…my prayer…is for God to give Nigeria and Africa leaders who have character, who fear God and love humanity. If they fear God, love humanity and have exemplary character, life would be good. Our continent would be transformed and the world would be a better place to live. I like the way the BBC broke the news on its
programme, Focus on Africa on Thursday. It said:
“And the winner of the Mo Ibrahim Leadership
Prize is… And there is no winner!”
I laughed. But this is not a laughing matter. There
is nothing funny about a damning report that
found no hero in my country and continent.
There is nothing to sheer learning that after
scurrying through the 54 countries in the
continent, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s prize
committee, once again, could not find one former
African Executive Head of State or Government,
who left office in the last three years, who
demonstrated exceptional leadership to merit the
crown. And the mouth-watering prize money.
No doubt, the assessment will have its margin of
errors. But despite its imperfection, it is sad that
no former African leader did enough to leave
legacies of good governance and elevated living
standards. It is depressing to learn that none
exhibited enough patriotism to leave convincing
evidence of selfless service. This is the fifth time
the Foundation’s award committee was returning
a ZERO verdict. Yet, you do not need to look too
far to locate the reasons. Greed, self-centredness
and extremely low appetite for monuments of
honour denied the leaders the crown. What a
shame.
Instituted in 2007, the Mo Ibrahim Prize for
Achievement in African Leadership has been
awarded in only four of its nine years existence –
2007, 2008, 2011 and 2014. Former President
Nelson Mandela of South Africa got the honorary
award in 2007. The four winning ex-Presidents
are: Mozambique’s Joaquim Chissano (2007),
Botswana’s Festus Mogae (2008), Cape Verde’s
Pedro Piers (2011) and Namibia’s Hifikepunye
Pohamba (2014). At US$5 million, and with
additional US$200,000 per year for life for the
winner, the prize far outweighs the Nobel Prize at
US$1.3 million.
Apart from the limitless opportunities that the
award avails its laureates, the prize money, to me,
should be enough to guarantee a recipient a
blissful retirement. But most African leaders are
just not interested. In a continent where leaders
have chronic allergy for accountability, where
some cannot distinguish between private and
personal treasuries, and in a country like Nigeria
where N1 billion (or $274 million) is chicken feed
to looters, Mo Ibrahim’s prize money cannot
impress.
But this is not just about money. It is about our
time-tested values as Africans. It is about national
pride. It is about wearing the garb of honour as
exceptional role models for the continent. It is
about continued relevance in Africa and the rest
of the world long after the laureate has left office.
It is about being right in the eyes of posterity and
favoured by the forces of history.
In Nigeria, we have had three leaders who, in my
estimation, could have won the prize – Presidents
Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. You don’t have to
agree with me, but to my mind, Obasanjo, during
his two terms in office, delivered on good
governance and accountability. But he shot
himself in the foot with his satanic third term
agenda. If he had not tried to manipulate the
constitution in his bid to extend his tenancy in
Aso Rock, if he had packed his baggage at the
expiration of his tenancy, he would have emerged
as one of the heroes of this democracy, and
possibly end up as a Mo Ibrahim laureate. But he
wanted to die in office. Please, don’t let President
Robert Mugabe hear this.
Only God knows the heart of man. But from what
we were able to see and measure, President
Yar’Adua seemed to have aspired to be on the
right side of history. But death, the debt of all
men, cut his life and tenure short, and the nation
mourned on end. He was one President in whom
most Nigerians were well pleased.
Before President Muhammadu Buhari took power,
last year, and began to open the Pandora box,
many Nigerians, I included, thought President
Jonathan was on a super highway to making
history as that patriot who loved Nigeria so much
that he did what many thought was a taboo in
Africa. After being routed at the 2015 polls,
President Jonathan not only conceded defeat to
his nemesis, General Muhammadu Buhari, he also
congratulated him! That unusual political
behaviour earned him worldwide commendation.
