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THE PLATONIC PROPHESY AND THE CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP AND POLITICAL
INSTABILITY IN AFRICA: THE NIGERIAN DILEMMA
BY
1. SAMUEL ASUQUO EKANEM, PhD, LLB (HONS), BL2. DAVID ONU SALIFU,
PhD
AND3. KIDZU T. OWEH,PhD
1&3 DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHYFEDERAL UNIVERISTY WUKARI
TARABA STATE-NIGERIA
2. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONFEDERAL UNIVERSITY
WUKARI
TARABA STATE-NIGERIA2.
AbstractThere are still several problems in Africa despite
several decades of trying to grapple with such problems. Many
countries in the continent though have gone through transitions
from colonialism to independence are hardly out of the woods. Here,
Colonialism did not offer a clear -cut solution to the several
challenges of Africa. Indeed, rather than solve the African
problems, Colonialism introduced complexity into an already endemic
situation that left the continent perplexed and bewildered with
institutions that deprived the continent of originality and liberty
in several diverse ways and therefore tied the umbilical cord of
the continent to the western economy, politics, science, technology
and paradigm. Poverty, disease, corruption, leadership crisis and
political instability are some of the problems that have ravaged
Africa thereby leaving a large footprint of “underdevelopment” in
the continent. Of the several problems and challenges facing Africa
in the last fifty (50) years, the twin problems of leadership
crisis and political instability appears daunting and Goliath-like
in nature that frightened all to a state of despair. Several
scholars and writers have identified the problems of Africa but
none seems to proffer a concrete solution that bears the seal of
historical antecedence. It is on the basis of this that this paper
reflects on the apostolic prophesy of Plato that “the world will
know no peace until philosophers become kings or kings
philosophers”. It is the position of this paper that the leadership
crisis and political instability experienced and prevalent in
Africa and Nigeria in particular are due to the fact that
philosophers have not been given the opportunity to emerge as
African leaders. Leaders in African states have not also imbibed
the basic characteristics of philosophers, hence the various
calamities that have bedeviled the continent that is blessed and
endowed by nature and providence to be the “giant under sun”. The
paper posits that the solution to the numerous problems and
challenges confronting Africa generally and Nigeria in particular
lies in heeding the Platonic prophesy of creating or leaving empty
seats for philosophers to occupy as rulers or kings. Also the basic
characteristics of the philosopher king are highlighted and
explained. There is also the suggestion of a system collapse that
was supposed to follow the Platonic model. It is also argued that
leadership mentoring fashioned after the Platonic system can
salvage the African continent and redirect it towards greatness.
The paper asserts that what is urgently needed is to embark on a
systemic rescue mission to place the philosophers of this continent
on their prophetic position(s).
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IntroductionAfrican states though had political independence but
lacked the concomitant economic
autonomy required to evolve truly autonomous states. The
emergent ruling class also was a product of ill-equipped political
class that controlled the political terrains within the context of
ethnicity, fragile economic and educational system. The
contradictions led to the collapse of the political structure
inherited from the colonial system and the subsequent political
discontinuities prevalent or experienced in Africa, generally and
Nigeria in particular. Indeed, there has not been a well-structured
system of education or training design that will lead to the
emergence of the type of ruling class which can drive activities in
Africa and Nigeria. The implications of these are the frequent
leadership change, lack of ideology, policy reversals, consistent
inconsistency and weak institutional bases.
Also, this lack of proper training of the ruling class fashioned
after Plato's model made the perception rating of the ruling class
to be poor. What we see are intense power struggle to access
statist structures, private economic accumulation,
self-aggrandizement, profligacy, poor management of state economic
resources, repressive and malevolent use of state power and
political struggles that result in the neglect of critical
developmental issues.
These are what laid the foundation for the leadership crisis and
political instability that have come to characterize the African
states. Historically, the failure of policies, programmes and
perceived national decay are all traceable to the leadership, and
once there is a problem or crisis of the political leadership, the
effect will be political instability. However, the leadership
question is basically hinged on the interface of structure and
behaviours, dialectics of persons and institutions as historically
ascribed to Socratic Method. Those that create, implement or
interpret the laws that are building on existing social
institutions play the state roles. The behavioural aspect however
depends on the impact of personality traits, attitudes and values
of political governance. It is the imperative of these to
socio-political development that necessitated the Platonic prophesy
that “the world will know no peace until philosophers become kings
or kings philosophers”. This assertion by Plato was anchored on the
fact that politics is an intellectual activity, rather than the
practical pursuit that Africans and Nigerians are used to.
Governance by non-philosophers, it is argued, will be characterized
by opinions, beliefs and self-interest which is in sharp contrast
to the philosopher ruler who will govern with virtue as championed
by Socrates, wisdom and justice as advocated by Plato without any
“hidden agenda”.
