AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT (AAPAM) AAPAM GOLD MEDAL PROFESSOR ADEBAYO ADEDEJI, CFR C I T A T I O N

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1 AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT (AAPAM) AAPAM GOLD MEDAL PROFESSOR ADEBAYO ADEDEJI, CFR C I T A T I O N Presented by Mr. Tlohang Sekhamane, AAPAM Deputy President, Government Secretary/Cabinet Secretary and Head of Public Service, Kingdom of Lesotho 1

2 THE RT HON. PRIME MINISTER, ROYAL KINGDOM OF SWAZILAND HON. MINISTERS HON. MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT HON. DR. PONTSO SEKATLE, AAPAM PATRON AND MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KINGDOM OF LESOTHO THE AAPAM PRESIDENT DISTINGUISHED DELEGATES AND GUESTS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I HAVE THE GREATEST PRIVILEGE TO PRESENT TO YOU A GREAT NIGERIAN, A GREAT AFRICAN, A GREAT INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SERVANT, A GREAT SCHOLAR, A 2

3 GREAT WRITER AND LEADER IN THE FIELDS OF AFRICA DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT, FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE HIGHEST AAPAM AWARD OF HONOUR AND EXCELLENCE THE AAPAM GOLD MEDAL. THIS IS PROFESSOR ADEBAYO ADEDEJI. PROFESSOR ADEDEJI HAS A RICH CURRICULUM VITAE AND A LONG LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT MAKE HIM TO TRULY DESERVE AAPAM S HIGHEST AWARD OF HONOUR AND RECOGNITION. I WILL HOWEVER BE BRIEF IN MY PRESENTATION. PROFESSOR ADEBAYO ADEDEJI WAS BORN IN 1930 IN IJEBU- ODE IN NIGERIA. HE GRAGUADED WITH A BACHELOR HONOURS DEGREE AND A PHD IN ECONOMICS FROM THE 3

4 UNIVERSITY OF LONDON AND A MASTERS DEGREE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION FROM HARVARD UNIVERSITY WHICH HE OBTAINED FROM THESE UNIVERSITIES BETWEEN 1958 AND AT THE AGE OF 36 YEARS IN 1966, HE BECAME THE FIRST NIGERIAN PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IFE, NOW RE-NAMED OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY. PROFESSOR ADEDEJI HAS HAD DISTINGUISHED ACADEMIC, MANAGERIAL, NATIONAL AND INTERANTIONAL, DIPLOMATIC AND POLITICAL CAREERS. IN NIGERIA, HE SERVED AS THE POST-CIVIL WAR MINISTER OF ECONOMIC PLANNING AND RECONSTRUCTION BETWEEN 1971 AND AMONG THE NUMEROUS INNOVATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS DURING HIS TENURE WAS HIS LEADERSHIP IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 4

5 THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS) IN AT THE AFRICA CONTINENTAL AND UNITED NATIONS LEVELS, PROFESSOR ADEDEJI WAS APPOINTED AS THE UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL AND EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE UN ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA IN JUNE 1975 AND ROSE TO THE RANK OF UNITED NATIONS UNDER-SECRETARY GENERAL IN JANUARY 1978 A POSITION HE HELD WITH TREMENDOUS SUCCESS UNTIL JULY AS UNITED NATIONS UNDER SECRETARY GENERAL AND EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA (UNECA), PROFESSOR ADEDEJI 5

6 WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR HIS UNIQUE INITIATIVES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA, AMONG WHICH WERE THE LAGOS PLAN OF ACTION (1980), THE FINAL ACT OF LAGOS (1980), THE AFRICAN ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORK TO STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMME (AAFFSAP, 1989) AND THE AFRICAN CHARTER FOR POPULAR PARTICPATION (ACPP, 1990). HE ALSO SERVED AS THE UN SECRETARY- GENERAL S SPECIAL REPRESETATIVE ON AFRICA S ECONOMIC CRISIS BETWEEN 1984 AND WHILE HE WAS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF UNECA IN ADDIS ABABA IN THE 1970s AND 1980s, WE IN AAPAM REMEMBER PROFESSOR ADEDEJI IN A SPECIAL WAY. WHEN AAPAM WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1971, IT DID NOT HAVE AN OFFICE UNTIL THE OPERATIONS OF THE ASSOCIATION 6