He seemed perfectly on track to becoming a
cosmopolitan citizen; a citizen of the world. But
with the mind-numbing exposure of his
lieutenants who had almost sucked Nigeria’s life
blood dry, stealing billions of dollars of our
commonwealth to service their prodigal excesses,
Jonathan lost it. Despite the current efforts of his
propagandists, the man’s garment still smells like
s**t. He lost the prize to his inability to rein in his
thieving lieutenants; that is, assuming he never
knew anything about the heist.
While marking its first anniversary at the saddle,
last month, the Buhari Government made heart-
rending disclosures on the mega looting that took
place under Jonathan’s watch. Lai Mohammed, its
Minister of Information, revealed that between
May 29, 2015 and May 29, 2016, government
had, under interim forfeiture of cash and assets,
recovered N126.6 billion; US$9.1billion; 2.5
million Pounds Sterling; and 303,399.17 Euros.
The funds awaiting repatriation from foreign
jurisdictions totalled $321.32 million; 6.9 million
Pounds and 11,826.11 Euros; while non-cash
recoveries (i.e. farmlands, plots of land,
uncompleted buildings, completed buildings,
vehicles and maritime vessels) totalled 239.
With these mind-boggling disclosures, and still
counting, would anyone be right to blame the Mo
Ibrahim Prize Committee for turning its back
against ex-President Jonathan? With stunning
revelations as these, awards like the Mo Ibrahim
Prize would be thousands of kilometres away from
Jonathan, even if he is not found to have stolen or
misappropriated a kobo.
The question now is: how can we return to those
glorious days in leadership when people sought
the greatest good of the greatest number of
citizens, and not the number of mansions and
billions in leading international currencies that
they can accumulate? To achieve this, leaders
must seek good name which the Bible says is
better than silver and gold. They must work
towards having good name and exhibit God-like
character in private and public life.
Character, like Dr. Myles Munroe espoused in his
book, The Power of Character in Leadership, is key
to effective leadership. Lack of character, he
posits, is the greatest obstacle to leadership
success. Lack of character, I dare add, marks the
genesis of all the chaos that we see. Leadership is
the compass that guides a nation’s ship against
turbulence and killer icebergs. It is the pathfinder
that lights the way for a nation and the lamp that
illuminates a nation’s path through progressive
and innovative ideas, effective policies,
transparency in budget implementation and
project execution, among others.
In a nutshell, effective leadership makes things
happen. If a nation dances Russian roulette all the
time, taking one step forward and two back, like
Nigeria has been doing since the advent of this
democracy in 1999, check the character of its
leadership. It is only a leadership without
character that would steal not only for today and
tomorrow, but also for generations unborn while
the majority of citizens groan under gruelling
poverty.
It is a godless leadership that pads budgets and
makes anticipatory declaration of assets ahead of
future looting while teachers and civil servants
are owed eight to ten months in salary arrears in
several states. It is a wicked leadership that goes
on unnecessary jamborees while people die of
hunger and preventable diseases under its nose.
It is a leadership made in hell that fritters scarce
resources while vulnerable people – the infirmed,
the aged, children from poor homes, and
pregnant women with limited means – lack
access to basic necessities that sustain life; like
quality healthcare, decent meals, habitable
accommodation and quality education. Indeed, it
is a leadership without moral force and clear
vision that turns the other way as its citizens
perish in penury and other ignoble
circumstances. Sadly, this is a common
phenomenon in Africa.
Therefore, my prayer, as I conclude this, is for
God to give Nigeria and Africa leaders who have
character, who fear God and love humanity. If
they fear God, love humanity and have exemplary
character, life would be good. Our continent
would be transformed and the world would be a
better place to live. Character, as Dr. Myles
Munroe insists in his book, answers all things;
especially in leadership.
Shola Oshunkeye is Managing Director and Editor-In-Chief of The Sun Publishing Ghana Limited. http://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2016/06/20/173442/ |