The product or result of such philosopher rulership will be a
just and egalitarian society where peace and development are
sustained. This paper, therefore, examines the relevance of Plato's
conditions for global peace in relation to Africa with particular
reference to Nigeria. Also, it posits that the major
characteristics of the philosophers place them on a better pedestal
to function as rulers that will engender peace, which promotes
social cohesion and sustainable development, than the
non-philosopher, which is the case in Africa and Nigeria. The
crisis of leadership and political instability in Africa and
Nigeria, the paper contends, lies on the fact that philosophers are
not the rulers in Africa and Nigeria. It advocates for role
reversal or a system that will equip the rulers with the necessary
philosopher's traits or qualities.
Historical Perspective of Leadership Crisis and Political
Instability in Africa The problems of leadership and political
instability in Africa owe much of their causes to internal factors,
but the interpretation of internal and external factors while
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considering geo-political and economic interest of the
international community will show that this plays pivotal role in
undermining the very processes and institutions that are expected
to nurture democracy and inspire a sense of stability, cohesion and
harmony for societal development in Africa. The combination of
certain factors such as uneven development, poverty, disease,
violence and the manipulative tendencies of the local elites pose a
serious threat to stability in Africa. This threat is not just
coming from within Africa but essentially from external interests
that crave for African resources and so constantly shape the
dynamics in key areas that have to do with governance. It is an
established fact that Africa is well endowed by nature with
abundant resources. These resources found in Africa if well
managed, have the capacity to provide for the entire population of
the continent. However, the potentials for growth, development and
a more stable environment have been thwarted by the enormous stolen
wealth from Africa that isusually stashed up in foreign banks
(Africa Focus Bulletin: 26). This can be seen in the amount of
money stolen by political elites as illustrated by the case of
Mobutu of Zaire, Abacha of Nigeria, and Arap Moi of Kenya and the
recent Kibaki regime of Anglo-leasing scandal in Kenya, the
Halliburton bribe scandal and Dasukigate in Nigeria. All these
still end up in banks in western countries.
Also problematic in the continent of Africa are the existing
institutions of the state inherited from colonial regimes which are
defective. Although there is the existence of institutional
frameworks that are supposed to direct and guide process and
essential services delivery, the constant weakening of these
institutions, through political manipulations and predatory nature
of African elites that work in tandem with external interest also
contribute immensely to the undermining of stability in Africa. The
Judiciary is not spared this political machination. A case in point
is thesuspension of Justice Ayo Salami (the President of the Court
of Appeal of Nigeria), and the assault of a High Court Judge in
Ekiti State by thugs said to have been carried out by the order of
a Governor elect. These tendencies exacerbate resource wars (the
Petroleum Industry Bill debate currently in the Senate demonstrate
and confirm this assertion), ethnic rivalry (as can be seen in
Nigeria) North and south dichotomy, and more recently, the
emergence of electoral violence as a characteristic of multi-party
elections in African states (the post-election violence in northern
Nigeria) after the 2011 presidential election is a typical example
to illustrate this fact. Indeed, there are several events and
occurrences that tend to confirm the fact that the continent of
Africa is still “drifting”.
The Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, the Malian upheaval, the
Libya struggle and several other troubled spots in Africa all point
to the fact that all is not well with the continent. It is on the
basis of this that Anthony Ong'ayo asserts that “there are pull and
push factors, which keep shaping the internal dynamics in Africa”.
Domestically, African governments are run in such a manner that
greatly differs from the modern Western state systems that they are
modeled after (Ong'ayo:4). But it must be stated here that
leadership per se is not entirely a new concept to African people
or tradition and cultural practices. The forms and context could
differ, but there have been systems of governance in several
cultures that had characteristics discoverable in modern systems of
governance (Aderanti:16). However, several African communities
abandoned their ways during the era of colonial regimes and adopted
modern Western state system but with “independence”, the
implementation was seriously distorted and involved a great deal of
arm- twisting during the transition from colonialism to
independence. This is because the colonialists did not want to
leave the continent on their own volition. This compelled the
post-colonial regimes in Africa to “sought national unity through
the
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centralization of political and economic power, employing
vestigial colonial laws and institutions to stifle and suppress
pluralism” (Annan:8).
This pattern of post-colonial government in Africa led to the
ushering in of the constitutions to the independent states that
were not indigenous, but rather products of protracted negotiations
in western capitals, and the outcomes were indeed only favourable
to the departing colonial powers. It can be gleaned from this that
leadership crisis abinitiocrept into the newly independent states,
as the “new African leadership became the neo-colonialists, while
the liberators turned into oppressors of their own people”
(Ong'ayo:6). As a result of this, therefore, we started having
African leadership that is not, according to Fanon, “engaged in
production nor in invention, nor building, nor labour, it is
completely canalized into activities of the intermediary type. Its
innermost vocations seem to be in keeping with the running and be
part of the racket” (Fanon, 1967). It is evidently clear that these
domestic factors have greatly contributed in shaping the political
and economic transitions in Africa. O'Donnell and Schmither (1986)
opine that “domestic factors play a predominant role in the
transition”. As outlined by Diamond, Liz and Lipset (1989), Domond
and Plattner (1999), these domestic factors include “corrupt
rulers, repression, a colonial legacy, 'swollen' states, and
insufficient political structures and a destruction of democracy
from above”. Despite these, there are also the international
aspects of the transition in general, as this account for the
presence of violence in the continent (Lupo,2004). Linz and Stepan
(1996) also raised the issue of “international influences” that
includes foreign policies and diffusion effect that generally
affect the stability of African states.
