A
leader is that distinctive individual in a community who is
expected to posses, share and/or exhort qualities that are rare and
progressive, and who is expected to act in a way that people can relate
to. The leader is expected to be the most extraordinary ordinary man in
the community he is leading and the exceptional individual with the
uncommon touch to most, if not all of the social entities in the
community. Naturally looked upon as the most important person in the
community he is leading, the leader is expected to make most of the
decisive decisions over the fate of his people, at most times with the
counsel or consent of his people. The role of a leader in a given
society is expected to be exemplary.
Being
a leader carries power with it. However, it is the extent and
direction of the utilization of that power for or against the interest
of the community that determines the worth of the leader. Fundamental
questions that cannot be ignored abound about the purpose of a
leadership. But the question that dominates is this: What does the
leader seek with the power?
- Is it to achieve glory?
- Is it to gain fame?
- Is it for the sense of elevation?
- Is it to gain wealth?
- Or is it to realize an ideal that would be for the advancement of humanity (His people, related peoples or mankind as a whole)?
Most
leaders with fame and glory as their ulterior motive, including those
who seek power for an exclusive idea, eventually end up disappointing
their people and giving a bad name to the idea they brandished.
Contemporary examples are Stalin, Nicolae Ceausescu, Milosevic and Pol
Plot.
Those
who go for elevation and wealth end up as dictators, kleptocrats and
megalomaniacs whose rule survive through an antidemocratic culture and
oligarchic system based on repression, corruption and division (Social,
ethnic, religious and racial).Examples abound especially in Africa with
names like Mobutu Sesse Seko, Sani Abacha, Ferdinand Marcos, Idi Amin,
Ahmadou Ahidjo, Paul Biya, Gnassingbé Eyadema, Jean-Baptist Bokassa etc.
Those
wise leaders who strive to do their jobs by effectively utilizing the
powers of their position to realize a purpose that is far
above themselves, especially one that is for the advancement of their
people or for the advancement (whether wholly or partially) of humanity, stand
out as the consciences of their people and mankind. Living legends like
Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II; and dead legends
like El cid stand out in this regard. These conscious and conscientious
leaders are the movers of their times and the revolutionaries for
revolutionary situations, demands or solutions . These are the leaders to enhance a right or right a wrong.
The seekers of fame, glory, elevation and wealth end up as heads of regimes or systems that are dominated by a clique that is
out of touch with the rest of the community or humanity as a whole; a
clique that uses repression, oppression, discrimination, terror,
extortion, blackmail and crimes against humanity to stay in power. Even
while surviving their people’s disapproval, such leaders are nothing more than cowards, negative perfectionists and long term illusionists.
It
is true that the levers of power always produce an effect. Whatever the
original intention and the effects of the utilized power, something
that cannot be avoided is the resultant legacy that arises from the rule
of a leader. The legacy can be positive or negative depending on how
the people embraced the leader’s years at the helm of power. However, in
striving for advancement, humanity generally tends to emulate positive legacies. Negative legacies, which are the embodiment of criminality,
are always short-lived. The repetition of crime against a people is no
history at all. The world has seen more than enough of such horrors.
It
has been observed with clarity that most anti-people leaders who sought
for fame, glorification and elevation, and who enshroud themselves in
myths end up losing their attachments to the people; blinded by the
drunkenness of power; and oblivious of the realities, needs and desires
of the community they are supposed to lead. The ephemeral legacies of
such leaders rarely survive them. In the aftermath of their deaths,
anecdotes based on the worthlessness of blind power often arise, weaved
by the very people they had trampled upon. Here, we find examples raging
from ancient leaders like Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar and Nero, to
contemporary figures like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Plot, Yeltsin, Mobutu,
Bokasssa, Saddam, Idi Amin, Eyadema, Ahidjo and Biya.
In today’s world; in contemporary Africa that is lagging behind the rest of the worldas a result of the negative legacies of leadership problems of the last century; in a Kamerun that is trying to give birth to “The People’s Rule” and a leader that can take the country out of its political lethargy and the impasse created by the fatiguing anachronistic French-imposed system, the search is for leaders that can lead their people to a future of world
consensus, liberty, freedom and development. It is possible to achieve
Leaderships capable of meeting those demands only if we find; the link
between power and a positive legacy; the path to progress, freedom and
harmony; and the restoration of our trust and self-confidence. Of great
importance isthe restoration of self-confidence, because in this
expansive land that is haunted by negative legacies of misrule,
betrayals, treachery, oppression, repression, corruption, distrust,
ethno-centrism, racial and religious division; yet is being gradually
pervaded by the liberating fervor of new and revived concepts, new ties,
new visions and breath-taking strides at recovery through certain
revolutionary paths that our backwardness demands; we are still haunted
by a sense of victimhood. This sense of victimhood is an oblivious one
and persists because of our inability to comprehend our situation. Yes,
we are still traumatized. We are a haunted people, haunted even by
ourselves. We need to liberate ourselves, create a new people, a new
nation and new standards. Leadership, which is indispensable in
realizing that liberation, must assume a revolutionary fervor, one that
has the ultimate intention to bequeath a secured, progressive and
advance legacy to the generations to come.
Hard
and merciless is the task of a revolutionary leadership in a
revolutionary situation of taking the people out of an impasse where
they are still highly haunted by the negative legacies of past misrules.
With such a colossal task to overcome, a leader in a revolutionary
situation is virtually left with little or nothing of his personal life.
