Speaking in Abuja at a meeting on APRM inter-country experience-sharing, Dr Bernard Kouassi, Executive Director of the APRM Secretariat, said once the APRM is understood, participation by the various governments will be much easier.

He said the whole APRM process has not been well understood even by African leaders, hence the need to demystify the notion that it is a fault-finding exercise.

“There are best practices in Africa, especially the example of Rwanda, which are not being highlighted,” Dr. Koussi said. “We only see the bad practices that do not aid the process of encouraging good political and economic governance.”

Ambassador Aluko Olokun, representing Nigeria’s APRM Focal Point secretariat, said the process in Nigeria faced the challenges of defining and managing stakeholder participation in a complex geo-political federal structure of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as ethno-cultural and religious diversity. However, Nigeria has put in place structures to ensure APRM objectives are achieved.

Source : nepad news, novembre 3, 2006