Leadership: The Dilemma of Africans

Austria last year made history by electing the world’s youngest president (Chancellor). Sebastian Kruz is just 31 years of age, however, he is been saddled with the responsibility of piloting the affairs in his country. Emmanuel Macron of France is just 40 years old, Justin Trudeau of Canada was a little above 40 years of age when he became Prime Minister

From Facebook to Snapchat to Taxify, these tech giants were founded by millennial who are youths. Let’s not forget that Mark Zukerberg is just 32 years old and the youngest billionaire in the world. Yet in my country and continent Africa, we complained, murmur, moan like spoilt rich kids hoping that our voices are heard. For some of us, we find comfort in defending these set of corrupt leaders at all costs for peanuts, mortgaging our present and the future of our unborn kids. We went as far as complimenting POTUS for calling Nigeria a shithole country.

While in Africa, our youths are contented with being ass-lickers, praise singers, and unpaid special assistants on social media to corrupt politicians, good at holding briefs for them instead of demanding accountability. Youths elsewhere are disrupting the status quo, pushing for innovation, changing the narrative and pushing for the new frontier.

Isn’t it a shame, that we keep recycling leaders, whilst they live in affluence and call us future leaders? This begs the question when exactly is the future?

When our rulers, permit me to use that word because if they were leaders; we won’t have to watch them in pains stash up cash in empty houses, septic tanks and in foreign bank accounts whilst the rest of us live in penury. These crop of African leaders have offered next to nothing to their citizenry.

However, let’s take a deep breath and try to turn the mirror on ourselves. Don’t you think we should take the bulk of the blames for where we are as a nation and a continent? Aren’t we cowards, the youths make up the largest population of eligible voters but we are always comfortable to line up come every four years to vote for individuals who are in the twilight of their existence? We go as far brandishing weapons and carrying out heinous crimes on their orders. It's pathetic.

You still do not see how we have surrendered our powers to few individuals who become demigods when elections are over. Enough of this self-deceit, the time to rescue our nations is now. It is time we begin to participate fully in electioneering process and begin to identify viable youths who truly have the interest of our nations at heart.

This cycle has to stop, can’t you see through their game plans, how they easily divide us along ethnic and religious lines, but party in the close, dining with our collective wealth. They live in affluence while we shamelessly attack and throw insults on one another on social media platforms that were invented
by young people like us in other climes.

It's about time we begin to emulate our founding fathers, the likes of Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Anthony Enahoro of Nigeria, Nkrumah Of Ghana, Chief Obafemi Awololo of Nigeria, Bishop Desmond Tutu(Noble Prize Winner), Kofi Anna (former UN Secretary General) Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso and most recently George Weah of Liberia.

To change the status quo, it’s about time we synergize our energy and draw strength in our diversity to pull our beautiful and blessed nations from this quagmire. Let’s emulate the successes of Australia, France, Canada and other European nations in electing young intelligent men and women into piloting the affairs of our nations.

We are the face of the New African Dream, we are honest, detribalised, dedicated, and hardworking.

Let’s build a new Nigeria, a new Libya, a new Ghana, a new Congo DR, where our kids, grandkids will be proud of and will have the courage to look us in the eyes and call us the founding fathers of the new African Dream.

Let me leave us with this quote >" The drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single black boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth."> This is a wake- up call.