Africa and the Successor Generation

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Sheraton Hotel, Cotonou, Benin

26-28 November, 1998

Complied&EditeBolaji Abdullahi

Summary Report and Papers Presented

at the

10 th Anniversary Meetingof the

Af ri ca Lea dersh ip Forum


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http://www.africaleadership.org

ISBN: 978-34838-4-6

Printed by Intec Printers Limited. Ibadan

Africa Leadership Forum

? ALF Publications, 1999

P. O. Box 2286, Abeokuta,Ogun State, Nigeria.

Tel: 234-39-722521, Fax: 234-39-722524

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Typeset: Femi A. Johnson

Cover Graphics:Anthony Esua-Mensah


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Table of Contents

Summary Report 1

Opening SessionAfrica & The Successor Generation:The Challenges Ahead

By H.E. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo 21

Session OneThe Leadership Recruitment Process in Africa:Implication for Governance & Development.By M.J. Balogun

... 39

Evolving A Sustainable Youth Leadership for Development:

A Gender PerspectiveBy Bilikisu Yusuf 72

Session TwoEnsuring Good Governance in Africa:

An Alternative Policy Perspective of the Successor GenerationBy Kodi Anani 91

Agriculture in Sub-Sahara Africa, Backbone or Archilles Heel

A Challenge for Successor GenerationBy M.A. Sakara-Forster 120


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Session ThreeThe Succeeding Generation: Challenges & OpportunitiesBy Prof. Ahmed Mohiddin 127

Session FourInformation and Communication Technologies In the New Africa

Renaissance: Towards Innovative Thinking SystemsBy Senyo J.C. Afele ..157

Anniversary LectureChairmans CommentBy Francis M. Deng 177

Africa: Facing the 21stCenturySir Shridath Ramphal.. 182

Appendices..201


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The concept of AfricanRenaissance is anchored on

expectations peaked by recentevents within the continent and the world over. As dictatorship and its variousmutations disappear from the continent, as military rule becomes anendangered specie of the African political ecology, and the guns are beinghurriedly swapped for the ballot boxes, Africans everywhere becameconvinced that their troubled continent is set on an irrevocable process ofreinventing itself. This recreation, it is thought, will further accentuate the

uniformity of the African destiny, and enable its people present a collectiveagenda in facing the challenges of the next millennium.

The rampaging effects of globlisation, which have effectively torn down allborders, have left Africa with no hiding place. The continent can no longerinsulate itself from the restless hurricane of changes taking place all over theworld in all spheres of human endeavour. Therefore, Africa has to beprepared to swim through the stormy crosscurrents of these changes orsimply sink.

While the present generation of African leaders have to face the challengesof defining Africas path into the next millenium, the actual task of takingAfrica to the promised land rests squarely on the fledgling shoulders of thenext generation of Africans. There is the compelling need, therefore, toprepare Africas successor generation for the challenges of the 21

stcentury.

The Conference

The Africa Leadership Forum recognised the need to ensure that the

emerging and future leadership of Africa is given the exposure, theknowledge and the training that will enable them withstand the rigour and

Introduction


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??Examine how constraints to the productive use of existing capacity, aswell as the development of new capacity, can be overcome in Africancountries.

??Examine how technological revolution, globalisation, and advances incommunication can be deployed to enhance the participation of youngAfricans in critical leadership positions.

Following on these objectives, the conference discussed and deliberated on

the following thematic issues:

? ?Leadership Challenges for Africas Socio-political transformation

? ?Promoting Leadership for Sustainable Development

? ?Redressing the continuous systematic deterioration of public-spiritednessand Professional Ethics

? ?Developing the Requisite and human resources for the Future Globalknowledge and the Challenges for the African Environment

Africa & The Successor Generation:

The Challenges Ahead

General Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of Africa Leadership forum,declared the conference open. In his address titled, Afr ica and the SuccessorGeneration: The Chal lenges Ahead, he noted that the African continent istoday pervaded by the great hopes that the continent is on the verge ofrediscovering itself by re-organising its societies for the enthronement ofposterity as a basis for launching the continent into the mainstream of global


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intercourse in trade, commercial and general developments. He lamented;however, that the disturbing needles of fear that the successor generation, onwhose shoulders must be placed the burden of concretising this hope areroundly pricking the balloons of this hope may be too weak for suchenormous task.

General Obasanjo observed that while in other climes, massive efforts andinvestment by way of sound health and education are being concentrated onpreparing the successor generation for the task ahead, the next generation of

Africans are being stultified by neglect and a host of other problems likeilliteracy, poverty, bad governance, denial of access, and dysfunctionalorientation of war and violence. Thus, he observed, our successorgeneration, Africas greatest resources, is losing the race before it begins.

Based on this, he observed that the major challenges facing the nextgeneration of Africans is how to fashion the political will that wouldintegrate them into the rapidly changing world with all its advancement andpossibilities. Africa might have suffered from history, but the experience andburden of history, he observed, must be converted into positive resources in

preparing for the future. The African environment, he said, needs to berecreated to make it more conducive for development, just like we wouldneed to re-define our attitude to conflict resolution to embrace peace, ratherthan war. Leadership in Africa, he said, has to be based on service, andgovernmental policies must be motivated by the need to be in keeping withprogressive trends across the world and improving the lots of the people.The state, he said, must slacken its hold on public service institutions andsharpen its efficiency in performing its primary duties.

General Obasanjo also noted that if the concept of African renaissance mustmake any meaning at all, African countries must be prepared to combat


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poverty, disease and illiteracy. He observed that hunger, lack of educationand the HIV\AIDS epidemic currently ravaging Africa are about the greatestchallenges confronting the continent today. To combat these effectively andfulfill Africas hope, the retiring generation, must be prepared to blend theirenergies and skills with the successor generation, not only as a way of re-enforcing their potentials, but also to prepare the next generation for theonerous task ahead.

Concluding his remarks, General Obasanjo expressed the hope that the

various challenges he had outlined would be confronted headlong. He alsoexpressed confidence that the African values, which include communalinterest, family obligations, caring and sharing, concern for human dignityand the link between the dead, the living and the unborn, will see thecontinent through. One of the major highlights of the Generals address isthe announcement of the ALF Prize for Leadership Excellence to rewardyoung African leaders who have demonstrated and continue to demonstrateleadership qualities in their various fields of endeavour.

In his own remarks, Sir, Kemitule Masire, former President of the Republic

of Botswana, shared the Botswana experience with the participants. Hedeclared that the process of change that we seek in Africa ought to becarefully managed in order to avoid unnecessary disruptions. The successorgeneration, he said, must be seen to embrace democratic principles and theempowerment of the young ought not to be seen as a victimization of theold. According to him, the experience in Botswana has been that the societyis further strengthened when the young and the old work together to buildsocietal institutions and values. His message to the successor generation is asfollows: older persons must be respected even as their exit from the political

arena is being prepared. Young people must be democratic in their ways and


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choices, and finally, leaders should know when to quit and not to sit tight inthe office.

Mr. Alfred Sallia Fawundu of the UNDP in his own statement, lamented thevarious crisis and conflicts that have engulfed Africa. People, he noted,should form the focal point of development efforts; therefore, the HIV\AIDSepidemic that is fast decimating Africa must be addressed.

The Leadership Recruitment Process in Africa:

Implications for Governance and Development.

In his presentation, M. Jide Balogun, Senior Regional Adviser, UnitedNations Economic Commission for Africa, posits that leadership perceptionand recruitment process often determines its character and impact ondevelopment and governance. He argued that leadership, far from being achance occurrence, has the capacity to shape its environment. And that itonly fails to do this when it is not fully informed about its environment andtherefore, passes up the opportunity to make environment forces work in its

favour. He then went ahead to identify four major leadership environmentcombinations that could be found in the African continent, viz:

? ?A state of nature which favours patrimonial and predatory leadership;

? ?An environment in which competition is deflected or restricted. (Thisis a haven for buccaneers and ethically flexible oligarchs);

? ?decomposed system or environment in need of redemption (theserespond to entrepreneurial but autocratic leadership thrusts); and


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? ?rapidly changing and competitive, market opportunities, responding todemands from citizens-consumers, and competing on a level playingfield).