An appraisal of the factors previewed here shows that the
prophetic statement of Plato is of global importance. The relevance
of this prophesy cuts across all cultures and political systems.
Domestically, it is clear from our analysis that African leadership
lacked the basic characteristics of the philosophers. The
acceptance of the colonialists to influence and erode the African
system, traditions and cultures is clearly against the doctrine of
censorship of what the rulers should be exposed to, or the kinds of
books they should read. It was a glaring display of lack of virtue,
knowledge and truth for the African leadership to allow the
establishment of western systems and institutions that were
distinctly alien to the African states.
Also, the partitioning of Africa by the colonialists shows that
they were selfish, and this is against the Platonic tenet and the
character of the philosopher. Furthermore, the imposition of
colonial rule, weak institutions and unwillingness of the
colonialists to quit Africa when the Africans wanted them to leave
shows the Western colonialists as non-philosophers. Indeed, the
conquest of Africa was achieved through deceit of “religious
missions” with a veiled economic interest to despoil and exploit
the vastly endowed African continent. This approach shows no wisdom
in the positive sense, which is one of the characteristics of
philosophers. It is proper, therefore, to argue that the
colonialists were deficient in truth, which is a fundamental
characteristic of the philosopher. This is because the philosopher
ruler is in love with learning, knowledge and truth. So, there is
the ontological root to the crisis of leadership and political
instability in Africa. This is due to the failure of the Africans
to “appreciate the compulsive role that hereditary and environment
play in a man's unconscious motivations, tendencies and habits, be
they physical or mental” (Awolowo, 1977).
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THE CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP IN AFRICAWe share the sentiment of
Professor Rita Kiki Edozie when she opines that “the crisis of
leadership in Africa is perhaps not one of the regimes in power
per se, but it is a crisis in the broader 'civil society' which
lacks vision and a strategic 'plan' on how to put the continent
back on its toes”. It has been the practice of most scholars,
authors and writers to discuss about Africa's political and
economic crisis with a divorce of leadership from followership when
both issues can be viewed as two sides of the same coin. I tend to
share the sentiment that Africa and Nigeria need to evolve a
vibrant and dedicated followership as a cultural requirement for
good leadership.
This argument is anchored on the logic that any Nigerian or
African ruler, who does not derive from an effective, democratic,
activist political organization, and has no effective progressive
political structure to rely on, hence, whose actions and policies
are not authenticated and affirmed or legitimated by popular,
progressive, accountable, political culture would of necessity be
very erratic in the application of justice, in the fight against
corruption, or in the observation of the rule of laws, among
others. This in a way creates a vacuum that allows the ruler to act
or implement policies on bases of personal calculations that
indicates how secure such rulers are in their political position.
Their actions and reactions would mostly depend on calculations of
what the immediate local political gains that would be derived and
what local political force has the overriding salience in affecting
their positions. The manifest effect of this pattern of governance
is the incoherent nature of the ruling class that lack vision and
there is the absence of viable, depersonalized, nationalistic and
ideologically coherent political party, and administrative
structures. This also includes the absence of progressive
principles around which a core like-minded people could together
bring about progressive and development driven policies and goals.
But rather, what we have in Nigeria and Africa is a sycophantic
followership, which tends to lick the “boot” of the ruling
elites.
This situation cannot promote peace and harmony in the society
as envisaged by Plato in his tripartite nature or structure of the
state. This structure of the society corresponds to appetitive,
spirited and rational parts of the soul. Here, the productive
(workers) that include the “labourers, carpenters, plumbers,
merchants, farmers, ranchers, among others, correspond to the
appetitive (appetite) part of the soul. The protective, (warriors
or auxiliaries), which are adventurous, strong and brave- the armed
forces represents the spirited part. The rulerscorrespond to the
rational (reason) part of the soul and this class of people are
very few” (Ekanem:112). So, for the society to develop these three
classes must concentrate in doing only that which they are well
suited for.
This Platonic foundation for a just and peaceful society is
seriously lacking in Africa and Nigeria. The Platonic model that
represents the basic principles of Athenian democracy as it existed
then does not exist in African states at all. So rather than depend
on rhetoric and persuasion, Plato opines that reason and wisdom
should govern. Plato graphically put it thus:Until philosophers
rule as kings or those who are now called kings and leading men
genuinely and adequately philosophize, that is, until political
power and philosophy entirely coincide, while the many natures who
at present pursue either on exclusively are forcibly prevented from
doing so, cities will have no rest from evils…nor, I think will the
human race (Republic 473).
It is clear here that Plato's description of the philosopher
king is that they are “those who love the sight of truth” (Republic
475). It is this love for the truth that African leaders seriously
lacked and this has created political instability in Africa.
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POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN AFRICAIt has been established that
African political instability and other related problems is
primarily a consequence of its leadership problem (Ong'ayo:4).