7 WERE CO-ORDINATED FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PERSON HOLDING THE POSITION OF AAPAM SECRETARY GENERAL IN WHICHEVER COUNTRY HE WAS BASED. IT WAS PROFESSOR ADEDEJI WHO FIRST GAVE AAPAM AN INSTITUTIONAL FACE BY PROVIDING OFFICE ACCOMMODATION TO THE AAPAM FULL TIME SECRETARY GENERAL IN THE UNECA BUILDINGS IN ADDIS ABABA IN AND THIS WAS NOT ALL. PROFESSOR ADEDEJI WAS A DE FACTO PRESIDENT OF AAPAM FROM 1972 TO 1975 AND LED AAPAM AS ELECTED PRESIDENT FOR 10 YEARS FROM 1975 TO IT WAS DURING THE TIME OF HIS LONG LEADERSHIP THAT AAPAM BECOME A TRULY MATURE ORGANIZATION. SINCE HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE UNITED NATIONS IN AUGUST 1991, PROFESSOR ADEDEJI SERVED AND CONTINUES 7

8 TO SERVE EXTENSIVELY AS CONSULTANT TO THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATIONS, AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS AND NON-GOVERMENTAL ORGANISATIONS AND UNIVERSITIES BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE AFRICA MAINLY ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES IN AFRICA. ON THE AFRICAN PLANE, PROFESSOR ADEDEJI HAS SERVED WITH DISTINCTION IN MANY CAPACITIES. FROM MARCH TO MAY 2002, HE WAS APPOINTED NIGERIA S SPECIAL ENVOY TO ZIMBABWE TO FACILITATE THE RECONCIALITION BETWEEN THE TWO WARRING POLITICAL PARTIES, ZANU-PF AND MDC FOLLOWING THE COUNTRY S ELECTIONS OF MARCH FROM DECEMBER 2002, TO JANUARY 2003, HE SERVED AS CHAIRMAN AND LEADER OF THE 54 - NATION COMMONWEALTH OBSERVER AND MONITORING GROUP 8

9 DURING KENYA S PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN IN BETWEEN, THESE ASSIGNMENTS, HE SERVED AS ADVISER TO THE OAU SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE TRANSFORMATION FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (OAU) TO AFRICAN UNION (AU). IN JUNE 2003 PROFESSOR ADEDEJI WAS APPOINTED BY THE AU HEADS OF STATE TO THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE SEVEN EMINENT PERSONS PANEL OF THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM (APRM) WHOSE MANDATE IS TO EXERCISE OVERSIGHT ON POLICIES, STANDARDS AND PRACTICES THAT LEAD TO POLITICAL STABILITY, SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND ACCELERATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AMONG AFRICAN COUNTRIES. WE HAVE LEARNT THAT SO 9

10 FAR, PROFESSOR ADEDEJI HAS SERVED ON THIS PANEL WITH DISTINCITON. PROFESSOR ADEDEJI HAS BEEN A STRONG ADVOCATE OF DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA AND OF THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS SINCE 1975 AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS DEEMED IMPRUDENT TO DO SO. HE HAS CONSISTENTLY ARGUED THAT AFRICA S PERSISTENT ECONOMIC CRISIS SEVERE AS IT HAS BEEN IS BUT A CONSEQUENCE OF THE POLITICAL CRISIS WHICH MANIFESTS ITSELF IN THE LACK OF DEMOCRACY, ACCOUNTABILITY, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND THE PURSUIT OF A HUMAN-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM. HE ARGUED FURTHER THAT ACCOUNTABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT THE FRAMEWORK OF A FUNCTIONING STATE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WERE 10

