President Jonathan receives doctorate degree from GIMPA......and calls for responsible governance

By Edmund Mingle
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan at the weekend accepted an honorary law doctorate degree from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), as he called on African governments to live up to their responsibilities.

“Today, in this rapidly globalizing world, we in this region must use the State as an agent of change, development and progress,” he said.

He expressed the need for the governments to transform the State to be positively receptive to the yearnings of their people for integration, commerce and free movement of goods and services.

“Indeed the State must unleash the creative genius of our people, and their unbounded energy and industry that in the past centuries, gave rise to the Trans Saharan Trade and sustained our people for generations,” he said.

In his keynote address at a special Golden Jubilee Congregation of GIMPA in Accra where the award was conferred on him, as part of his two-day official visit to Ghana, President Jonathan, said the days when states dictated to their people, especially in the areas of commerce and industry, was over.

“We have a clear duty to ensure that about 230 million of our brothers and sisters in our sub-region live in harmony, peace, and security, and to pursue their trade and vocations without undue hindrance imposed by State and their agencies,” he reminded the governments in West Africa.

The Nigeria leader congratulated GIMPA on its 50th anniversary, and its contribution towards providing quality human resource for public administration in Ghana and other African countries.

He called on African governments to investment more in human resource training institutions like GIMPA, indicating that without the right competences and expertise, national development objectives cannot be achieved.

“The economic challenges that we wish to overcome, and the social transformation that we aim to achieve in our countries, cannot be address if we do not imbibe the ethos of professionalism and expertise in management and public administration,” he said.
He expressed appreciation to GIMPA for the honour, and urged the Institute to continue to cooperate and partners similar institutions across the continent to enhance the quality of human resource for the transformation of public institutions.

A citation accompanying the award described the Nigeria leader as “an icon of exemplary leadership in Africa.”

It also described him as “an astute politician, outstanding public servant, distinguished scholar, patron of peace and a true statesman” who served with distinction as Vice President before being elected as President of Nigeria.

The citation traced his achievements from his days in school, through his time as a university lecturer, his venture into politics and to his assumption of office as leader of Nigeria, saying with a tenacity, wisdom and integrity, “you have lit every path you have treaded, and made a difference in the lives of many people.”

President Mills, who also grace the celebration, congratulated his counterpart for the achievement, and hoped that it would inspire others in the region to aspire offer selfless service to their nations.

He also congratulated GIMPA for the milestone achievement, and gave assurance of government’s continued support to enable it to build on the gains made in the past 50 years of existence.
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