Environment is, however, not static. And whenever it changes, leadershiphas to change in tandem to respond to new realities presented by the changein environment. However, when a leader remains, impervious to changes,Balogun argued, he soon brings the tragedy of regression upon his people. Acombination of bold and new initiatives would, however, see a leader

moving his people forward. Even then, such leaders have to remainconscious of their operative environment. And this is why Balogunsuggested that a leader must operate by constantly undertaking what hecalled a SWOT analysis. This, he said, is an analysis of:

Strengths (organisational, financial, human resources waiting to betapped);

Weaknesses(organisational, financial, human resources constraints)

Opportunities (to change the environment for the better, and in theprocess, capture/retain power);

Threats (particularly, environmental threats to the realisation ofobjectives).

The African continent, Balogun noted, is bedeviled by a myriad ofseemingly intractable socio-economic and political problems. This, he said,should, however, provide the environment for the emergence of purposeful

and visionary leadership. The continents current ugly profile, made up ofdevastating socio-economic crisis, the largely poor governance record, the


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widening civil conflict and border confrontations, the growing refugeepopulation, the decaying infrastructure, all these, he argued, provide ampleopportunity for visionary leadership to seize the moment of history andstamp his imprint in recreating his environment.

The challenge ahead, Balogun argued, is to strengthen the capacity for theemergence of development oriented leadership and discourage self-servicing systems. According to him, leadership must be prepared to respectand abide by the judgement of their followers. This, he said, can only be

sustained through comprehensive attitude modification towards acquisition,retention and renewal of the sovereign power of the state. Therefore,leadership recruitment, he said, should focus on individuals who share anethical regeneration vision that is so critical to the long-term development ofthe continent. A leaders moral authority, he argued, is as significant as, ifnot more important than the power that formal positions confer. As a safetyvalve, Balogun recommended that holders of government positions shouldbe subjected to a process of contract renewal. This, he said, would keepthem permanently on their toes.

To prepare the successor generation for the challenges of leadership, currentchild rearing approaches, he said, must be re-enforced through a radicaloverhaul of the educational curricula, to actively prepare children forleadership responsibilities.


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Ensuring Good Governance in Africa:

An Alternative Policy Perspective of the Successor Generation

Kofi Anani, a graduate student of rural studies of the University of Guelph,Ontario, Canada, in his own paper pointed out that ensuring goodgovernance has been a major concern on the African continent. He arguedthat while indigenous governance system has proved incapable of meetingthe challenges of modernity, the modern system has also failed to meet the

aspirations or constructively harness the world view of the indigenous ruralpeople, the Africas majority. This, he said, is because, while the ruraldwellers derive their philosophy of governmental participation from theindigenous African socio-political thought, the minority who are urbandwellers, derive theirs from Euro-American political thought. Rather thanbeing mutually exclusive, the principle of knowledge offered by the twoworlds, are indeed, mutually complementary.

For the purpose of good governance, therefore, the successor generationwould have to formulate alternative strategies that will blend the values andprinciples of both the indigenous and modern leadership arrangement andintegrate them for fashioning a new logical democratic mechanism for goodgovernance in Africa. Rural-Urban philosophical orientation, will providethe operational environment for mutual re-enforcement between the westernmodel of governance which best served the minority in the urban centers,and indigenous forms of governance, which effectively served the majorityin the rural settings. In view of this, therefore, Anani argued further, thesearch for good governance, based on popular participation within thecontext of the socio-cultural realities of Africa, must, in fact, commence

with a robust appreciation of the shared cultural values inherent in theorganisational and resources management principles of the Africans.


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Good governance, Anani argued, has to be based on participation uponwhich the entire socio-cultural dynamics of the African life is based. Thetraditional African setting, more than any other, allows individuals to sharein the rewards and burdens of belonging to the community. Therefore, ratherthan repel, indigenous African systems have demonstrated an amazingcapacity to absorb modern governance values and adapt them for indigenousneeds. Anani contended that most governance and leadership behaviourregarded as western, have, in deed, existed in various formats in Africa,

therefore, can easily be assimilated and adapted for indigenous resourcesmanagement and distribution even better than the modern system could do.Therefore, Anani argued further, marginalising indigenous leadershiparrangement, as is currently done in the continent, cannot attain goodgovernance. And, in the face of sordid failure of the western system invarious spheres of African life, the indigenous system, in deed, needs to bere-enforced co-opted to come to the rescue.

Outlining the expectations and opportunities under the emergent leadershiparrangement, Anani noted that the paramount task before the new leadership

would be to provide the basis for scientific and technological innovations.This, he said, would galvanise good governance by providing the knowledgebase that the people, whether in the rural or urban settings, could employ forpositive enhancement in their various areas of livelihood. Areas he saidrequire urgent scientific and technological innovations include:

??Indigenous medical and botanical knowledge (This, he said, could lead toways of finding an alliance between local people and plant chemists)

??Application of indigenous knowledge in formal education (this, to makelearning, environment and experience relevant)


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??Agricultural management

??Strategies on labour productivity, mobilisation and organisation

??Management of natural environmental resources and regenerationalactivities


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The Succeeding Generation:

Challenges and Opportunities

In this paper, Professor Ahmed Mohiddin, Director, Africa Foundation,pointed out that democracy played no part in the emergence of the firstgeneration of African leaders. He said those who inherited power afterindependence, were either a creation of the colonial authorities or the self-appointed brigade of anti-colonialists crusaders. In either case, the process oftheir emergence created an environment of exclusion whereby, these leaders

alone knew what they wanted. Although both claimed to be driven by thepopular interest, they both harbour a parallel perception of these interests.This, inadvertently create a competitive atmosphere which resulted inmutual hostility, and sometimes, even violence. Consequently, valuableenergy that could be invested in enhancing the welfare of the people wasdissipated in the field of rivalries as each group pre-occupied itself withcontriving all manners of survival strategies. Thus, Mohiddin surmised, theywere mainly oppositional and opportunistic, rather than constructive andvisionary.

So, what are the implications of this self-serving leadership strategy?Mohiddin argued that while it would not be exactly accurate to dismiss theseleaders as total failure, because they succeeded in the provision andextension of social services, their oppositional strategies created theenvironment for willful emasculation of the succeeding generation. He said,although there are many young people in Africa today with leadershipcapabilities, and capacity to respond effectively to the challenges of the 21

st

century, the stultifying socio-economic environment prevailing on thecontinent has made it impossible for them to emerge.

In spite of all this constraining environment, however, Mohiddin argued thatthe changing world and its challenges and opportunities has made


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imperative, the need to create a new leadership that is capable of nurturingand promoting the African renaissance. Leaders who will operate withknowledge-based policies, global realities and experience, rather thanabstract ideological principles, personal inspirations or wishful thinking.Mohiddin, however, posits that the emergence of these leaders will not bepossible without the co-operation, of at least, the connivance leadership.Therefore, rather than exist in an atmosphere of mutual hostility andsuspicion, the incumbent and the succeeding generation of leaders need tocollaborate in a kind of relay race, with the old blending its experience with

the expertise and energy of the young. The burden, is however, on theincumbent generation who, Mohiddin argued, will need to create a systemthat will identify and attract talented and ambitious young ones, nurture andencourage them to take positions of leadership in their various fields ofendeavour

Ag ri cul tur e in Su b-Sa haran Afr ica, Backbon e or Ar chil le s He el?

A Challen ge fo r the Succes sor Genera tio n

Michael Abu Sakara-Foster is the Country Director, Sasakawa Global 2000.In this paper, he repudiated the idea that agriculture is the backbone ofAfrica. If there were any credence to the assertion, he argued that the neglectand low productivity that the agricultural sector has suffered in the hands ofsuccessive governments across Africa had negated these.

