I woke up with these two words on my lips leadership and service; this led me into deep thoughts of how and why I should be having these words on my lips especially in this week of love. One thing kept on resonating in my mind and that is Africa. Each time I wake up to write an article since I joined this platform (read.cash) it is as if something speaks or whispers to me about what to write and how to write it. I have been carefully following and observing the whole scenario and this blessed morning was not different. The words came with such a great tune of responsibility which made it an onus on me to begin to look at the continent of Africa as regards to these words leadership and service.
I will try as much as possible not to allow this article to be too long because I would not want a situation where my readers will be forced to skip or just rush through it. This is a topic I feel we have to look at with greater carefulness and open-mindedness as it concerns Africa and her entire surroundings. We have all at one point or the other studied or heard about these two words in our sojourn in life but the greatest problem we have is that we have refused to learn from the past. Leadership is a call to service and not the other way round which has become the order of the day in recent times. Looking at Africa in the past, one will understand that the crop of leaders we had were those who were ready to serve their countries and the continent at large.
Let us take a look at these past African leaders who made a very huge impact when it comes to services. The first person on the list is someone the whole world respects for his doggedness when it comes for fighting for freedom; he is no other than Nelson Mandela (Madiba). The story of Africa and her journey to freedom will not be complete without Nelson Mandela being mentioned. It was at a time when the worth of a man is measured by the amount of sacrifice he has to offer for his people and not for his selfish interests. The late Nelson Mandela made the whole world to understand that one can die for his country if it will take them to freedom. It was a time when apartheid was the order of the day when white supremacy was being seen so clearly on the streets of Africa and beyond. South Africa was the centre of attraction whenever apartheid is mentioned. This man could have decided to take the numerous offers which were thrown at him just to betray his people and drop the fight instead, he accepted to serve others by accepting to be jailed and he stayed in prison for 27 whole years. Each time I come across his name, I always weep not because he is dead but because we can find people like him again.
The call to leadership transcends personal interest which has been the greatest threat Africa has and is still having because no leader wants to go after service rather what they are all going for is self-aggrandisement. The second person I want to look at when it comes to service as regards to Africa is someone who was called a tyrant and a dictator just because he wanted his country to free from external control especially when it comes to oil and its gains. Muammar Qadhafi was fought so hard to keep the control of oil in the hands of Libya thereby making it impossible for the western world to tap into. He also proposed a unifying currency for Africa which he wished to build on the Libyan Dinar but the powers that be thought it wise to come up with a well-calculated scheme to overthrow him and his regime from office. Since the death of Muammar Qadhafi, what has been the fate of Libya? To know more about the untold truth of Qadhafi, CLICK HERE.
The last but not the least person I will look at in this article is no other than a man who was known to be an anti-colonialist when the colonial masters held Africa so tight as though Africa had no mind of her own. He fought so hard for the independence of his country Tanzania. Julius Nyerere as he is called could not have made the move at fighting to be free from the clutches of the colonial masters if he did not see himself as a leader who must serve his people for the greater good. In all of this, these men and so many others whom I will not be able to mention in this article have proven that leadership and service is the way for Africa to attain its position in the world map. What we see today are leaders who have become more like gods to be served and worshipped by their citizens while the continually milk their countries and Africa at large dry.
These are men who see leadership as an opportunity to break free from hunger and liberate themselves and their entire family from poverty. This is why they will never see service as the most important characteristics of a good leader. We have seen cases where a man will do anything possible just to remain in power especially in Africa because he believes that a leader should be served. It high time Africa started looking at leadership in a different light. This is not the time for us to count our losses rather it a time for us to put heads together and elect leaders who will be ready to serve. I weep for Africa not because of what we have become but because we pay a deaf ear to solutions whenever it is given. What Africa needs today is not foreign investments rather we need leaders who will see these investments as a means of service to their communities and the continent at large. Africa, it is now or never.
