
Starting from the nuclear family setting, leadership has always occupied a position of incomparable status and stature. Where the lacuna exists, the negative effect on the entire family setup is always glaringly obvious. The father expectedly occupies this position in a typical family. In most monogamous settings, mothers do play supportive roles as there is hardly any hiding place for any recalcitrant child.
This is very much unlike what obtains in polygamous settings where each mother tends to be overprotective of her own children. When and if the father scolds such a favoured child, the mother is usually at hand to invite her ‘Ọkọ mi’ (my ‘husband’ as if substituting the belligerent child for her real husband) to the corner of her room and rub her palm on his or her head as if telling the child not to mind the father. He is the ‘Idiagbọn’ of the home!
Unfortunately, where the role of a father is lacking in a typical family setting, it takes the grace of God for the children to live and attain the position of their peers who passed through stricter processes to achieve something that is worth the while in the community. The same effect is universally felt in settings where leadership is considered a ‘sine qua non’ for growth and other ancillary advancements. Little wonder Ebenezer Remilekun Obey Fabiyi (a.k.a. Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey) sang: ‘Ó dá mi lójú pé, ilú kìí wà, láìlólórí’! In other words, a community in the true sense of the word must have a head or leader. Communities, societies, football clubs, councils, States, countries, etc, all have leaders.
What distinguishes most of the societies that record the highest number of human migration is provision of good governance, apparently, by good leadership. Conversely, the common denominator among the countries that record the highest number of emigration is a lack of good governance. This is the bane of most of the countries in Africa.
Take Nigeria as an example. The country is endowed with natural resources that very many other countries would have loved to have, but are unfortunately denied. In some other parts of the world, they suffer from a lot of natural disasters at various times. This is not the case in Nigeria. Our equivalent of natural disasters in Nigeria are most of our political leaders. They are greedy, selfish, avaricious, shameless, and carefree. They graduate from ‘Awalokan’ (it is our turn) to ‘Awalawanbẹ’ (we are there now) with reckless abandon. This is antithetical to the teachings and tenets of good leadership.
A lot has been said in relation to the rains of Executive Orders courtesy the returning POTUS. ‘Ìpadàbò Abìjà’! (The second advent of Abija)! The most prominent and controversial of those Executive Orders are those that have direct dire consequences on immigration and citizenship. Truth is that no serious country toys with these two. Uncontrolled immigration has a lot of consequences on socio-economic activities of any country. This position should not by any stretch of imagination be misconstrued as holding brief for the current POTUS. Very far from it.
Some writers, as well as opinion moulders, have said a lot about democracy and America since the country returned Donald Trump to the White House. The relevant question is whether the definition of democracy has changed from what it used to be either during the ‘Civics’ days in the primary school or ‘Government’ in secondary and post-secondary schools days. Democracy, in its simplest form, has always been defined as a system of government whereby citizens freely choose people who should rule over them. In other words, it is a government of the majority who vote at an election. It does not matter what manner of people constitute the majority. By logical extension, going by strict adherence to the definition of democracy, a felon, crook, convict and ex-convict, drug baron, nitwit imbecile, name it, can be elected into a very important political office. He does not need the support of the best to accomplish his ambition because democracy has never been defined as a government of the best or the Saints! All that he needs is a group of people who belong to his own derelict camp to go out and cast their votes on election date. That such an elected person suffers from both character and integrity deficits is never a consideration! What is of utmost importance is that he or she is the people’s free choice!
In view of this, Americans, whether in their wisdom or otherwise, have chosen whom they want to lead them for a little less than four years from today. We should, therefore, allow them to lie on their bed the way they have laid it. I suspect that if those carrying placards now have trooped out with their voters’ cards on the day of the election, one stitch of theirs would have saved at least nine. It appears rather too late to embark on any protest against those Executive Orders now.
On the part of the African leaders, it may interest them to know that there is absolutely nothing fantastic in the developed world, other than governance in the true sense of the word. The leaders are mostly selfless, focused on good governance, less avaricious and deliver people-centred governance! The provision of basic infrastructural facilities would change a lot of mindsets. If African leaders can be more selfless and focused on good legacies as opposed to being powerdrunk with kleptomaniac tendencies, there’s no reason under the sun to run away from our very nice weather and delicacies to an unwelcoming atmosphere. The weather is so harsh, yet you must go out to work except for those who engage in criminal activities to survive. It may be that the time has come when Africans should start to make demands for good governance from their politicians. Enough of ‘My thief is better than your thief’! We only cry foul when we are at the receiving end.
Instead of berating America’s democracy, for practical demonstration of what democracy means, let us start to think about how to change the political narratives in our home countries. By so doing, no leader would be able to surreptitiously send less privileged Africans into modern slavery. They used to come for us, but now we thrust ourselves upon them. Could Donald Trump end up being the missing part of Africa’s leadership jigsaw?
Caleb Arogundade 30-01-25
