Wike Calls on African Leaders to End Aid Dependence, Embrace Home-Grown Development

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has called on African leaders to break free from the continent’s long-standing dependence on foreign aid and instead embrace home-grown strategies for sustainable growth.

Speaking at the 2025 Innovate Africa Conference held on Thursday at the ECOWAS Conference Hall in Abuja, Wike urged leaders to pursue visionary, accountable, and people-centered governance capable of unlocking Africa’s vast potential for self-reliant development.

Delivering a keynote address on the theme “Reimagining Africa’s Leadership and Investment,” the FCT Minister said Africa’s transformation would not come through donor-driven programmes but through indigenous innovation, courageous leadership, and strategic investments in infrastructure, youth, and human capital.

“Foreign aid, once embraced as a bridge to development, has too often become a crutch that weakens resolve and distorts priorities. Development cannot be donated; it must be built,” Wike declared. “Africa must now be defined not by grants and conditionalities, but by ideas, innovation, and indigenous strength.”

He called for urgent, collective action to redefine Africa’s narrative from one of dependency to one of dignity and self-determination.

“Africa’s future will not be given to us. We must build it—and we must build it now,” he said. “The question is not whether Africa can rise, but whether we possess the courage to lead, the wisdom to invest, and the will to unite. The future of global prosperity will be written here on African soil, by African hands, and for the glory of Africa and all humanity.”

Wike, who was honoured with the Innovate Africa Leadership Award 2025, dedicated the award to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian people, describing it as recognition of “purposeful governance and infrastructural renewal” in the FCT. He praised the organisers for acknowledging leadership anchored on “vision and accountability,” adding that Abuja’s infrastructural transformation under his administration demonstrates “what is possible when leadership dares to dream and deliver.”

According to him, Africa’s biggest problem is not a lack of resources but a deficit of effective and visionary leadership.

“How can a continent so richly blessed remain so constrained? Leadership is the fulcrum upon which the destinies of nations turn. When leadership is visionary, accountable, and courageous, even the most daunting obstacles become opportunities,” he said.

He condemned the “plague of poor and mediocre leadership” that has slowed Africa’s progress, insisting that the 21st century demands a new generation of principled, prepared, and passionate leaders with moral strength and resilience.

“True leadership is not about position or power, but about inspiring, serving, and journeying with those you lead. The leadership Africa needs must care rather than control, must guide rather than command,” he said.

Wike also commended President Tinubu’s “bold and difficult” economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and efforts to decentralize governance, which he described as evidence of “leadership that understands sacrifice for the greater good.” He noted that these reforms are already fostering fiscal stability and renewed economic confidence.

Calling for a new investment philosophy across the continent, Wike emphasized that Africa must shift from extractive to productive and inclusive investments.

“Our greatest resource is not oil, minerals, or fertile soil—it is our people,” he stated. “When leadership builds the enabling environment—stable power, strong institutions, and transparent policies—investment follows.”

He also highlighted Africa’s young population—70 percent of whom are under 30—as a “demographic goldmine” that must be harnessed through education, digital skills, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Wike further pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a symbol of renewed economic hope, describing it as “the modern reawakening of the Lagos Plan of Action” and “the cornerstone of Africa’s second liberation—the liberation of its economy.”

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