However, the economy of Africa contributes to the existing
political instability in the continent. This can be seen in the
assertion of Julius Nyerere of Tanzania when he identified
“Poverty, Ignorance and Disease” (PID) as the major obstacles
facing the African continent. Indeed, African states are plagued
with the Poverty, Ignorance and Disease(PID) syndrome, and the
various leaderships in the continent seem to have been bereft of
ideas as to how to overcome this problem. It is as a result of this
that recourse has been made to Western institutions to provide
palliatives to the prevalent economic malady. This was aptly
captured by Ong'ayo when he argued that the “existing economic
conditions based on western policy prescriptions also play a
significant role in the deprivation of African populations, of the
essential services, which are key to development” (5).
This argument is buttressed by the economic policies of
Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), which packages involve
“sweeping economic and social changes designed to siphon the
indebted country's resources and productive capacity through debt
payments and to enhance international (TNCs) competition”
(Ong'ayo:5 and Hong:14). An example of this can be seen in the
“massive deregulation, privatization, current devaluation, social
spending cuts, lower corporate taxes, export driven strategies and
removal of foreign investment restrictions” (Clarke :301). There
are severe effects of these on essential services which include
health, education and infrastructure. The drastic cuts in public
expenditure under SAPs, according to Ong'ayo, has “led to a drastic
decline in control and prevention measures against disease such as
cholera, yellow fever and malaria that were once under control
while new diseases remain a big challenge”(6), especially Ebola
that is presently ravaging West African States.The cut has also
made it difficult for African countries to overcome the problem of
illiteracy. Here, the problem may appear African, but the cause is
the consequence of “western based financial institutions
interference through conditionality and economic policy
prescriptions” which has contributed to the instability in Africa
(Ong'ayo:5).
Again, political violence, according to Ekanem and Simon:17,
contribute to political instability. This is because “political
violence is a kind of socio-political interaction that has opposing
elements struggling to conquer and control the social environment
economically, legally, socially and politically”. However, it has
been argued that multi-party democracy (Huntington:46) in Africa is
the root cause of political instability. This position is anchored
on the fact that “most regimes in Africa did not fully embrace the
changes that accompanied democratic transition. Several autocratic
regimes were merely pressured by international community and civil
societies to embrace multi-party democracy. This reluctance led to
the tempering of constitutional frameworks and institutions that
create uneven play ground against the oppositions. Some of these
processes, it has been argued, have resulted in sporadic violence
during electioneering campaigns that lead to political instability.
The degree of this violence and the manner in which it is carried
out vary from country to country as can be rightly observed in
recent elections in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
The reason for the resultant political violence has been
attributed to African elites' resolve to hang on to power at all
cost and for the purpose of primitive accumulation. This tendency
inspires them to perfect the art of political expediency even when
such acts threaten the stability of their countries. It is on the
basis of this that we witnessed the third term bid of Obasanjo in
Nigeria, the post-election violence in Kenya, Robert Mugabe holding
on to power
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and still willing to stay at the age of 85 years, Mubarak of
Egypt's 32 year rule; Colonel Mamman Ghaddafi 42 years regime that
took him to the gutter as a rat; the long regime of Eyadema of Togo
that is geared towards life Presidency, Paul Biya of Cameroon
uninterrupted 27 years of Presidency; and Ben Ali of Tunisia who
was there for 23 years. In all these cases, there is always the
unseen hand of external interests that will want to maintain the
status quo, and whenever there is a support for political change,
the choice will be against the wishes of the people. This can be
seen in the case of Britain and Moi's regime in 1980s and 1990s.
The stand of Britain was just to protect her interest in Kenya
(Murienga: 198).
Furthermore, the issue of political instability in Africa has
been directly linked to migration and development. The worsening
and life- threatening socio-political and economic conditions in
Africa effectively encourage and instigate the mass exodus of both
highly qualified professionals and those not so educated population
in Africa. The factors responsible for this include civil
conflicts, bad governance and poor economic conditions (Mohamoud,
2005: 20). Several people of African origin are moving away from
the continent as asylum seekers or have become refugees in some
countries. These people are running away from civil wars and
oppressive or dictatorial regimes that tend to have the tacit
support or endorsement of some external interests and forces. The
fear of all these usually leads to forced and willing migration.
This can be seen in the brain -drain that has affected several
African countries including Nigeria. This particular problem has
posed a great danger to our institutions of higher education and
research. African states now have serious shortage of qualified
manpower in academics, researchers and in the medical profession
(Mohamoud:20). The International Organization for Migration (1OM)
explained that there are over 100,000 skilled Africans living and
working outside the shore of Africa (ECA, 2000). According to World
Bank report (2000), brain drain in this context is “impeding
potential economic growth, and remains a handicap for sustainable
development in many countries in Africa” (Mohamoud:8).
Fundamentally, these problems have their roots in leadership
that lacks the basic characteristics of the philosopher king. This
is because political instability is a product of leadership crisis.
