Leadership: Africa Now, the Way to Go…

Rex Essenowo
Sep 3, 2018 · 9 min read

I am very passionate about the life of every human being on earth, the rights of every citizen, ability to work and live in peace, opportunities for successful engagements, decent communication of people and inter-cultural exchanges with great and positive minds, and more importantly, honesty of everyone who comes out to serve as a leader in our society.

At least for now there are tons od documents in every country expressing or pointing to the need to enforce human rights, respect and practice basic human rights, as enshrined in every constitution, guided by various Acts, charters and resolutions of the United Nations (UN) and other International laws, most of which African countries are signatories to.

But what happens when the leadership and institutions of a country is weak?

This is where we begin to have massive abuses, leading to corruption, suppression, insecurity and of course, poverty, as witnessed in many African and other countries around the world over several decades.

What is Leadership?

In this context, I don’t want to go into big dictionaries. To simplify it to the common person, leadership is about taking responsibilities to do something right for general gains. Leadership is about you and me; it’s about our visions at all levels, about relationship to people and things we care about.

Africa has always been a continent with hyper interests from all over the world; many with supersonic minds to grab. After undergoing series of historical eras, now Africa’s growth is placed on a fast lane, and all depends on how we are going to mange our activities, resources and time.

We have a population of over one billion two hundred million (1.2 bln) people; a continent that for many decades, people manipulated and raped, yet it’s still not over. Many still refer to Africa as the poorest, even when we know that the continent is very rich, full of gold and diamonds, natural and human resources but when we come to leadership, everything seems disconnected- Why?

World leaders watch closely and claim to be doing their best to take informed decisions about a continent; we swing from villages to capital cities, from regional economic communities to the African Union magnificent headquarters. We fly with hopes up to various organs of the United Nations and global capitals beaming with expressions and high hopes, but Africa remains on spotlight of the World Bank, Paris Club, G20 and many others, everyone talks about Africa, claim to be creating programs to save Africa, budgeting billions upon billions, making declaration, yet a whole continent is positioned like and object on the table…. Why?

My simple observation comes with several questions; Is this all well? Are we Ok? Can we call the state of Affairs in this modern world a “Status quo”?

Some may say we owe you nothing, while some say life is unfair but in any situation, we have to deal with it. Today’s Africa is full of light, hopes and aspirations, despite all odds, we must increase our frequencies in taking bolder steps to solve problems right on spot and from the tap roots.

There is nothing wrong having friends, forming partnerships, bringing in foreign investors and getting assistance in solving biting issues but in Africa, we must get it right foundamentally.

We can only change the future of our great continent for good with love and care for each other, most especially when the resources are at our disposals are properly managed and honestly applied for the benefit of all citizens.
We must strive to close the gap and eliminate poverty by all means, from Algeria to South Africa; Angloa to Nigeria or Morrocco to Mozambiqe, or Ethiopia to Kenya, the issue is one — Doing away with poverty through quality leadership.

Each period must be mapped out, within a time frame for specific actions, then we can move on quickly to the next level. Success in such manner means, we must first of all, outline the core issues, affecting our decision and creating most of the problems, because the less we solve our problems, the more they multiply. They multiply with compound effects because time and space are not for vacuums. In other words, when solving our societal problems, everything is proportional to the decisions we make, the time and actions we take.

Leadership Is Service:

Often times we blame our leaders for bad performances, unprofessionalism, corruption, ethnicity and even religious sentiments; despite outlined rules in our constitutions; the basic rule of laws, yet many leaders violate them with ease, despite the Oath of office taken and promises given when aspiring to the office. These awkward behaviors lead to violating the constitution and national laws, depriving fellow citizens their basic rights.

We must be aware of the fact that suppression kills great visions. And as such destroys the basic foundation to building a strong and successful society. Remember also that, “the revolution of the mind is beyond total control, because everything depends on when the time is ripe for mind bomb to explode”.

When we talk about developing Africa, we are talking about people who hold the key to the future, bearing in mind the fact that society building is a collective responsibility, African leaders must always remember that, Africa’s population as of today comprises of over 65 percent of the youth, and as such, “Policy making without strong representation of the youth is nothing but visionless leadership”.

A strong and progressive society cares much about how successful are the citizens, meaning that the youth, the working class, the pensioners and the leadership of the society must be constantly, in partnership for the society to succeed.