11 THE ROOT CAUSES OF AFRICA S PERENNIAL BOUTS OF INSTABILITY, CONFLICTS, VIOLENCE AND WAR. PROFESSOR ADEDEJI HAS WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED MANY BOOKS IN THE FIELDS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION WITH PARTICULAR FOCUS ON AFRICA. IN HIS CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGH A BROAD ARRAY OF SCHOLARLY AND POLICY-ORIENTED PUBLICATIONS AND INITIATIVES, HE HAS BEEN STRESSING THE NEED FOR AFRICA S SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION AND FOR GENUINE DEMOCRATIZATION BASED ON A HOLISTIC AND INDIGENOUSLY CRAFTED DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM. HIS PUBLICATIONS TITLED AFRICAN ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORK TO STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES AND THE AFRICAN CHARTER FOR 11

12 POPULAR PARTICIPATION BEAR HIS UNMISTAKABLE IMPRINT. PROF. ADEDEJI S CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEVELOPMENT THEORY, STRATEGY AND POLICY SUITABLE FOR AFRICA AND OTHER DEVELOPING REGIONS HAVE BEEN COGENTLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY PRESENTED IN BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT HIM AND HIS WORKS. THESE INCLUDE (i) AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT: ADEBAYO ADEDEDJI S ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES, BY S.K. B ASANTE, (ii) ISSUES IN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF ADEBAYO ADEDEJI AT 65. EDITED BY BADE ONIMODE AND RICHARD SYNGE AND (iii) ADEBAYO ADEDEJI A RAINBOW IN THE SKY OF TIME (His Vision; His Mission; His Life and Times) A BIOGRAPHY BY SANMI AJIKI. 12

13 AFTER ABOUT FIVE DECADES OF DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE AT NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS, PROFESSOR ADEDEJI ESTABLISHED AN ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS THE AFRICAN CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGIC STUDICES (ACDESS) BASED IN HIS BIRTH PLACE IJEBU-ODE IN NIGERIA. ACDESS, IS A NON-GOVERNMENTAL, INDEPENDENT, CONTINENTAL, NON-PROFIT MAKING THINK-TANK WHICH IS DEDICATED TO MULTI-DISCIPLINARY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES ON AND OR AFRICA. IT WAS BORN OUT OF THE NEED TO FILL THE VOID IN STRATEGIC THINKING IN AFRICA. THROUGH HIS ENGAGEMENT IN ACDESS ACTIVITIES, PROFESSOR ADEDEJI THUS CONTINUES TO DEDICATE HIMSELF TO THE STRUGGLE FOR AN AFRICA WHICH IS AN 13

14 INTERGRAL PART AND A FULL RESPECTED PARTNER OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY. IN RECOGNITION OF HIS MERITORIOUS SERVICES AT ALL LEVELS, PROFESSOR ADEDEJI WAS AWARDED NATIONAL HONOURS BY SEVEN AFRICAN COUNTRIES BETWEEN 1972 AND HE WAS BESTOWED WITH THE PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL AWARD OF THE COMMANDER OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC (CFR) BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA. MANY ARE THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL HONOURS WHICH HAVE BEEN BESTOWED UPON PROFESSOR ADEDEJI. HE IS A FELLOW AND PAST PRESIDENT OF NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND THE LIST GOES ON. IN 14

15 1982, HE RECEIVED THE INTERNATIONAL GOLD MERCURY AWARD (AD PERSONAM) AND IN 1991 THE ARTHUR HOUGHTON STAR CRYSTAL AWARD OF THE AFRICAN- AMERICAN INSTITUTIE. IN A FURTHER RECOGNITION OF HIS SERVICES TO AFRICA AND HUMANITY, HE WAS MADE AN HONORARY CITIZEN OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA IN MARCH, THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER, IN A NUTSHELL THIS IS THE MAN WHOM AAPAM WISHES TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOUR WITH ITS HIGHEST AWARD THE AAPAM GOLD MEDAL. HE IS A TOTALLY ACCOMPLISHED MAN WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED A GREAT DEAL TO THE PROMOTION OF EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA AND 15

16 THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE AFRICAN PEOPLE. RT. HON. PRIME MINISTER, I PRESENT TO YOU PROFESSOR ADEBAYO ADEDEJI FOR THE AWARD OF THE AAPAM GOLD MEDAL. 16