The African continent has continued to provide legitimacy for theMalthusian theory. Population growth rate is almost double food production.And, projections into the first quarter of the 21

st century, holds a grim

prospect for Africa. A UNDP report had predicted that up till the year 2025,

60% of Sub-Saharan Africas population would be food insecure and livebelow poverty line. Sakara argued that lest this prediction come to pass,


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African leaders must urgently begin to bother about finding means ofaccelerating agricultural growth in its various ramifications. He also arguedthat higher agricultural productivity is necessarily contiguous ondevelopment in other sectors. According to him, increased agriculturalproductivity could lead to industrial development, based on surpluses of rawmaterials from agriculture. This, he said, would enhance opportunities foroff-farm employments that can help increase household income. If this istrue, Sakara argued, then it must also be held that agricultural intensificationand environmental conservation are not necessarily parallel, just like

agricultural intensification and poverty alleviation are not mutuallyexclusive. He therefore concluded that the successor generation has the dutyof embarking on well-articulated agrarian reform programme. They must notonly prioritise policies on agricultural growth, they must also empowerfarmers and create the enabling environment to organise themselves in thepursuit of their collective interests.

Sakara observed that agricultural mechanisation alone cannot translate toreal development. While improved agricultural technology has the capacityto stimulate productivity, real growth, he said, can only be achieved if it is

complemented by good government policy which supports high investmentin farming and encourages farmers in diversified ways to enhance inputdistribution systems, develop rural infrastructure, functional literacy andprimary health care. Sakara, however, warned that while positive agrarianreforms have the capacity to elevate the status of the farmer, it also has thedysfunctional capacity to drag him off the land to the urban centres. This, hesaid, is in fact, the major challenge before the successor generation whomust device the means of balancing productive agrarian reforms that wouldimprove the quality of life of the farmer, with the need to keep him in the

village to do his farming.


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Information and Communications Technologies

in The New African Renaissance:

Toward Innovative and Thinking Systems.

Africas socio-economic and political profile is dismal. Recent events acrossthe world and within the African continent itself have, however, imbued thecontinent with great hopes. The end of cold war, the emergence ofglobalisation, and the realities of common destiny it presents to mankind,the emergence of democracy, howbeit fragile, across Africa, and therevolutions in information and communications technology, all these holdout great promises for a new Africa on the verge of renewal.

In this paper, Senyo John C. Afele, a research associate at the University ofGuelph, Ontario, Canada, analyses how Information and CommunicationTechnology systems, especially, could assist Africa in this transformationmission towards the realisation of the dream of African renaissance. Afeleposits that IT has the capacity to provide channels for the rediffusion of the

positive blend of indigenous and modern knowledge system for humancapacity development. This, because the acquisition of IT systems andknowledge, he believes, could enable Africans to tap into the global pool ofcommunications which they could apply in solving the many problems theycontend with daily on the continent.

Afele, however, warns that since IT is not required for its sake, in applying itto Africa, care must be taken to avoid a situation where Africans will bemere docile receptors of global knowledge in a uni-directional flow. Africastime-tested indigenous knowledge base, he said, must be harnessed andblended with external knowledge if it must serve the purpose of providinglivelihood security for the people. Specifically, Afele pointed out, the failure


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of modern national administration systems across Africa has made therejuvenation of indigenous administration imperative. Enhancing thecommunication potentials of all the stakeholders, he said, can do this. IToffers a great promise in this direction, if it is anchored on the African ethosof community as one. In essence, modern interactive communication system,he argued, has to be based on African terrain resources, bearing in mind thespecific needs and aspirations of the people. The African intellectual, Afelecharged, has a great role to play in this regard. They have to devise a meansto synchronise the knowledge of culture and technology to achieve

maximum impact through symbiotic assistance between the expert ofAfrican culture and expert of IT technology. This, he said, will also help inthe intellectualisation of the African tradition as well as assist in thedevelopment of primary education for social and cultural relevance as afoundation for re-inventing Africa.

Evolving A Sustainable Youth Leadership for Development:

A G end er Pe rs pe ct ive.

Bilikisu Yusuf, Deputy Editor-In Chief, Citizen Magazine, pointed out inthis paper that Africa has a history of youth involvement, and that allthrough the continents history, youth had played vital roles in communitydevelopment and security. The contemporary African society, she pointedout, is not an exception, in that many communities in Africa have been builtand sustained on youth involvement and participation. Therefore, as Sub-Saharan Africa battles to beat a path out of the wilderness of socio-political

and economic problems, the youth, she argued, have to be allowed to playvital roles.


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Bilikisu, however, lamented the whirlwind of socio-psycholgical pressuresblowing across the continent today, which had trapped the African youth inthe snare of the same problems he is being called upon to solve. As theircountries groan under the heavy burden of intractable debts and theconsequent collapse of vital infrastructural services; as they are caught in thedevastating hurricanes of wars and violent conflicts; as they are roundlypummeled by socio-economic pressures from more developed parts of theworld, their capacity to offer constructive services become greatly eroded.

She acknowledged that there have been token efforts at psychologicalrehabilitation for youths victims of wars in Africa, this effort, she lamented,are not backed up with the appropriate political will, and therefore, havebeen largely ineffective.

The way out, she argued, is for the emergent leadership in Africa to map outa comprehensive and integrated training scheme that will prepare the youthfor leadership responsibility and educate them on social values, civic dutiesand responsibilities. The girl child and the woman, she pointed out, havebeen greatly marginalised in Africas development agenda. Such training

scheme, she said, therefore has to be gender sensitive by demonstrating aconscious understanding of the impact of gender on youth development inAfrica.

The Burden and Challenges of Youth Leadership

- A Personal Experience

Honourable Livy Uzoukwu was the Attorney-General of his state, Imo statein Nigeria. He came out of the experience of that office with the conclusion

that Africa does not have a carefully thought-out and executed youthleadership recruitment, preparation and training programme. This, he said,could be seen both as a cause and a consequence of the disdain and lack of


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respect for youth prevalent on the African continent, particularly as itconcerns public office.

In this paper, Uzoukwu related how his appointment as the chief law officerof his state at the young age of 35 caused considerable stir because it wasagainst the run of convention for someone of that age to be appointed intosuch office. He said although, he was professionally qualified, most peopleconsidered him too young. It was against this backdrop of heavy prejudicethat he assumed office, having to contend with a heavy burden of cynicismby older colleagues and others as well who thought his age was a more

important factor than his professional competence. This, he said, caused hima great deal of trauma. Instead of allowing it to defeat him, however, heconverted it to a kind of driving force which he said imbued him with asense of mission and determination to prove cynics wrong and vindicate hisgeneration, who flags he believed he was carrying. He spoke of how he drewon his innate talent and abilities, experience of others and teachings ofwriters and set about the task of revolutionisng the states legal systems byintroducing a sense of dynamism and restoring respect for the rule of lawand the courts. He also gave an impressive account of how he undertook theherculean task of reforming the states legal system.

Uzoukwu admitted that the entire experience was tough but in the end hewas convinced by the kind of testimonials he was getting that he had made asuccess of his job. If nothing else, he came out of his tenure in officeconvinced that what the youths of Africa lack is not talents or abilities, butthe opportunity to express their potentials and improve on their limitations.He, therefore, expressed his conviction, that leadership excellence can beacquired through apprenticeship, learning, humility and self-discipline. Andthat whether a leaders succeeds or fails,, is always on account of his abilitiesor limitations, rather than age.


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In the discussion session thatfollowed the presentations,participants focused on the

theme, Leadership Challenge for Africa's Socio-Political Transformation.They reviewed among other things, the nature and structure of African valuesin the face of persistent calls for change and the alienation between Africanleaders and the people. They also discussed values and institutions that oughtto be passed on to the younger generation to give them a strong sense ofidentity and support, the cultural alienation of youth and women, and the

problem of de-Africanization of African youths. The meeting also drewattention to the fact that part of the problem in Africa is that old people dictateto the young ones, thereby not allowing them to use their initiatives; masspoverty, and the absence of structures which has continued to frustratedevelopment efforts in Africa.