So, for Africa to get it right as far as leadership and political
stability is concerned, the Platonic template must be
implemented.
PLATO'S MODEL AND THE CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP AND POLITICAL
INSTABILITY IN NIGERIA
Plato's political philosophy is contained in his Republic, but
it is his allegory of the cave that is generally taken by scholars
to represent his epistemology and metaphysics, entwined with
political ideology. This is so because, it is only those who have
climbed out of the cave and have their eyes on the vision of
goodness that issuitable for rulership. He advocated that the
enlightened men of society must be forced from their “divine
contemplations and compelled to govern the city based on their
noble or lofty insights (Ekanem:56). It is from this premise that
the concept of “philosopher king” evolved. This explains the fact
that the wise person is one who accepts the power thrust upon him
by the people who are wise enough to choose a good master. This
constitutes the thrust or creed of Plato's Republic, which is the
fact that the more wisdom the masses can muster or have will amount
to, or reflect the wise choice of their ruler.
The relevance of Plato's idea can be justified in comparison to
the Nigeria style of leadership and political system that is
replete with “thuggery”, corruption, violence, assassination,
fraud, manipulation, intimidation, insincerity, betrayal and
“godfatherism”. The
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pertinent question at this juncture becomes; where lies the
people's wisdom in making a wise choice of their ruler when their
votes do not count any more? There is the need, therefore, for the
Nigerian ruling class to become philosophers or have the mind and
intellectual dispositions of philosophers and the citizenry vested
with the wisdom and intellectual attitude of the philosophers for
the Nigerian states to be stable, peaceful and move towards the
direction of development.
The implication of Plato's political philosophy demands a
systematic involvement of the citizenry to show a strong and
dedicated pattern of followership that will inspire the leadership
to respond promptly and positively to issues of the state. This is
because for there to be a strong and effective leadership, there
should also be a strong and effective followership. It is on the
basis of this imperative that Femi Kalapo:1 argued that “if we
cannot conceive of an effective, proactive, democratic, and
empowered followership as the appropriate structural and cultural
contexts within which an effective democratic leadership could
emerge, it might be difficult to make significant progress in
Nigeria, and Africa in general” .
The importance of a vibrant and an effective followership is
anchored on the Platonic notion of society being “man-writ-large”.
To Plato, a soul that will gradually decline from aristocracy,
which is rule by the best to democracy that is rule by the
honourable, then to Oligarchy that is rule of the few, then to
democracy, which is rule by the people and finally to tyranny which
is a rule by one person who is a tyrant. What Plato was trying to
do here was to caution humanity about the various types of
immoderate souls that can advise and counsel the rulers that are
often lovers of power, money, fame and popularity.
Also, Plato's believes in the principle of specialization for
the distinct classes of stratified society that is, the rulers, the
soldiers and the people. For a peaceful and egalitarian society to
emerge, each class of the citizens should perform their function
effectively without any interference. So, the frequent or incessant
military incursions into politics and power are clearly a
distortion of the Platonic socio-political structure.
To therefore equip the guardian class to function effectively,
Plato maintains that they have to be special human beings. One of
the major characteristics of the “GuardianClass“is that they must
have temperamental inclination towards philosophical thinking. As
can be seen in Apology and the Phaeton, it is only the philosophers
that can excel at investing serious questions about human life and
in judging what is true and best (Republic, 376).
To produce and develop the kinds of qualities of the philosopher
kings or the guardian class, Plato believes this can be achieved
through a systematized kind of education. The central concern to
achieve this must be the physical training and musical performance
combine effectively with intellectual development. To achieve this
goal about how to bring up the children, he advocated for strict
censorship of literacy materials, mostly poetry and drama.
Plato's equally raised the issue of the virtue in human souls.
In this, Plato held in that every human being there are three souls
that correspond to the three classes of citizens within the state.
Each of these contributes in its own way to the successful
operation of the human person. Accordingly, Plato outlines these
as:a) The rational soul (mind/intellect), which is the thinking
aspect or portion within each
person that discerns what is real or not only apparent, judges
what is true and false, and wisely makes a rational decision based
on the proper life of the human person.
b) The spirited soul (will or volition), that is, the active
portion whose function is to carry out the dictates of reason in
practical life, courageously doing whatever the intellect
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decides is the best.c) The Appetitive (emotion or desire), which
is the portion of us that wants and feels
several things, most of which have to be deferred in the face of
rational pursuit if we are to achieve that salutary degree of
self-control. So, as a well-structured and organized state, the
justice of the individual emerges only through the
interrelationship among its separate components (Republic 443).