He is a slave to the radical or overwhelming process of change
(revolution), and must be completely dedicated to overcome the
accumulated past wrongs within a limited time frame. In his leadership
role, he should expect to live a life of endless series of deprivations,
self-sacrifices and nervous exertions. He should expect no reward in
his life time, except the most satisfying feeling of
all—self–fulfillment that arises from realizing the objectives of a cause that involves righting
the wrongs of the past and giving the people the ability to live up to
their potentials. Or if the leader finds such a cause of liberation and
enhancement too demanding, he might abandon the revolutionary task, lead
the people along a path that is midway between the horrors of the past
and the revolutionary vision. Such a compromise would be nothing more
than a procession of endless series of compromises which would neither
fulfill the revolutionary objectives nor cause a return to the horrors
of the past. Unfortunately, such compromises end up in futility. And
with such an outcome, the revolution would be said to have lost its
direction.
Today, in our communities that are still suffering from the wounds or scars caused by the negative legacies of bad leaders, true revolutionary leaders often find themselves plagued by time constraints, and likely get misunderstood
by the people whose interest they are out to serve. This is so because
the people whose lives the radical or overwhelming process of change is
meant to advance often misunderstand the new rules and demands that:
- Things are done right in the interest of the people.
- Affairs take a straight course.
- Logical truths are revealed in order to avoid future mistrust and distrust.
- The leadership be genuine in their actions and intentions in order to create true understanding.
These
are all necessary factors for the advancement of the cause for a
positive change. Unfortunately these factors are sometimes perceived as
indications of dictatorial tendencies when speedy but unavoidable
implementation is attempted. Such a perception arises from the fact that
the detractors fail to see the truth and genuineness of the cause
because they have decided to close their eyes to the intentions of the
revolutionary leadership and the objectives of the revolution within the
frame work of time constraints.
The people’s revolutionary leader is always supposed to be on fire with love for his people and his country and should be prepared to confront danger at all times to ensure the establishment of
liberty, freedom, development, progress and harmony. Yet, as a secular
leader confronted by the horrors of the past and dedicated to ensure the
prevalence of the people’s right over the accumulated wrongs they have
endured, the people’s revolutionary leader may go to hell in the
orthodox sense ofthings. Confronted by the colossal task of righting the
wrongs from the past and faced with the resistance from the
reactionaries who were the custodians and beneficiaries of the old
system, the leader becomes susceptible to mistakes, despite his noble
intentions.
The fact that the people’s revolutionary leader is determined to ensure that the wrong never again prevail over the right, since it is impossible to convert all the reactionaries to change to live up to the demands of the new society and its democratic tradition, and because those who try to sabotage change and progress should be rendered impotent or even crushed for the sake of protecting and realizing the objectives of the
revolution, the general advancement of humanity and the wellbeing of
the majoritywho constitute the struggling class; the people’s leader in
this revolutionary situation may act badly, acts which for the sake of
progress and humanity are
unavoidable. Such acts which in reality are tragic but necessary are
right, even though in the orthodox sense of things might not be
considered good. That is the fundamental cross of the people’s leader in
a revolutionary situation when he is confronted by the desperate
reactions of the custodians and beneficiaries of the old system. The
right choices and decisions must be made to ensure that the people’s
interest survives the situation and prevails over the wrong (the
embodiment of our past horrors).
It
is true that past revolutions have shown that few revolutions succeed,
and even if they do, fewer of the few successful revolutions achieve
their objectives. However, a
critical analysis reveals that few of those revolutions were for an
advanced ideal that was for the genuine interest of the people or for
humanity as a whole. And even so, the principal reason for the failures
or derailment of good-intentioned revolutions was that the leadership
failed to bury the horrible past in all its wrongs. Some of the negative
legacies of the past were merely given new clothing in the form of
change. That is why firmness and the avoidance of delusional traits are
expected from a revolutionary leadership.
While
it is true that role of the people’s revolutionary leader is to inspire
the people to strive for a purpose that makes them better human beings;
the leader’s firmness in propagating the ideals may spew accusations of
dictatorship. Nevertheless, we should not fail to figure out that true
dictators are those leaders who cherish absolute power, praise and
self-praise that is a reflection of publicity in its worst forms. But
the people’s revolutionary leader who is wrongly perceived as a dictator
is usually the good-intentioned personality who abhors extravagant
praise, knowing that it belittles not only him the recipient, but also
those who are expressing their approval or admiration for him in songs
or words. The leader for the future should be someone who understands
that absolute power over
fellow humans—friends and foes alike, destroys the human touch, and
places a leader in a lonely position in life in its real form. The
leader with absolute power becomes a dictator who gets the publicity but
is not popular.
Disheartening
as it may sound, the dedicated, wrongly perceived, but good-intentioned
revolutionary leaders tend to have few people who are truly close to
them. The values they cherish are too scarce in the communities they are
out to advance, especially in a situation where the genuine demands of
the revolution outweigh the human and material resources necessary to
realize the ideals of the revolution. In a curious way, the peoples’
revolutionary leaders are virtuous. Because of the sacrifices and
self-sacrifices that they have made for their causes, they can be
regarded as pursuers of a selfless dream in a selfish world, and in a
way, lonely men in their overcrowded worlds. That is the harsh reality,
which is all the more true because in a revolutionary state, many tend
to have the revolutionary enthusiasm, but few are fully aware of the
true essence of the revolution. It
is for the above reasons that very few revolutionary leaders who have
splendid legacies are worthy of canonization. Even those who can or have
been canonized are or were sinning saints. Nelson Mandela accepts that
too.
August 08, 1997
