Foreword

The Dishonourable Africans is the second part of the essays on the millennium reflections on Africa. This essay is attempting to draw out pertinent issues and to raise fundamental questions on the truth and fallacy of the concept of leadership in Africa. In writing this essay, we have borrowed from history not as onlooker but as co-participant of the history to situate, as much as possible, in a rational perspective sense the leadership crisis and its consequent socio-economic effects on Africa. The choice of history as a tool for analysis is informed by the knowledge of the principle of cumulative effect of circumstances and interwoven events in the evolution and formulation of ideas and beliefs that translate into civilization. This essay recognises the interconnectedness of life, the cross-fertilisation of knowledge among different racial groups, and the inevitable impact of these exchanges regardless of its nature - mutual or forced - as they dictate fundamental changes in the cultures, values, habits, languages and other traditions of a society.

In other words, the current culture and civilization of any people is the result of the opportunities they have had to meet, to share and to exchange ideas, beliefs, habits, practices, etc. with others in the past. Without this cultural intercourse, no group of people is capable of changing from their age long customs and traditions handed to them by their highly respected and beatified ancestors. However, this is not to say that the exchange of cultural artefacts are always mutual or demanded, sometimes they are forced on a conquered people/nation by their conquerors. Notwithstanding the manner in which the exchanges took place, the outcome is a movement away from the hitherto established way of life into something new and different. Again, it does not always necessarily mean a beneficial change.

This essay recognises the inevitability of cultural evolution and the forces that prod and move people and nations in one direction or the other. In spite of these inevitable forces, this writer believes that humankinds have roles to play as it makes choices of either to resist the forces when they are negative or to embrace them when they are positive. However, before humanity can make effective and wise choices, we have to grow and mature to a level of understanding where we can discern and effortlessly ascertain the nature of these forces. Unless humankind has some understanding, we shall forever remain at the mercy and pleasure of these two countervailing forces.

The essay seeks to go beyond the physical realm into the spiritual or metaphysical realm because the writer understands that humankind is made of these two components. Therefore, any effort we are making to redeem humanity from its present waywardness without recognising the spiritual component of man shall remain a wasted exercise. Our world is in turmoil today because our so-called leaders of thought are putting all their efforts and emphasis on the improvement of the physical domain only. Since they neglected the spiritual domain, which is the core of life, the oversight born of ignorance has left humanity in chaos. Of course, there are great noises in the spiritual direction, but it is nothing more than just noises because the 'spiritual' leaders of the world see and use spirituality as a means to big business and to a lucrative livelihood for themselves. What is going on in our world in the name of spiritual growth and development is nothing but a perversion of all that is true and sacred.

This writer has no qualm to declare in all truthfulness that in order for this generation to move our world forward and away from the perilous state we are in, we must seek a path back to the beginning of our creation - to the very first principle that informed the creation of our world. We must painstakingly retrace the historical path we have treaded so far. We must review why, how, when and where the journey of life got derailed and thrown into confusion. We must do all these in order that we can reconnect ourselves back with the true goal of creation. Nothing short of this mystic adventure can ever bring peace, prosperity and progress to Africa or the world in total.

Introduction

As part of our millennium reflection on the problems facing Africa, we discovered that the question of leadership stands out like a sore thumb among several other social factors. From every region of Africa, the most important conclusion mentioned by every expert that undertook socio-economic and political analyses of Africa is, leadership vacuum is the cause of the tragic and intractable problems of Africa. This conclusion cannot but surprise the laymen and peasants of Africa who are aware of the large number

of titled, qualified, certificated men and women who, not only do they parade but do hoard as well the economic, political and social landscapes of African countries as their birthrights. Since each of these countries became independent from the imperial and colonial governments, these categories of Africans have jealously arrogated leadership positions to their names and members of their family.

The peasants or masses would have remembered that on the few occasions when their paths crossed those of the elites of their countries, they have been rudely put in their places with questions or statements like: 'Do you know who you are talking to?' 'Today, I will show you who I am'. 'I will put you away in jail forever for daring to answer me back'. This is why the peasants may seem confused that in spite of the vivid oppressive experiences they have had in the hands of the elites, how can the experts say Africa's problem is that of a leadership vacuum. The common people are bewildered and they cannot help but to ask repeatedly, what kind of vacuum? There cannot be a leadership vacuum with the large number of elites around. In their naivety, the people asked again, what about Chief, Pastor, Reverend, Alhaji, Mallam, Doctor, Professor, Honourable, Comrade, Wealthy Big-man? Moreover, they asked again with confusion written on their faces, if Honourable Wealthy Big-man is not a leader, who then is a leader?

At this stage, the experts rephrased their conclusion with some qualifications. The experts replied it is true that Africa has leaders, but only in names and titles, because these people called leaders are not those we can describe as responsible or honourable. Quite simply, they said although Africa has leaders quite all right, unfortunately, this group of people are the degenerates of Africa. They added that the people you call leaders have no iota of leadership qualities in their make up. These so-called leaders are the bad, the good for nothing, the visionless, the daft, the ignorant, the opportunist and the dim-witted people that mysteriously came out of mother Africa. As a result of the mental vacuity of these abominable people, the characteristic traits common to these feckless so-called leaders are of a group of people with base mentality that are perpetually driven by uncontrollable beastly desires. The experts concluded that these types of leaders often have large incorrigible tasteless habits that verge around gluttony, conspicuous ostentation, greed, hate, sleaze, arrogance and mendaciousness. From the lucid expertise description of the pathological symptoms of African leaders, the masses, quite easily, were able to identify these characterisations with the so-called leaders in their neighbourhoods. With the dawn of consciousness, the common people are now asking in every hamlet, in every village, in every city and in every country of Africa, what is the solution to this leadership fraud?

Here lay the greatest dilemma facing Africa. If those who are occupying leadership positions all over Africa are the incompetents, the undesirables, the nincompoops and the morally corrupt; and if experts have agreed that societies can only make progress at the behest of good and capable leaders, what then is going to be the eventual fate of Africa? Every analyst that did a study on Africa tells Africans repeatedly that the mobs that have commandeered the leadership status of Africa as their inherited birthrights have no leadership qualities. Does it therefore mean that Africa is doomed forever in the hands of the Dishonourable Africans? If it is the question of ineffective leadership, is there anything Africans can do to make the current African leaders effective? Alternatively, is it possible for the peoples of Africa to create new leaders for themselves as a new dawn arises in Africa?

In another sense, what are we really talking about? Who is a leader? What is leadership? What type of leader/leadership does Africa really need? How does anyone become a leader in any society? What qualifies any member of a polity to claim for him/herself the leadership positions of a community or nation? Can the true leadership of a community or nation be determined by the people or should it be self-imposed by a marauding despot or should it be secretly imposed by a clandestine inner-circle or cult? Are leadership traits of innate ability or are they products of personal development and cultivation? Is it possible for those without leadership traits to steal the leadership positions of their societies? What kinds of person swindle the people as they rob the leadership positions of their societies? Can proficiency in foreign languages or the possession of academic certificates sufficient qualifications to make any African a leader? Does a long or short travel overseas or a pilgrimage to the holy lands sufficient qualification to turn any African into a leader of his/her society? Is the possession of money or material wealth enough credential to transfigure any African with soiled hands and soiled conscience into the elite class of Africa?

(To be continued)

Yours truly,
In the spirit of truth

SAM ABBD ISRAEL