By Sam Amadi
Leaders make history. They change the course of history. It is doubtful that South Africa will become what it is today, a bright spot in Africa’s endless nightmare, if Nelson Mandela did not provide leadership to the post-Apartheid campaign for democracy in South Africa.
Great men make history, argued Thomas Carlyle in his classic: On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History.
Arguably, great men and women make history. They make history while leading their contemporaries. The last World Cup has exposed the world to the beauties and bounties of the blessed South Africa. It was fitting that on the last day, the Mandiba himself was driven round the stadium to the delirious cheers of grateful humanity. What did Mandela do? He influenced the people.
He made them do the hard work they needed to do to inaugurate the new era of true brotherhood. He said never again and made it happen. He made ordinarily South Africans do the extraordinary thing of leaving in peace with those who killed and dehumanize them. This is transformative leadership.
In Nigeria, there was a leader who was a contemporary of Mandela. He jostled for the honour to be ranked alongside Mandela. He coveted the prime place in African leadership. When Mandela refused the second term this leader was asked to take the Mandela option. He demurred. It is not wrong that he wanted a second term.
But the point is that whilst his days in power outnumbered Mandela’s Mandela is toasted all over the world while this leader is detested at home. While Mandela succeeded in influencing the people of South Africa to heroic actions, our mock-Mandela endlessly infuriated the people. So what sets leaders apart?
Leadership has been defined as influence. Leaders are those who mobilize other (usually called followers) to do what they ought but may not wish to do. The power of leadership is to get other see our perspectives and willingly join us in the project. Because influence depends on words, the British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, argue that with words we govern men. So, leaders are communicative.
They speak persuasively. It is also important to note as another wise man put it, that your actions speak so loudly that I can’t hear your words.
Leaders tell noble story reinforced by a dedicated life. Part of our problem in the African continent is the lack of effective leadership. Nigeria’s guru, Chinua Achebe, noted in his classic, The Trouble with Nigeria, that Nigeria’s problem is simply and squarely the failure of leadership.
What is this failure of leadership? Many of our technocrats, especially those working with international development agencies, are tempted to attribute this failure to the failure of technocratic prowess. It is not. What we lack in leadership is the connection between rulers and the people. What transforms rulers into leaders is their ability to influence their people.
Many African big men are merely big men, not leaders. They have no influence. They can’t mobilize their people because they don’t even know their people.
The abundance of big men instead of leaders lies at the heart of the development failure in Nigeria and other African countries. These big men and women are a drag to development. They are not credible and do not engage the people.
Therefore there is little mobilization for development. Contrast this with the situation in developed countries where their leaders are able to make the people work hard for the good of their country. It was President John F. Kennedy who counseled Americans to ask not what their country can do for them but what they can do for their country. This signature tune set the stage for the ambitious landing of a man in the moon.
It is tragic that so many persons who occupy high political offices in Nigeria do not have influence with the people. Influence is not procured through coercion or bribery. Now that elections are around the corner, these big men and women will come from the woodworks with bags of money to bribe the people. When they get into political office, they make no efforts to remain engaged with the people.
They lack the disposition and the talent to speak to the people. This inability to remain in tune and in touch with the people is the defining feature of leadership failure in Nigeria.
Early this week President Barack Obama had a parley with African youths in Washington. Nigeria was represented at the event. It was reported that Obama charged these youths to dream and work for their fatherland. Obama recognizes that the future of Africa is its young people and he tried to mobilize them to engage the tasks of building their continent almost from the scratch.
As I read reports of the event I keep thinking why is it that only foreign leaders care enough about Africa and its troubles to engage the people. How many of our leaders have held such parley with the youths except it is for self-serving political projects like the numerous foolish endorsements from delinquent youth organization for irresponsible political leaders in Nigeria?
Why can’t African big men and women who bestride the world of politics and power consider speaking to Africans in the manner Obama did?
The problem is that the conception of political power disjuncted from leadership has disoriented governance in Africa. It is fashionable for Governors in Nigeria to travel to every useless brown bag workshop in a third rate American university with fanfare. Such governors will always have their media assistant send pictures of them sitting in classrooms with not more than a dozen disinterested students.
Such visits abroad are the hallmark of leadership for them. I find it particularly silly and tragic that Governors in Nigeria find more pleasure in travelling abroad instead of moving round the communities to see how their citizens live and influence them to better social behavior.
It is little wonder that as soon as their illegal occupation of government houses expire the people rejoice and would never bother to exchange greetings with them. I have meet former Governors of my state and I never bother to say hello to any of them. I asunder to think that after being Governor or President, fellow citizens will find me particularly reprehensive or insignificant not to bother to say as little as ‘hello’. That’s the price for not leading.
We can always learn from Nelson Mandela. He is not compelling people to put advertorials in newspapers celebrating his birthday. He did not ask the millions who watched the final of the World Cup in South Africa to swoon with praise.
He has no money to sponsor Hollywood stars to organize birthday bashes for him. A grateful world willingly sings the praise of a man who cared deeply about his fellow citizens that he exercised great care to protect their future. Some people claim to be leader but they don’t sit with the people.
They are just strong men and women. Their reward is that after they quit public office, they will be denied the cheers and adulations of the people. In power, they separate themselves from the people. Out of power, the people separate themselves from them.
Dr. Sam Amadi
Abuja, Nigeria
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