Basically, it is an established fact that Nigeria as a country
has not developed the kind of systematized education for the
training of rulers or leadership as espoused by Plato. Again, the
censorship, which could have brought about a kind of mentoring is
seriously lacking in our socio-political culture. Godfatherism that
has emerged within the Nigerian political culture is a perversion
of the Platonic system that was designed to bring about a highly
disciplined and well- groomed leadership that cherishes knowledge,
truth and justice. Within the Platonic context, the training was to
bring about visionary leadership with the intellectual competence
to analyze, evaluate and find solutions to state problems. But in
Nigeria, what we have is the kind of leadership that is visionless,
myopic, confused and ill-equipped or not at all prepare for
leadership. The result of this is the complex problems that these
unprepared leaders throw the nation into. Dimeji Bankole
graphically captured this when he opined that “the lack of adequate
preparation for leadership, especially in public life, is a
critical missing link in our search for solutions” (2).The demand
for a quick solution to the leadership crisis in Africa becomes
more relevant when we discover that most African states, including
Nigeria are presently experiencing the greatest existential threat
to its corporate survival. The ugly situation in Africa is
explained by Bankole thus:As we survey the African landscape today,
we see glaring instances of the challenges facing the leadership.
When we consider the continuing crisis of nationhood in our
country; the challenge of largely unmet expectations in
post-apartheid South Africa; the confrontation between terrorist
cells and the state in the horn of Africa; the tentative steps
being taken to manage the aftermath of the “Arab spring” in North
Africa, it is easy to fall into the temptation of concluding that
Africa is bedeviled by intractable problems (3)
This depicts the loss of foresight by the leadership of Nigeria
and Africa, in general. Clearly there exists no leadership in
Africa and Nigeria that one could really say possess the power of
foresight to promote unity, the conviction to dictate and produce
the map for African development. This is against what the founding
fathers of Africa and Nigeria represented, which Bankole:5 argued
laid a solid foundation for national development. To Bankole
African and Nigerian;
….founding fathers enunciated far-sighted initiatives that
served our people well not just in the field of agriculture but
also in the larger area of human development. Little surprise then
that today we remember them for the groundnut pyramids in the
north, the numerous path-breaking initiatives put in place by the
administration of Dr. Michael Okpara in the eastern region and the
marvels that the cocoa farming delivered under a progressive
administration in the western region…
Though the founding fathers of Africa and Nigeria had
greatforesights and initiatives that were good enough to promote
development, but these same founding fathers laid the foundation
for
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the divisive tendencies that pervade African states, especially
Nigeria today. These were people that had direct contact with the
colonial masters, they received quality education and were
adequately exposed and equipped to define the direction of African
development, but rather, they chose to be regional and ethnic
leaders. It can therefore be argued that ethnicity blurred their
nationalistic vision and Africa lost greatly an opportunity to be
great. So, the crisis of leadership and political instability in
Africa and Nigeria though traceable to colonial era, but the
African and Nigerian peculiarity of this challenge lay squarely on
the footsteps of the these founding fathers.
THE WAY FORWARD One of the basic principles and practical
approaches to cure an ailment is a proper diagnostic process. It is
this process that helps to identify the problem through which an
effective prescription can be given. This provides the relief and
gives the hope that the African and Nigerian problems as they
relate to leadership and stability are surmountable. The reason for
this is because the problem has been diagnosed. The identification
of leadership as the major problem of Nigeria and Africa is one
sure step toward providing solutions.
Leadership is about steering people towards shared values so as
to achieve a given goal. It involves taking responsibility for what
members of one's group, community or society does. Leadership,
according to Bankole, is about “envisioning, passion, commitment
and challenging the status quo to make one's group, community or
society perform better”. Leadership is not just about holding
political offices, but includes every person that takes
responsibility for the activities of others. It is on the basis of
this that we can say that “leadership is pervasive and present
atevery level of human organization” (Bankole:3). Indeed,
leadership is the personification of the ideas and orientation of
the group, community or society they belong or emerge.
Armed with this notion, or definition of leadership, it becomes
clear that the first step towards providing solution to leadership
crisis should be that of value -orientation. This is because
African and Nigerian leaders lack values. The value the leaders in
Africa and Nigeria tend to cherish is not those values shared by
the society or the country they control, but rather these leaders'
personal values that are detrimental to the very people they are
supposed to lead. These personalized values of the leaders create a
kind of contradiction, distortion and disorientation in the
society, which eventually leads to alienation of the people, and
once the people are alienated from their leaders “things” based on
Chinua Achebe's literary postulations “fall apart” and once things
“fall apart” the “centre cannot hold”. The result of this on the
society will be social upheaval, conflict and other social ills. On
the political terrain what will emerge will be violence, electoral
fraud, thuggery and political instability.
So, the first remedy to the leadership challenge or crisis in
Africa and Nigeria is value -orientation of the leaders. This can
be achieved within the purview of a sound national philosophy of
education, which can be found in Essencism. Essencism, as a
philosophy of education, according to Ekanem, “sees man as the
centrality of all the happenings on earth. Man is the determinant
and designer of the world that he lives in and controls. This is
because, from the Biblical era, man was given the divine authority
to inherit the earth and dominate it. The book of Genesis made us
to understand that God created man in His own image to have both
physical and spiritual dominion over all things. As the last thing
that God created before his rest, man represents the divine
authority of God. Man is God's ambassador…”(218).