The meeting questioned the real differences between the older and youngergeneration and the problem of low productivity in the continent. It wasobserved that central to the objective of transforming Africa politically, is theneed to institutionalize public hearings for political appointments as well as the

security of tenure for public servants. It was concluded, in effect, that thedilemma of leadership in Africa is not just political, but a function of therelationship between classes within the society: men and women, the old andthe young, the leader and the led. Whatever contradictions may be found in thepublic space, it was said, are usually pre-conditioned by problems in theprivate domain.

Participants, therefore, reasoned that it might be instructive if the youngergeneration of Africans is allowed the opportunity for self-expression and

encouraged to impact on policy formulation and implementation. The conduct

Group Work and Discussions


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of politics, it was reasoned, should be informed by the principle of inclusion,not exclusion. The meeting also suggested as follows:

i. young people should write their own success stories, dream their owndreams and chart their own path as members of society.

ii. ii. Womens participation in political and economic issues should beencouraged, success stories of women in public life should bevigorously promoted to build confidence and inspire other women.

iii. African governments to involve the masses that are largely illiterateshould introduce civic education programmes

iv. Role models in various fields of endeavour should be identified andpromoted.

v. Public officials, both political and non-political appointees should beassessed regularly to ensure transparency and accountability ingovernment.

vi. Leadership training should be organised as and when due for aspirantsto political offices to ensure that they understand the democratic processand the demands on political office holders.

Participants also noted that most African leaders are greedy, often tyrannical,and rather than relate to their environment, they are insulated from the realitiesin the various societies they are supposed to be leading.

Focussing on the challenges of promoting leadership for sustainabledevelopment in Africa, participants observed that the issue should not be one


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noted a sad connection between the collapse of structures of governance, thedisappearance of values and social mores, and the failure of institutions acrossAfrica. Participants pointed out that the issue at stake is one of change andhow to respond to it. There is so much corruption in the public space in|Africa, resulting in a crisis of leadership due to the failure of the post-colonialmodern states in the continent, the collapse of the family unit, the frustration ofconstitutionalism and the rule of law by tyrannical governments and theinequitable distribution of opportunities. Conditions of poverty in Africa havealso undermined integrity in the various societies. The dominance of Western

culture has imposed a capitalist ethos that is at variance with traditionalstructures, which emphasise communalism and public-spiritedness. The pointwas further made that the best way to re-discover lost values and re-buildinstitutions will be to create conditions that will enable a triumph of the publicspirit over greed, and conspicuous consumption.

Participants argued that the state and governments in Africa will have to be re-invented to re-establish the connection between the state and the people.Constitutionalism and the rule of law are also non-negotiable conditions.African societies and governments must become open societies, and

institutions in the civil society must be empowered to ask questions, raiseobjections and participate directly as stake-holders in the process of nation-building. Education is important, both formal and civic. Older people mustserve as role models to guide youths, and to create natural succession patterns.All forms of discrimination, which disempower individuals and groups, mustbe discouraged. Professional groups should equally be encouraged, and theremust be strong sanctions to deter abuses of the system and its privileges.Finally, participants contended that the relationship between the old and theyoung should not be one of conflict and struggle, but a kind of relay race built

upon a foundation of mutual collaboration and understanding.


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The meeting also reviewed the issue of developing the requisite humanresources for the future and noted the need for a clear and effective set ofstrategies for developing the skills and capacity of youths in Africa and theinstitutions to enable the fullest expression and use of the skills so developed.

The meeting agreed that additional challenges in this respect include themobilisation of the resources and expertise of Africans in Diaspora and how tostem the tide of brain drain, which seems to be turning Africa into a providerof skilled manpower for other parts of the world, while the continent remains

grossly under-served. Participants observed that there is an urgent need tomake governments in Africa more responsive to the need of the people.Private sector initiatives must be encouraged, and the role of government inpublic enterprise should be small, rather than big and totalitarian. Credit linesshould be created to assist private investors, government monopolies should bebroken. African countries should also approve dual nationality for theircitizens to enable Africans in Diaspora participate more effectively in thedevelopment processes at home. A stable macro-economic environmentshould also be created to build investor confidence. Participants also arguedthat democratic rule, good governance and transparency in governance are pre-

conditions for strengthening the human resource potentials of African nations.

Focussing on the core challenges of global knowledge and Challenges for theAfrican Environment, the meeting was concerned with the possible modalitiesfor harnessing opportunities in technology, globalization, as well as advancesin communication to further strengthen African societies. It was observed thatknowledge is power and global knowledge creates a lot of incentives fordevelopment. The concept of the Magic Cs was established and evaluated. TheMagic Cs were enumerated as Collectivity; Capacity Building, Contents,

Creativity, Communication, and Cash. This involves the acquisition ofcomputers and software, getting onto the Internet, training, accessibility of the


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Africa & The Successor Generation:

The Challen es Ahead

By

H .E. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo1

Permit me, in my capacity as the Chairman of the Africa LeadershipForum and on behalf of the Council of Conveners and the ExecutiveCommittee of the Africa Leadership Forum, to extend my fraternal

greetings to all of you for honouring our invitation to this conferenceand for accepting to fellowship with us. My deep sense ofappreciation goes to our brothers who have had to create time out oftheir busy schedules to fraternize with us and to share with us part oftheir lived experience as we gather to ruminate over the challenges ofthe successor generation in Africa. I refer in particular to H.EPresidents Kemitule Masire and Kenneth Kaunda as well as ourAnniversary Lecturer, the Rt. Hon. Sir Shridath Ramphal.

To President Kerekou, words fail me in conveying to you our gratitude

for the hospitality, support and encouragement given to us since webroached the idea of holding this event in Cotonou. We are mightilygrateful to you.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen our gathering here over thenext three days provide us with an opportunity to celebrate and toreflect on the core challenges confronting the successor generation ofAfricans on the eve of the next millennium. This conference alsoprovides us with an opportunity to formally institutionalize the ALF

1Former Head of state of Nigeria and Chairman Africa Leadership Forum.


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Prize for Leadership Excellence in Africa. I will dwell more on thislater.

In Africa today, there is high and hope optimism in the air that we might beon the verge of rediscovering ourselves. There is hope that we are on theeve of recreating, re-organising our societies. There is hope that we mightstill forge a common collective future that will facilitate the enthronement ofprosperity among our people. There is hope that in the foreseeable futureAfrica will move away from the periphery into the mainstream of global

interaction in trade, commerce, productivity and quality of life. There isunquenchable optimism in the air that all is not lost and the future can stillbe bright. All of these I believe are at the heart of the current buzzwordvariously known as African Renaissance.

After three years of forced absence, I regained my freedom recently and wasthrust into this air of optimism which has been most refreshing, re-invigorating and reassuring. However, as the initial euphoria fades and the

grim reality begins to dawn on me, as I moved around Africa and mycountry Nigeria, as part of my reality check, I notice a defect in the corefabric of this hope. I detect a soft underbelly of this gargantuan hope. Yes, itwas dampened and I shudder to imagine that all of this hope might very wellbecome yet another mirage. The basis of my fear ladies and gentlemen, restson the strength and the carrying capability of those shoulders which mustbear the burden of concretising this hope in future. Those to whom we mustdevolve the Herculean task of cracking the nut of the much talked aboutAfrican Renaissance. I compare the process of deliberate preparation of our

successor generation in Africa with the magnitude and quantum ofinvestment in their peers in other parts of the world and I fear that ultimately

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we might be competing within an unfair framework. While most societiesare literate as well as numerate, majority of our people are illiterates. Whilemost regions of the world are busy arguing over mechanisms for expandingthe prosperity of their people. Most Africans are not just poor, the incomelevels are such that the basis for a radical transformation of prevalent levelsof poverty is virtually non existent. To cap it all, we are as yet generallyunable to agree on the imperatives of good governance.

