On exceptional leadership in Africa

Recently, my attention was drawn to the piece published by Businessday on Friday 24 June 2016. The piece was titled “The Empty-Chair Syndrome in African Leadership.” The author observed that Africa’s rough equivalent of the Nobel Prize, the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement, was not awarded to any leader in five out of the ten years it was launched in 2006. But my concern is that there is no African nation at the dawn of this century without a leader or leaders superintending over its affairs. When it comes to evaluating most African leaders’ tenure in office, it is a sorry case. Why?

In Africa, most leaders rule with impunity. They marginalize their country’s constitutions with total disregard for the rule of law. Any analyst who has taken the pain to observe most African leaders may likely see their true treasure. Their perception of success, achievement and recognition does not match realities in the countries they govern. Thus, most African leaders fail woefully in both good and difficult times. It is not because the challenges of their countries are overwhelming. It is because most African leaders could simply not provide exceptional leadership which Mo Ibrahim’s awards stand to acknowledge and reward on five occasions.

The author’s article reminds me of a story which I humbly request to share with my respected readers. It is about a prosperous man, who, as a member of a boat club, decided to build a yacht for himself. While constructing the boat, he spent so much time and money on the yacht ensuring that the sails, cabins and riggings were colorful. The decks, that is, the floor, were made of teakwood. All the fittings were custom-made of polished brass. And on the stern of the yacht, that is, at the back, he painted the name of the yacht The Persona in gold letters. It is very bold, visible and readable from a considerable distance.

With all these efforts, the rich man saw little or no need for the yacht to have a strong keel, which is the part of the yacht below waterline. He was not bothered about the seaworthiness of the yacht. He was acting with the perception of the crowd at the yacht club in mind, that his colleagues at the club admired the boat. But he did not know whether they observed the part of the boat below waterline. The moment came for the boat to set sail. He was very confident that the boat was good. And that most likely, he may control his nomination in future as a commodore of the boat club.

Few miles out to sea, a storm arose. The Persona began to sink gradually. Not too long the boat sank. The boat would have righted herself if the rich man did not ignore the importance of the boat below waterline. During investigation it was observed that there were no life saving devices onboard. The rich man was lost at sea due to a combination of poor planning and arrogance. Today, the rich man is no more. He was foolish because the yacht was not built for anything but pride and the praise of spectators.

Flowing from the above parable, the owner of The Persona would have been successful with the construction of his yacht if he took control of his emotions and did the needful. Our leaders should always examine how they measure success in life in order to prevent ending up like the foolish man. Politicians will always present themselves to voters as nice guys, always friendly, and joking. But once voted to office, they disregard issues of people’s welfare. That no African leader was considered to have exceptional leadership quality in the last 5 years leaves much to be desired. It only shows that what these leaders presented to their followers and the world during electioneering does not reflect their personality.

Their persona in government should have reflected their character and the way they presented themselves to the electorate during political campaigns. It was their respective exalted offices that exposed their true character. No politician will promise the electorate during electioneering that he would encourage corruption and ensure that the constitution of his country is altered for tenure elongation. But when politicians in Africa get to exalted offices, most of them romance corruption, and fraternize with tenure elongation contrary to the provisions of their nation’s constitution.

But for leaders such as Nelson Mandela of South Africa and a few ex-presidents of Namibia, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Botswana, no former president of any country in the West African sub-region is considered worthy ofreceiving the award. In fact, no ex- president of Nigeria has been adjudged an exceptional leader to win the Mo Ibrahim’s prize.

A possible solution to the crippling decay of leadership in Nigeria requires every Nigerian to embrace change. Politicians need to change. Money politics must stop. If the sum of N1.0 billion is collected by a political party from a gubernatorial candidate to procure ticket for election, the politician will display kleptomaniac tendencies if voted into office. This is unsustainable in our political landscape.

As Nigerians we need to work on our national value system. Why can’t we have independent politicians run for government offices? This will give opportunity to focused and visionary leaders to emerge. Such political aspirants may be saved from intrigues and mischief entrenched in Nigeria’s political parties. Political aspirants must be vetted by voters based on their track records. This may require proposing a bill and thereafter, passing it as an amendment to the Constitution.

I sincerely hope that Nigeria including other African nations will be blessed with exceptional leaders whose tenure in office will be full of great works that are of immense benefit to mankind. And they will leave office gracefully at the appointed time as reflected in their nation’s constitution.Perhaps, this will enable them win the Mo Ibrahim’s award for achievement in leadership.

MA Johnson