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It is further argued that man is imbued with divine intelligence
and knowledge to fulfill God's purpose on earth. It follows then
that his (man) education must seek to establish this essence, that
is, those important qualities that make man who he is by God. These
qualities of man can be seen in the dual nature of man as both
physical and spiritual beings. This duality is what constitutes the
essence of man. Hence, any philosophy or idea that tends to
de-emphasize this dualism must be rejected. Man was created for the
purpose of dominating his environment as established by God. So,
man's stay in the Garden of Eden was to provide him with divine
education to enable him cope and dominate his environment outside
the Garden (Ekanem :219-224).
Basically, the type of education advocated by essencism caters
for the physical and spiritual needs of man. But before the
physical aspect of the education, which Essencism regards as
technology, the spiritual foundation must be laid. This is because,
it is this spiritual development that can lead to inspirational
advancement which practical applicability will lead effortlessly to
technological development. This then satisfies the physical essence
of man since it is through technological advancement that man is
provided with physical comfort. But for the physical comfort to be
attained there must be a corresponding spiritual level of
development. Also, inclusive in this spiritual aspect of man's
essence is the ethical value for all that is good. It provides man
with a sound knowledge of what is good and bad. This knowledge
which essencism will provide will lay bare to all Nigerian citizens
and make it possible as a socio-cultural practice that honesty
pays. It will also help to wipe off the culture of looting the
national treasury through public office. It will create in the
leadership the sense of common value of integrity, honesty and
visionary leadership that will sustain and uplift humanity and not
destroy it.The reason for this approach can be seen in the words of
Uduigwomen when it asserts that “Value itself is the primary
concern of education. It crops up everywhere whether in the
classroom, or in the school at large or the role of education in
the society….”(242). Values which the leaders will acquire through
Essencism will assist the leaders to personally judge how
reasonable, truthful and appropriate their actions and relationship
with the citizenry are. This is because values according to
Denga(1983) represent the reasons, beliefs, convictions or virtues
that guide people's actions. Values basically refer to those
objects that we cherish, appreciate, desire, want or need. It could
be social, religious, moral, spiritual, aesthetic, political,
economic, technological, material, among others (Uduigwomen:243).
Value- orientation tallies with the National Policy on Education
(1981), which stipulates “the inculcation of the right type of
values and attitudes for the survival of the Nigerian society, and
the training of the mind in the understanding of the world around
us”.
The second approach towards solving the leadership crisis in
Nigeria and Africa is for the leaders to be made to take
responsibility for their actions or inactions. This is because
modernity and globalization tend to promote individualism within
the social context. This is largely due to the competitive nature
of the present age, whether as person or nations. Also, several
institutions such as the economic, political, educational and legal
seem to be constructed on the basis of the individual. This has
placed a burden on the individual as to what he/she does. It is on
the basis of this that personal responsibility as an obligation to
oneself becomes a rational approach towards solving leadership
crisis. This argument is a derivative of the Platonic notion of
society being man's- writ-large. Based on this, it is your
individual duty to ensure your good character and behavior
irrespective of how you were brought up or what kind
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of conditioning you have received. This becomes an imperative
because if every individual takes responsibility and admit that
they are the one, not others, responsible for the choices made,
then socio-political events will reflect this thinking, and once
leaders accept personal responsibility for their actions and
inactions, the leadership crisis will naturally be solved. This is
because leaders will have deep personal reflection before embarking
on anything (Ekanem:1).
Ekanem(2013), puts this more succinctly when he opines that:
Personal responsibility includes being accountable for the
degree and level of one's health, wealth, success and happiness.
This reflects the right attitude because being accountable shows
maturity and wisdom. When you have right attitude, you are less
likely to create unnecessary problems in your life and in the
society (5).
This clearly explains the fact that personal responsibility will
assist in curbing the excesses of the leaders and this will go a
long way to provide foundational solution to the leadership crisis
in Nigeria and Africa. This is so because responsibility is the
hall- marks of the fully integrated, fully functioning human being.
Responsibility goes hand in hand with success, achievement,
motivation, happiness and self-actualization. It is the absolute
requirement for the accomplishment or everything an individual
could ever want in life (Tracy:9). Again, individuals should be
made to show commitment in all that they do. Commitment as a
character trait falls within the existential framework that will
make the leaders to be committed to societal values, constitutional
provisions, rule of law, oath of office and social cohesion.
Commitment to the ideals of the society will help to keep the
leaders focused on what will be beneficial to all.Commitment to
social norms can help instill in the citizenry through the
essencist approach to education as already stated. This way,
commitment will naturally become a national culture that is
internalized from childhood to adulthood. This also will make it
difficult for any person or citizen who becomes a leader to deviate
from such tenet of the society. For such deviation will make the
person a social misfit and sociologically classified as a social
deviant.It is a fact that leadership has enormous responsibility
bestowed on them. Bankole in his paper says that:In developing
society, the demands on leadership are enormous. In Africa, leaders
have the duty of not just espousing policies, programmes and
projects that will bring about meaningful development and progress
that the people are yearning for, but also the singular obligation
to ensure that they mentor people that will eventually take over
from them. Every leader at any level, in any sector, or any
institution has the cardinal duty of ensuring that capable and
effective leadership does not end with him or her. As it often
said, “in the leadership relay, it makes no difference how you run,
if you drop the baton”. Mentoring is therefore an indispensable
component of a truly successful leadership and in the wholesome
engineering of positive change (4).