In contrast, other regions have invested and are still investing heavily in the

successor generation in a variety of ways. Other regions are investinghandsomely in health and education to ensure the complete physical andmental development of its successor generation. As I look around me inAfrica, the quantum of our investment in health and education comparedwith our investment in other sectors of the economy saddens me greatly. Iam honestly alarmed as I visualise the implications of our minusculeinvestment in health and education with our investment in military defence,armament and other destructive and unproductive ventures. Most of ouryoung people have nothing other than experiences of war, martialexperience, squalor, poverty etc. Others have been systematically shut off

from the cutting edge of technology through a systemic denial of access.

Yet we intend to engage the rest of the world on equal footing. We aspire tobreed world class leaders, yet we are only willing to invest more inacquisition of instruments of world class annihilations. We aspire to take onthe rest of the world on an even keel, yet we consign our young people to thebalcony of life, as mere spectators and idle bystanders. Most of our youngpeople have become economic refugees. Others have been bred solely on aviolent struggle of wars, famine, disease and destitution, filling them with

hopelessness, resignation and withdrawal.

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The Challenges of the Next Generation:

At the dawn of the new millennium, our countries are confronted withtremendous opportunities as well as tremendous challenges. How we takeadvantage of the opportunities and meet the challenges will determine whetherthe much-vaunted African renaissance becomes a reality or whether it remainsan unfulfilled wish or even a promise betrayed. More than ever before, new

opportunities for advancement abound. Technological advances have made theworld smaller, communications more instantaneous, and information moreaccessible. Whether and how we take advantage of the new opportunities willin large part depend on how we view the future and our place in it. Thechoices are clear. We can embrace the world, or we can choose retreat from it.A long term vision, a clear understanding of what is required to achieve it, andthe political will to fulfill it, are essential if and when we choose the path ofinvolvement and integration.

Whatever the reasons for Africas past performance - and colonialism,

inadequate preparation for independence, and cold war politics rank highamong them - lessons can be learned to ensure the future leaders do not repeatthe mistakes of the past. As African countries declined, others prospered.When many African countries gained independence, they were in similarpositions as a number of Asian countries. However, the Asian countriesquickly outstripped their African counterparts in terms of economic growthand development, and in creating societies able to respond to a rapidlychanging world. With very few exceptions, African countries fell further andfurther behind. Now, although the continent is rebuilding itself, it has to make

up for lost time, and the stakes are very high. What is done today does not


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opportunity to contest power through constitutional means provided an excusefor armed struggle. Now, even though democratic processes are increasinglybeing established as an option, violence is preferred by some that feel theymay not win at the ballot box. Leadership is required to counter this tendency,and to institutionalize democratic governance. Given that political exclusion,lack of equitable access to resources, and discrimination on ethnic, geographicor religious grounds are among the underlying causes of conflict which can beinflamed by political ambition. Attention to these problems is of paramountimportance. In such circumstances, strong and dedicated leadership is

necessary to convince populations that change is for the general good, and towithstand pressure from those who will lose their privileged positions.

Given the complexity of the process, leadership at all levels is also required tocreate a human rights culture that does not assign separate rights to particularethnic or societal groups, but encompasses human rights in their entirety asbelonging singularly and collectively to all, as indivisible and non-negotiablevalues. Throughout Africa, this leadership exists. In recent years one of themost heartening developments has been the increase in active involvement ofcitizens in preventing violent conflict and helping to rebuild confidence

between groups once conflict is over. This leadership, much of which is fromwomen, deserves recognition and support. Over time, it will help to create anormative environment in which armed conflict, and all the atrocities resultingfrom it, is no longer seen as inevitable in African countries.

The prevalence of single party politics in the recent past resulted in a deficit ofreal political leadership throughout much of the continent. Although thepolitics of patronage did not result in widespread support for ruling regimes, itcertainly muted criticism of them, and few, if any legitimate mechanisms for

the expression of opposing views existed. Many of the people who could haveprovided leadership were driven into exile. Many more were excluded from


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the political process by virtue of belonging to ethnic or religious groups otherthan those of the party in power. Now, although some countries are stillcaught up in conflict or authoritarian rule, the situation has changed radicallythroughout Africa. Most countries are undergoing political reform and creatingthe basis for participatory, pluralistic political systems. There is, however, stillmuch to be done if real, functioning, democratic systems, and not just nominaldemocracy, are to be nurtured.

Throughout the continent, people have sent clear signals that they want to

participate in defining their destiny. The challenge is to provide them withleaders who can move beyond personalized politics and articulate a clearvision for the future, in which all stakeholders can participate. The institutionalmeans to guarantee the equitable and full representation and participation of allsocietal groups, including minorities and women, also have to be developed.The formation, functioning and funding of political parties, as well as thefunding of election campaigns, require attention if the political leadership ofAfrican countries is to be renewed on the basis of clear competition and freechoice. Once in office, the capacity of parliamentarians to adequatelyrepresent the people, and of parliamentary institutions to exercise their

oversight responsibilities, have to be strengthened. Elections at the local levelare also an important part of the democratic process. In many countries inother regions, local politics provides an important training ground for futurepolitical leaders at the national level. The same could apply to Africancountries also.

Leadership at both the national and the local level is required to improve thepoor governance that is at the root of many of the problem, which besetAfrican countries. By and large, the single party systems and military

governments which have dominated much of Africas recent past disregardedand undermined the principles of good governance, preferring instead to


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seeking. At the same time, lack of transparency and accountability allowedcorruption, once established, to flourish. In many instances, the decline ingovernment salaries and ability to deliver services, coupled with lack ofeffective controls, fueled petty corruption, while discretionary authority overlarge government contracts and limited scrutiny of government and businessalliances facilitated the spread of grand corruption.

Corruption is not a problem unique to African countries. It exists throughoutthe world, and indeed, the role of multinational corporations in large-scale

corruption has to be addressed. But the consequences of corruption in Africaare extreme. To the extent that it impedes development and drives away muchneeded investment, it will contribute to the continued impoverishment ofAfrican countries and peoples. To the extent that it erodes the legitimacy ofgovernments and the confidence of people in the institution of government, itwill prevent the establishment of the systems, which permit people toparticipate in the process of governance.

Corruption in African countries is both a challenge to existing leadership and athreat to the development of the successor generation of leaders. Current

leaders have to take serious measures to combat corruption if they are to createthe conditions for future prosperity in their countries. At the same time, theycan be under considerable pressure to ignore corruption rather than risk losingtheir power base. Even if they take a stance against corruption, those whoseprivileges are threatened can block their best efforts. Nepotism and cronyismstifle competition and ensure that a small group of interconnected elitecontinues to control access to power. This not only perpetuates the status quo,but also prevents the creation of the sort of open and vibrant societies, whichwould nurture future leaders. Although strong and determined political

leadership is needed, leadership from civil society, from the parliament and


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judiciary, and from within the civil service are all also required if coalitionswhich can genuinely combat corruption are to be formed.

The political and economic changes which most African countries areundergoing necessitate a change in the role of the state, away from control andtoward facilitation. Most countries have undergone significant public sectorreform in recent years, but still more needs to be done to improve the qualityof the public sector, as well as the services provided. In short, a public sectorfor the next century has to be created. This is not an issue for African countries

alone. Throughout the world, the public sector is changing. Public sectorinstitutions are becoming more streamlined and service oriented. Many of thefunctions they once provided are being contracted out. They are paying greaterattention to the cost and quality of services. Hierarchical structures are beingflattened, and length of service is no longer a condition for advancement.

To the extent that African countries implement similar reforms, the changeswill be profound. Meritocratic public service institutions will foster an ethos ofexcellence, which in turn will facilitate the emergence of new leadership. Atthe same time, decentralisation of government services will create the

conditions for leadership at the local level to develop. It obviously will not beeasy, and strong leadership now is required to see the process through. Many,particularly those who will lose as a result of reforms, will resist changes. Buta streamlined, more service oriented public sector is essential as Africancountries move into the next century. The state has to reduce its role, butbecome more efficient in performing its legitimate functions, and moretransparent and accountable. Reform of public service institutions has also toencompass the military. There too, leadership is paramount to createprofessional, non-partisan forces which uphold democratic principles and

protect common good.


