble with Nigeria.

The Mo Ibrahim award is his own way of telling his brothers and sisters (politicians) in Africa to embrace good leadership and stop this sleaze that has dented the image of Africa and its leaders before the comity of nations. He is indirectly telling the political elite that if you do a good job while ruling your people, there is a great reward for you. By so doing, he is indirectly contributing his own quota in the fight against corruption in the continent in a non-coercive form.

But in resource-rich countries in Africa , I do not think that this award would be attractive because of the level of corruption and looting of treasury that occur in some of these countries. This does not in any way diminish the significance of the award. I don’t think that the leaders in these countries are even interested in the award and what it stands for. Some of them have even appropriated more than the worth of the award from their nation coffers. Perhaps, what they may not have is the name and fame of the award as well as the certificate.

But, how does the award committee assess countries before arriving at the winner for each year?

The award is based on The Ibrahim Index of African Governance which ranks 48 sub-Saharan African countries by their governance quality. The index assesses national progress in five areas which together constitute a holistic definition of good governance, sustainable economic development, human development (health and education), transparency and empowerment of civil society, democracy and human rights, rule of law and security.

Besides, the foundation is an African initiative that has been established to, among other things, stimulate debate on good governance across sub-Saharan Africa and the world, provide objective criteria by which citizens can hold their governments to account and recognize achievement in African leadership and provide a practical way in which African leaders can build positive legacies in the continent when they have left office.

Really, the objectives of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation are altruistic and noble. Anything committed to ensure that African leadership excels would always be welcome by all interested in good democratic ideals. My interest in the award is not because of the financial worth but what it symbolizes.

Worthy of commendation also is the quality of leadership and personal example exhibited by the winners. Unfortunately, such qualities are very much in short supply in most African countries including Nigeria , the giant of Africa.

When will the African Big Brother, Nigeria , win the Mo Ibrahim prize for good leadership? When will my country produce a Chissano or a Mogae?

With the nation’s enormous human and material resources, we ought to have been in the forefront of the winners of this award. After all, we are the leader and champion in almost everything in Africa . That is why we are called the giant and the Big Brother.

But, it is a surprise that Nigeria should be at the 39th position among 48 African nations which governments were assessed by the Mo Ibrahim 2008 Index of African governance. We have all it takes to win this prize. We have the resources and men and women that can bring about good governance in Nigeria .

We have the capability to do what Chissano and Mogae have done for their respective countries. We have men of ideas that can enable us achieve the feat. What we lack is the political and moral will to do so. We are not lacking in greedy political elite who grab more national wealth than their families and their upcoming generations can effectively exhaust.

Interestingly, the five core areas which constitute a holistic definition of good governance are related to the present administration’s seven-point agenda, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Vision 2020. So, what is holding us back?

What we need to do now is to match words with action, eschew official corruption and personal greed. If we do so, we would indeed be at the threshold of producing a Mogae or a Chissano in Nigeria . It is never an insurmountable goal. It is an achievable goal because the resources to do so are not lacking and I believe the country is not lacking in quality people that can make us achieve it in no distant future. This can only be possible if our leaders deliver good governance to the people.