From this it is an established fact that mentoring is a
necessary and effective component of leadership. However, this
basic component of leadership is seriously lacking in Africa and
Nigeria. This is due to the fact that most of the leaders do not
have any plan or agenda for successor(s). Most Nigerian and African
leaders also plan to perpetuate themselves in power. This manifests
itself in the recycling that has beengoing on in the continent and
country. In Nigeria, you can easily predict who will be nominated
as a minster in the country depending on
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which party wins the election. This practice does not promote
effective leadership and has contributed to the stagnation and
underdevelopment of Africa and Nigeria in all spheres of life. It
is on the basis of this that mentoring is seen as a panacea to the
leadership crisis in Africa and Nigeria.
This support and advocacy for mentoring is because mentoring as
a process is about “giving support and encouragement to people to
manage their learning in order that they may maximize their
potential and become the person they want to be”. Mentoring is
indeed a powerful personal development and empowerment tool. It is
an effective way of assisting people progress in their careers. It
is a kind of partnership between two people that work in a similar
field or sharing similar experiences. It is a helpful relationship
that flourishes on mutual trust and respect (Eric Parsole and
Dimeji Bankole).
Due to lack of mentoring, Africa and Nigeria tend to lack role
models, confidants and advisors in leadership as the young ones
lack those to help them think about their life and career
aspiration and to recognize the impact that they could make on
society. Countries that have become great in the world today are
those that they successfully mentor successive generations of
leaders. We can take example of this from the Chinese Communist
Party that just held its Congress at which the new set of leaders
of the world's most populous nation were unveiled. These leaders
emerged from a careful and systematic preparation and the process
has enormous dividends in the rate of growth that has today
transformed China in the last three decades.
India is another country where the emergence of leadership
conforms to the Platonic model of preparation. And as China, this
process has delivered fabulous results in terms of the rate of
development of the Indian economy. Today, as pointed out by
Bankole, the emerged leaders in the global economy are the BRICS
nation –Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. All these
countries have a strong penchant for leadership mentoring.
The South Africa example is very instructive as a lesson to
Africa. This is so because the great man of that country – Nelson
Mandela spent greater part of his Presidency to nurture younger
peoples within the African National Congress to take over from his
generation. This approach has greatly enhanced and strengthened the
institutions of the state and ensured smooth succession. However,
in other African states several leaders especially at the political
level are just concerned with self-succession bids and this tends
to create leadership vacuum or confusion and thereby lead to
political instability. Mohammed Siad Barre who was the former
strongman of Somalia typified this group of leaders in Africa, as
he was reported to have boasted before his ouster from office:
“après moi, chaos” (after me, chaos). This indeed happened as
Somalia is just getting its first president twenty years with
several causalities after that boast. The sit- tight syndrome
experienced or prevalent in Africa and Nigeria has not demonstrated
the desired leadership values needed to lift Africa to global stage
for leadership qualities.
ConclusionThe political instability witnessed in the continent
is a manifestation of leadership crisis,
which has indeed become an African malady. This crisis has its
root in colonialism and the attitudes of Africa leaders that prefer
to die in office rather than do their bit and quit the stage for
others to take over and contribute their quota to the development
of the continent and nation. The reason for this is largely due to
the lack of philosophical insight and preparations required for
leadership.
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Leadership is not meant for everybody. For a person to become a
leader, such a person must be adequately equipped physically,
intellectually and spiritually. It is on the basis of this that
Plato political philosophy designed to produce the philosopher-
king becomes very relevant to Africa and Nigeria. The platonic
structure or design requires systematic training, which is a kind
preparation for effective leadership delivery, but this is
completely absent from the African and Nigerian leadership
emergence. What is common in Africa is a system where some
ill-equipped and unprepared people gun or force themselves to
power. Once in power they exert or spend so much of their energy
and resources to perpetuate themselves. This sit- tight syndrome
that usually succeeds through coercion creates violence and
political instability in the African states.However, a deep
reflection on the leadership crisis and political instability in
Africa shows that the problem lies in the pattern of emergence of
the leaders and lack of sound preparation in conformity with the
Platonic model that provides the would be leader(s) with a holistic
education that make the leader(s) cherish wisdom, love knowledge,
seek the truth, possess virtue, appreciate criticism, realize human
frailties, know that there is no permanence in anything and that
power or authority is transient. The philosopher- king is expected
to be good at critical thinking; be well acquainted with logic and
logical fallacies; committed to individual integrity, values and
well- round; discipline; willing to experiment with new ideas to
advance their craft; value the coach- player relationship;
appreciate and understand human nature; love their sports and work;
straightforward; honest; and strong in character. These are the
attributes of the philosopher- king that Plato foresaw would bring
peace to the world, and Africa and Nigeria require these to escape
the crisis of leadership and political instability that stand as
obstacles to development.
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