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Most African countries rank among the poorest in the world, and reducingpoverty is of singular importance if African countries and peoples are tofulfil their potentials. In the past, African leaders did not do enough toovercome poverty, or to give the poor the means of helping themselves. Infact, it often appeared as though the poor, and particularly the rural poor,

were wilfully ignored. Periodic disasters focused attention and elicited pleasfor emergency assistance, but once the disasters were averted, little was doneto improve the situation, and the policies, which perpetuated poverty, werelargely continued. While much can be done to alleviate the suffering causedby poverty, only economic growth will help to reduce it on a sustainablebasis. Achieving and sustaining high levels of economic growth is thus thebasic challenge facing current and future leaders throughout Africa.

Economically, there has been a turnaround in most African countries fromthe days of negative growth when economies throughout the continent were

in freefall. Those countries, which have consistently pursued reforms andmaintained macroeconomic stability, are now seeing the results in terms ofincreased growth. More than a dozen Sub-Saharan African countries havenow registered growth rates of over 5 percent since 1996, with someregistering much higher rates.

However, growth alone is not sufficient. Attention is required to ensure thatit is broad-based and brings socio-economic development to the mass of thepopulation. Growth without development will not help to reduce poverty,

and will in fact worsen the income disparities, which are already pronouncedin a number of countries. African leaders need to continue and deepen

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economic reforms to ensure that the benefits are sustained and built upon.They need to convince people of the necessity of reforms, and persuadethem to stay the course. In turn, economic growth will help to open upsocieties and create opportunities for successive generations of leaders.

To achieve the much higher rates of economic growth needed to reducepoverty, both savings and investment must be raised from their current lowlevels. This is a challenge for the leadership of African countries, because itwill in part depend on public and investor confidence in their commitment to

political and macroeconomic stability. Although most African countries arepoor, people do save. However, domestic savings are frequently notmonetized, either because people lack confidence in the government and thebanking system, or because financial intermediation institutions do not caterto their needs. Capital flight is also a problem, and was as high as 70 percentof private wealth during 1970-1992 by some estimates. This is in markedcontrast with East Asian countries where high levels of domestic savingsprovided the basis for their economic growth. Leadership is necessary toconvince people that they have a stake in the future of their countries, and toinvest in it.

Not only savings, but investment too has to be increased, and for this,African leaders need to be realistic about the constraints, which exist, andhow they can be overcome. Both domestic and foreign investors need tohave a degree of security for their investments. Legally protected propertyrights and contract enforcement, as well as a prudentially managed bankingsystem, are prerequisites. And yet these exist in very few African countriesto any significant degree. Flexible labour laws, reliable infrastructure, atrainable workforce, and consistent application of clear regulations, which

are also basic requirements, tend to be in equally short supply. Withoutthese, it will be difficult for African countries to attract the sort of


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investment, which generates employment and builds capacity over the longterm. Without security, both foreign and domestic investors will focus onshort term profits, not on long term development. If African leaders areserious about attracting investment, they will need to create the requisiteconditions, even if they involve difficult political choices.

In other regions of the world, foreign direct investment not only createdemployment, it also helped to spur local entrepreneurial capacity, which inturn created new business leaders. There is no reason that this should not

happen in Africa also, provided the conditions for investment are put inplace. It is now generally recognised that the private sector has to be theengine of growth, and that an environment conducive to private sectoractivity has to be fostered. The formal private sector is relativelyunderdeveloped in most African countries, largely because of thepredominant role of the state in the economy, and because governments stilltend to make it difficult for the private sector to operate effectively. Theobstacles in the way of government harassment, corrupt officials, andlimited access to information, technology and capital need to be removed.

Initiative, incentive and innovation mark progress. However, in a goodnumber of African countries, the old style of doing business, with itsreliance on government contacts, favourable treatment, and specialexemptions, is still entrenched in many instances. This notwithstanding, anew generation of men and women entrepreneurs is developing asconditions become more propitious. Many of these have gained experiencein other countries and are accustomed to working in a competitiveenvironment. These new business leaders - dynamic, innovative and ready totake advantage of opportunities - will provide a very different role model for

future generations.


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Young people have to believe that they have a future, and they require theskills, which will enable them to create their own employment or to seek itwith others. Without education, future generations of Africans will notprosper, and even run the risk of falling further behind. Although theconsiderable improvements, which have been made, should not beunderestimated, the education situation in most African countries is stillpitifully inadequate. Primary school enrolment rates for Sub-Saharan Africaas a whole, excluding South Africa, are 71 percent of school age children.Secondary enrolment rates are even lower, at 23 percent. Girls on average

receive less schooling than boys, and the same distressing situation existswith regard to literacy.

Poor though they are, the statistics mask the enormity of the problem. It isnot just the availability, but also the quality of education, which matters. Inmany instances, particularly in rural areas, this has declined to precariouslevels due to lack of facilities, teaching materials and qualified staff. Accessto education is also uneven, with the poor the least able to benefit. And yet,ordinary people understand the benefits of education. Throughout thecontinent, service delivery surveys indicate a widespread dissatisfaction with

the quality of education provided by authorities, and as a result, examples ofcommunities building and maintaining schools, paying teachers, andpurchasing supplies abound.

The direct benefits of education are clear. But there are other, less obviousbenefits also. Schooling fosters innovation and experimentation; it buildsthe skills, which enable people to respond to external changes, and promotesthe adoption of new technologies. All of these are required for adaptation toa rapidly changing world. The linkages between female literacy and

education and the well being of their families have also long been known,and are consistently demonstrated. The effects are cumulative. Educating


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girls and women is an investment in the future. Without education, ordinarypeople will continue to be left behind, and will be unable to take advantagesof the opportunities which peace, stability and sound policies will bring.Perhaps more than anything else, education provides the basis forbroadening the range of leadership. In countries in other regions, bothhistorically and at the present time, it is mass literacy and education, whichhave provided opportunities for social, political and economic leaders toemerge.

In addition to education, information is essential for leadership. There wouldappear to be linkages between the openness of societies, the creation ofopportunities and the ability of people to act on them. The media have animportant role to play in creating open societies that have a free flow ofinformation. In the past in most African countries, access to informationwas severely curtailed and filtered through government-owned mediachannels. Even when private media existed, it was hard for them to obtainaccurate information to report. As a result of political liberalisation, the pressis much freer and more independent in most African countries, and althoughaccess to information is still not as easy as it could be, it is much more

readily available than in the past. Moreover, technologies have made itpossible for information to be transmitted more easily through non-officialchannels, and this can be expected to become more widespread as the cost offax and e-mail decrease. Leaders need to embrace technology and recognisethe importance of information for development, and not seek to control it.

Information, and leadership at both the political and community levels, aredesperately needed to prevent one of the greatest tragedies besetting Africa,that of HIV/AIDS, from worsening. Throughout the continent, children are

being orphaned as their parents die of AIDS. In the past, such childrenwould have been absorbed into the extended family or local community and


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cared for. Now, as the social fabric of many societies becomes more andmore frayed, as traditional mores break down, and as the gulf between ruraland urban areas increases, this frequently does not happen. Increasingly,these children are being abandoned to find their own way. Instead of careand attention, they find themselves on the streets, vulnerable to abuse.Instead of school, girls turn to prostitution to survive, and in the process cancontract the same disease which caused their predicament in the first place.

The rates of HIV positivity and AIDS are frighteningly high. Of the

reported 30.6 million people with HIV/AIDS world-wide, 21 million ofthem are in Africa. In countries such as Botswana and Zimbabwe, anestimated 25 percent of the adult population is living with HIV/AIDS.There is no reason to believe that other countries, which have muchlower registered rates are in fact any better off, and every reason tobelieve that the apparently lower rates are a result of poor datacollection, lack of awareness and limited access to adequateservices. Unless the spread of HIV/AIDS is slowed, the future formany in African countries, and indeed for the continent as a whole, isbleak. Although changing attitudes and social behaviour is difficult

and takes time, this is an area in which leadership can make adifference.

