Prof. Patrick Lumumba said Africa must shun money politics and embrace politics of ideas to attain its full potential.
The renowned legal practitioner was the former director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC).
He delivered a speech in Abuja on Monday at the 10th memorial lecture of Abubakar Saraki, NAN reports.
Lumumba stated that Africa will not grow as long as the leaders continue to throw money around.
The speaker said they had “perfected the art of appealing to the stomachs rather than the minds of the men and women”.
Lumumba warned that Africa will not “realize her potential as long as we are dividing our people along ethnic lines”.
He accused those in positions of honour and privilege of “dividing our people on the basis of religion”.
The anti-corruption activist said that the ghost of ethnicity, ignorance and poverty must be ostracised for the continent to prosper.
Lumumba urged African leaders to be open and transparent so people could hold them to account.
