Nigeria High Commissioner to Rwanda Ayibakuro Peter Ogide-Oke says Africa is not yet fully independent because the continent is still languishing in poverty, corruption and bad governance systems.

African governments need much effort to pull people out of poverty and hunger traps, he stressed in an interview with Xinhua on Saturday.

"The Africa independence is not yet realized as long as our people are still languishing in extreme poverty and hunger. We need to get to the next level by fighting against hunger and poverty on the continent of Africa," he said.

"We shouldn't rely on outside Africa for food. Our governments should ensure that there is food security. Good governance and eradication of poverty in Africa is paramount in making Africa independent."

Ogide-Oke commended Rwanda for taking great steps in reducing poverty in the Central African country through the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).

When the poverty eradication program (EDPRS 2008-2012) came to an end, poverty in Rwanda reduced by 13 percent with 1 million people lifted out of poverty.

The government early this month formally unveiled EDPRS2. At the cost of about 10 trillion Rwandan francs over the next five years, the poverty reduction initiative planned for implementation between 2013 and 2018 is expected to bring the country to a middle income status.

The economy is set to grow at an average 11.5 percent during EDPRS2 implementation and the country's GDP per capita is projected to increase from the current 644 US dollars to 1,240 dollars by the year 2020.

The Nigerian envoy to Rwanda said, "Rwanda has done quite well, because for the past five years, the country has lifted 1 million people out of abject poverty. All our leaders on the continent should emulate Rwanda's efforts."

However, he pointed out that if Africans come together through integration and doing business jointly, the continent will be in a position to gradually reduce poverty.

Most of African countries gained independence half a century ago. The Nigerian government will on Tuesday mark 53 years since the country became independent from the British rule.

Ogide-Oke said, "It is not too clear if we are actually independent, but to a larger extent we are. However we still rely so much on people, countries, and organisations outside Africa so we cannot claim to be 100 percent independent."

In his opinion, the world has become a global village where some powerful nations have something to gain from small and weak nations. "Actually we are interdependent more or less, but we are not fully independent."

Rwanda gained independence in 1962 from Belgium.