Group-based politics has long been a feature of African countries, andleadership is needed to overcome this tradition and create political systemsin which all societal groups can participate and enjoy democratic rights andfreedoms. While political leadership is needed, civil society also has animportant role in creating a culture of political tolerance, and in helpingpromote national unity and social justice. Throughout the continent,

leadership at the community level has made a tremendous contribution tosocial harmony and building understanding between societal groups.


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One of the greatest assets of Africa is its people. Investing in people is theway forward. The task facing the leaders of today is to create theenvironment, which will unleash the potential of people and allow them toact on their own development initiatives. The task for tomorrows leaders isto ensure that new opportunities are constantly taken advantage of, and thatpeace and prosperity truly become a reality for the peoples of Africa.Government policies are important. But policies alone will not workmiracles. Commitment on the part of the people and governments alike is

ultimately what will make a difference. What is done today will affect theworld that African children will inherit tomorrow. The opportunities tocreate a brighter future exist, more than ever before. It is for the people ofAfrica to take them.

As part of the required response mechanism we shall, during the course ofour gathering, institutionalise the ALF Prize for Leadership Excellence inAfrica. It is a venture that I hold close to my heart and to which I havedecided to once again make personal contribution and hope that we will beable to elicit and secure the co-operation and support of others in raising this

prize to a point where it becomes the Prize in Africa that will further assist inthe search for Positive Role models. Our intent in creating the prize is toprovide the much needed recognition, support and encouragement to thoseindividuals in Africa who are positively contributing towards the overalldevelopment of their respective societies.

I have had occasions in the past to express my fears, both profound and

ordinary, about the situation in our continent. But there would only be hope,if we move away from passivism, acquiescence, scepticism and cynicism.

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The observable trends among most of you, who I consider as the thirdgeneration of leaders, are attitudes of resignation, buck-passing and cynicismalmost about everything, but particularly about governance and leadership.Yet, those of you within the average age of 40 years today, can, in the next20 years, make a great difference to Africa.

Is the situation in Africa totally hopeless? My answer is no. The odds areheavily stacked against us. But so have they been stacked against othernations and regions that have broken the shackles and the jinx. We must feel

shamed and diminished by our situation; but yes, we must also feelchallenged and inspired by it. When those in my generation were growingup, we had limited opportunities, but we had hope. We used the hope tocreate opportunities.

Today, I believe that although you have greater opportunities you also havediminished hope. However, if you effectively utilise opportunities andawareness that you have you can create greater hope and a better future.Development is not what others can do for you or what you can enjoy inother people's country. The countries that we admire today and where you

would like to migrate to or spend your holidays are developed countriesbecause things work there and people have had to pay the price and makethe sacrifice for development. They had done the first things first - workbefore pleasure, production before consumption, investment before returnsand profit.

If you give up, nobody will do the work for you. It is our work as Africans.The work will involve regeneration and recreation, reinvigoration andreorientation. It will draw sweat and blood from you, but you will have the

joy and satisfaction of success, achievement and accomplishment. You willproudly move around the world as a member of an achiever-race, not as a


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member of a race condemned to the rim and periphery of the world. It wouldnot happen if you do not consciously strive to make it happen. You are thefuture and you will live in the future, and you must provide the plan. You areyoung and you must be restless and have insatiable appetite for thedevelopment of our nations, and our world.

The past is history, it is gone and we only need to know it to instruct ourpresent. Mistakes have been made in the past. Throughout history, that hasbeen the lot of all societies and all communities. But those who learn from

mistakes of the past to enlighten the future emerge determined, virile, stableand more successful. Whatever you do, you must develop the character andattitude for caring and sharing. That is the culture of African society and wemust not jettison it under the guise of modernity or development. We live ina world of 'might is right'. Don't be deceived to the contrary. If we are notstrong economically, we will be treated as less than human beings and as thescum of the earth.

The task is great, heavy, diffused and ramifying. In whichever direction youwalk, it is an uphill task. But it is our task and no one else's. We cannot run

away from it, as the task will continue to mount and become super-hydra-headed. Let us throw body, mind, soul and ourselves to it and we stand achance of success. If we ignore it, we and generations yet unborn will beconsumed by it. The verdict of history on us is clear and our race and ourpeople would have no place on this planet.

Let me say here that my own generation and those before me are becomingspent forces. The generation before me is already becoming endangeredspecie. Your generation and those after you must pick up the gauntlet. The

major problem for most of my generation and the generation before them islack of adequate concern and commitment for the nation-state rather than for


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self and immediate extended family or clan. There is need for blending ofexperience and dynamism between the old and the not-so old. Asianmiracles, 1 am convinced, is predicated on collective concern for the nation-state.

Your generation cannot afford to make similar mistakes. The challenges aredifferent, the environment is different and the stakes are high. I have hadoccasions in the past to express the fear that if there are no radical changes inthe next one thousand years from now, the Black Race may become an

extinct specie on our continent and the region of Africa may have to beinhabited by other people who will make the place more congenial, morehospitable and more productive.

In spite of unsteady progress so far, I see hope in the future. I see hope in thedetermination and the resilience of our people. I see hope in the ability of theAfrican if empowered, motivated and well led. I see hope in their resistancewhen they are pushed to the wall. I see hope in the blending of experienceand dynamism of the old and the new. I see hope in the youths and theyoung. I see hope in the dynamism of African culture. I see hope in the

undivided reality of our existence. I see hope in the commonality ofhumanity. To lose hope is to lose all. We must be sustained by keeping hopealive and active. Our hopes lie essentially in the fundamental African values.These include our sense of communal interest, family obligations, caring andsharing, concern for human dignity and the link between the dead, the livingand the unborn in our consideration for the environment. But more thananything else, you, the successor generation are the hope of Africa. Youcannot afford to fail.

Let me round off my remarks by thanking our donors who provided us therequired financial muscle for this conference, the United Nations


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Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa, the Government andPeople of the Republic of Benin, the Canadian International DevelopmentAgency, and the Africa Leadership Foundation Inc. To all of them, weexpress our profound gratitude and appreciation.

I wish you a most fruitful and engaging deliberation and may I also say letthe celebration commence.


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The Leadership Recruitment Process

in Africa: Implications for Governance

and Development

By

M. J. Balogun1

"Whatever is, is in God, and nothing can either be or be conceived withoutGod". - Spinoza (Proposition XV)

"And let their be among you a body of men who invite to goodness, enjoin

equity, and forbid evil. And it is these who shall prosper". - Qur'an, 3:104

"The superior man comprehends yi (righteousness); the small manunderstands li (profit)". - Confucius

Leadership is often viewed as a variable that is too dependent on itsenvironment to be treated as a discrete analytic category. Yet, it cannot alwaysbe dismissed as insignificant. Its impact on development, in general, and on

1Senior Regional Adviser, UN Economic Commission for Africa


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governance reform, in particular, is a function of how it is defined. Whereleadership is perceived merely as a power structure - an instrumentality for thedispensation of favours to allies and for unleashing terror on opponents - issuesof survival will likely take precedence over those of democracy anddevelopment. In contrast, an entrepreneurial, citizen-oriented view ofleadership most frequently translates into constant exploration of publicservice opportunities, the opening up of the "democratic space", and thebroadening of developmental horizons.

The challenge ahead is to strengthen the capacity for development-oriented

leadership at the expense of the generally entrenched self-serving, sometimes,predatory, systems.

An Analytical Framework

Understanding the role of leadership in promoting governance reform andextending the development frontier requires that we reach a consensus on the

term's meaning. While some analysts view leadership as a person or a group ofpersons that are picked by the environment to hold "command" and decision-making positions for a while

2 others regard it as an independent variable -

specifically, an institution endowed with the capacity to mould itsenvironment

3Yet other commentators place leadership somewhere in between

the two extremes of helplessness and omnipotence (Balogun, 1997).