Policy of Poverty:

Many at times, I observe with serious concern that many of our leaders, tend to forget the reason that they were chosen, appointed or elected to serve in their various offices, unfortunately many with huge public funds at their disposals misbehave terribly, undermminding all consequences, they behave like colonial masters, or worse slave masters, against the very people and society that entrusted the power on them. Even colonial masters were very focus, optimizing labor forces and productivity and as such, they never took infrastructural development and technology lightly. They never toyed with education or staff trainning and they never risk the security of their investments, for these reasons, they were very sensitive to the minds of the locals, lives in their territories, the minds of their workers, time conscious and very focus on productivity; and as such they hardly fail in their ventures, milking the lands to the benefits of their respective thrones. Gold and Diamonds were not just rewards but signs considered to be the fruits of their hard labor and risks.

In today’s Africa, despite huge resources that we have, poverty is real and leaders must begin to feel very sensitive to these problems. We don’t need colonial masters any more, we need leaders who are true servants and civil servant who are not policy killers, we need active masses that understand citizenry responsibilities; all is connected, all interwoven in the partnership.

The issue of poverty in our modern world is a critical one, and when it comes to Africa, you feel a different bite, because of “the numbers”, the frequency in occurrences, the reflections in every moment. The more poor you see in the streets of our cities, towns and villages, the more expressed negligence on parts of our leaders. The show of leadership arrogance expressed and pronounced on the faces of people, even without a single word.
Worst of all, while immigration topics become becomes global hot cakes, brain drain becomes even more damaging to the continent. Doctors, engineers, capable hands and financial resources are evaporating; and all boils down to the leadership role we play.

There are many problems to solve, even with factured or half baked democracies, things are happening and Africa is growing; Africa is changing and the time is here for us to begin taking poverty more seriously than ever. We must deal decisively with every single one being given the mandate to lead. Be able to exclude leaders that have serious issuess like “Poverty of the mindset”.

This has nothing to do with riches, not about money and not about statues in the society. It has to do with the state of the mind and how adequate he or she is equipped to lead, no matter how limited or surplus the resources before taking over the position to lead. We must know the direction, the vision and the physiological state of his or her mind, how objective are the positions in relations to the need of the masses, challenges of the society and the modern world.

Poverty is like cancer to the body of a society; poverty is like Ebola, poverty is a devil and we must take it more seriously if we really want our societies, countries and our people to survive. Africa must be able to accommodate all her citizens, irrespective of tribe, religion or gender. That is, take care of all citizens, by first of all, working hard to raise the standard of living of the poorest in the society we live.

As we often talk about living standards, our focus must be constant evaluation of lives, pointing to the masses, the elites and the ruling class, how they inter-relate, how the feel for each other and how they care. That is the kind of partnership we must imbibe.

In fact, a progressive society finds solution to all its problems, How do you take care of the poor or the p] poorest in your society matters a lot, and speaks louder than words? I have said it time after time, No matter how limited the resources are, Social Security is essential in modern Africa society, in every African country, that with help a long way in curbing poverty

One of the basic foundations lies in Education, a tool that cannot be ignored in the modern world. Building a better future begins with a healthy mind and here, education prepares the mind and sets the tone of the mindset.

After obtaining education, what is ready on ground to accommodate the young graduate, so as to enable him deliver successfully to compensate the time and resources that were invested in his or her education. Just like accumulating problems, here solving the also bring complex and compound solutions; creating multiple jobs and many other opportunities for everyone.

These are serious issues and they are very real in Africa, they are real in our modern world; but all depends on how we approach them.

As Africa grows, the way forward is only with a healthy mindset of its leaders and people. People often say that every society deserves the leaders they chose or have; right or wrong, that depends on how we see our problems and how quick we get to the solutions.

It is my convictions, that every problem is solvable in our continent. Africa is young, energetic and there is a brighter future. Let’s turn on the light now and go for the best solutions because time is short for everyone, but for the continent and future generations, there are centuries ahead. Without more complications for the next generation, we must see clearly the solutions to our current problems at close range and get them quick just within our reach.
Then our true devidend shall be all inclusive economic development, peaceful coexistence and more progress, sustainable. That is the better future all Africans are scrambling for.

By:

Rex Essenowo
A global citizen, Pan African, Peace & Development Advocate. Consulting with bright minds of out time.

Rex Essenowo

Written by

Trade/ Investment consultant, Producer; BOT— NIDO Europe; Chair-NIDO Russia, HOD — Sology Logistics; Works 4 peace, welfare & sustainable development in Africa

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