Of all the attributes essential to the definition of leadership, the one mostfrequently mentioned is personality. In popular discourse, a leader is "a personthat leads other persons", and leadership is the act of, and the qualities

2(Wilson, 1989; Allen, 1995:301-20)3(Young, 1988; Haldenius, 1992:145-6: and Lijphart, 1977:165).

Leadership, Governance and Development:


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associated with, leading. If this is all there is to leadership, it should not comeas a surprise that some analysts find it too tenuous a base on which to constructa viable social theory. Thus, according to Wilson (1989:227) the fact thatinnovative leadership depends on a chance occurrence - i.e., the emergencefrom the environment of individuals committed to change - makes it difficult,if not impossible "to build a useful social science theory ...."

In much the same way, Allen (1995:301-20) argues that focusing on structures(like leadership) and discrete events (such as military coups or state collapse)

would not help our understanding of the multi-dimensional and complexnature of African politics. To have a firm grasp of political developments onthe continent, we need to adopt a holistic view of structures and events, andexamine both "within the appropriate historical sequence."

Not everyone agrees with this fatalistic view of leadership. Adedeji (1992:4-5)contests the hypothesis that it is the environment "that makes or breaksleaders". To regard the environment as a variable that does not respond tohuman inventive genius, he argues, is to exclude,

"... experiences in history reflecting the difference which theascendancy of certain personalities made to national awakening

or collapse."

If environmental change has to await the "ascendancy of certain personalities",Wilson's argument about the futility of building a social theory around "chanceappearances" deserves careful consideration. Indeed, the burden of proof is onthe proponents of the thesis that a fleeting and totally unpredictableoccurrence, such as leadership, is capable of moulding a durable and

impregnable entity like the environment. If it is accepted that leaders "comeand go" while the environment remains (to keep the recruitment and


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retrenchment cycle going) we need a framework outlining a set ofenvironmental conditions which produce or favour the emergence of one typeof leadership or the other.

A definition that credits leadership with the capacity to change theenvironment will of necessity have to focus on the dynamic relationshipbetween personality and the environment. The outcome of the trade-offbetween the two is an institution that champions new causes, preachesrevolutionary values, and suggests radical solutions to existing or unforeseen

problems. Adedeji's observation on leadership attributes is apt:

"The difference between a leader and a follower is that the

former leads a group, a nation, or a region of the earth, throughcrisis situations to triumph and properity, while the latter simply

follows the trends.... A leader, particularly, a political leaderwithout a vision, is a fraud on society, and a country that isunfortunate to be afflicted with that kind of leadership is doomed

to move from one crisis to another"(Adedeji, 1992:8).

If we go by Adedeji's classification, two types of environment can beidentified: one in which leadership plays a critical, sometimes, decisive role,and the other which is adrift, or, in plain language, rudderless. This still leavesunanswered the question where environmental influence ends and leadershiptakes over. With reference to societies in which leadership proved critical, weneed to know the factors explaining this type of activism. Specifically, weneed to answer the question whether leadership activism emerged"spontaneously" or as a result of the interaction among several environmentalforces.

The underlying thesis of this paper is that far from being a "a chanceoccurrence", leadership is a variable that has the capacity to shape the


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environment. It becomes a dependent variable only when it is not fullyinformed about its environment and passes up opportunities to makeenvironmental forces work in its favour. This presupposes that certain types ofenvironments tend to be favourably disposed towards a specific leadershipideal-type. A review of the African experience suggests at least four possibleleadership-environment combinations, viz:

a) a state of nature' which favours patrimonial and predatory leadership;

b) an environment in which competition is "deflected" or restricted (this is ahaven for buccaneers and ethically flexible oligarchs);

c) decomposed systems or environments in need of 'redemption' (these

respond to entrepreneurial but autocratic leadership thrusts); and

d) d)rapidly changing and competitive, "market" environments (these favour

policy entrepreneurs who are capable of exploring "market

opportunities", responding to demands from citizen-consumers, and

competing on a level playing field).

Leader-Predator

In a state of nature, power gravitates towards the creature with the monopolyof terror. The animal kingdom is a perfect example of an environmentcharacterized by the routine decimation of the weak by the strong. In such anenvironment, the question of who gets what is neither based on consensus nor

put to a ballot. No formal rules exist for peaceful resolution of conflict.


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Rights are conferred by individual desire but determined by strength (usual,physical, but sometimes, mental).

The patrimonial model of governance is the human form of predatoryleadership. Its natural habitat is a society that is largely primitive, agrarian,inward-looking, and, in view of conflicting primordial loyalties, lacking in aclearly defined "sense of direction". It is a clean slate waiting to be written on,a virgin territory in need of exploitation.

In such a society, popular participation in governance and development tendsto be restricted by low literacy, urbanization, and social mobilization rates.Communication technology tends to be at the rudimentary stage, and the flowof information tends to be highly restricted.

It is in such an environment that a strong father figure (the "supreme ruler")frequently emerges. He begins by staking a claim on a "virgin" territory andappropriating to himself the sovereign powers. In case a rival entertains anyhope of dislodging the leader, the latter pre-empts the former's moves throughsystematic application of terror and the appointment of trusted lieutenants to

command and control positions. Every institution that matters - the age-grades,the medicine-men, the rain-makers, and, in modern societies, the legislature,the judiciary, the civil service, the central bank, and, naturally, the armedforces - are viewed as part of the ruler's personal house-hold.

It goes without saying that considerations of development and governancereform are secondary in the calculations of the patrimonial ruler. Theenvironment is too submissive to make demands along those lines. The rulerhimself regards the state as his personal property - to be disposed off in any

manner he deems fit. For example, besides exercising authority over everymember of the group and overseeing the allocation of land for farming, the


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Yoruba balewas entitled to gifts of farm produce from members, and to a "legof every animal or foul offered for any sacrifice in the compound" (Forde,1962:11). In the Zande community (Reining, 1966:16), the chiefs

"combined in their offices all political and administrativefunctions as well as many economic ones. They were the military

and political leaders and the wealthiest men."

Changes within the patrimonial environment and without, most frequently

signal the need for a change in leadership, or at least, in leadership style. Yet,predatory leadership tends to be too set in its ways to read danger signals in theenvironment or to "evolve" to a more democratic form of political control.Like the creatures in the animal kingdom (that have no back-up plans for wild-life poaching, or rapid depletion of forest cover), the leader-predator tends tobe too blinded by self-interest to perceive looming threats.

Buccaneer-Oligarchs and the "Power Seekers"

The conclusion that can be drawn from the preceding analysis is that predatory

leadership finds its niche in a leaderless environment - one lacking in vibrantgovernment and civil society institutions. There is, however, another categoryof environment - one in which formal political and social institutions exist, butthe rules to apply in recruiting or retrenching the institutions' leaders are eithernot clear, if clear, are subject to manipulation by an oligarchy.

Under the liberal democratic principle, for instance, the sovereign powers ofthe state belong to the elector, who, at regular intervals, casts his/her vote tounderscore preferences for particular candidates, policy platforms, or labels.Thus, based on universal adult suffrage, free elections are conducted to decide"who governs" over a period.


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The rule outlined above pressuposes that rival candidates would articulate theirideas on governance and development, and attempt to "sell" these ideas topotential "consumers" - i.e., the electors. The rule portrays the political spaceessentially as a "market" in which rival suppliers of goods/services meetindividual consumers.

The competitive, market model seldom works in the political arena the way itwas conceived in economics. As noted by Gailbraith (1977:29) and Haefele(1971:350), marginal analysis exhibits two fundamental flaws when

transplanted from economics to politics. The first is its assumption ofconsumer sovereignty, while the second it is failure to anticipate theprobability of government using its monopolistic power to raise the "scarcityvalue" (or price) of public goods.

The consumer sovereignty that underlies marginal analysis is, in the real worldof politics, a myth. Inequalities in access to education, information, andmaterial wealth most frequently translate into inequalities in the political"market". But even more significant is the general inclination towardsmonopolistic control in the political arena. Neither the "ruling" party nor any

of the opposition grou

Africa and the Successor Generation

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