By Aare Afe Babalola

NO issue calls for more serious and deeper discussion among Africans than the question of leadership. Prior to and since independence, Africans from all walks of life have, as a result of their individual and collective experiences and concerns, made the issue of country leadership a hot topic of debate.

In my opinion, no question in African history calls for a more serious and in-depth discussion than the question of leadership. Prior to and since independence, Nigerians from all walks of life have, as a result of their individual and collective experiences, made the issue of the country’s leadership a hot topic of debate in such settings as beer parlours, sports stadiums, buses, classrooms, board rooms, and offices.

Virtually all the nation’s problems have been blamed on poor leadership. Concerned and patriotic Nigerians have canvassed for improved leadership. Because of the centrality of the concept of leadership and its challenges, I will not limit the discourse to Nigeria alone. I will extend my examination of leadership challenges to sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa: The Land of the Blacks: Sub-Saharan Africa is the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. The region is often referred to as “Black Africa,” in reference to its numerous Black populations. Commentators in Arabic in the medieval period used the general term “Bilad”, the ‘Land of the Black’, denoting the vast expanse of land from West Africa to Central Africa.

That sub-Saharan Africa is rich in natural resources is without question. Most sub-Saharan African countries are blessed with natural resources. Countries such as Nigeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Angola are major oil exporters. Other countries, such as Sierra Leone and the Congo, are blessed with diamonds and other minerals. Virtually every kind of climate can be found in sub-Saharan Africa: substantial rain forests and lowlands. The great rivers—the Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambezi, and Limpopo are wonders to behold. Sub-Saharan Africa is indeed a beautiful sub-continent.

However, despite its riches and potential, sub-Saharan Africa is a troubled region. Its earth has been scorched by the heat of many battles fought for the control of her resources. The region has been explored and exploited for centuries, first by colonialists and more recently by multinational corporations, whose activities in many countries’ oil fields have made many Europeans instant billionaires.

The exploitation of the region began centuries ago with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, whereby millions of the inhabitants were forcibly taken from their homes and loved ones and sold away into slavery in the Americas. It is argued in some quarters that the slave trade itself accounts for some of the problems that still trouble Africa today.

After the exploitation of the people by European slave traders came the exploitation of the resources of the region, such as gold, diamonds, cocoa, palm-oil, groundnuts, cotton, and later oil. Countries such as Nigeria, Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe, Somalia, Angola, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia have witnessed civil wars and continue to experience one form of conflict or another.

In this part of the world, the earth is red not only because nature decrees it so but because it is saturated with the blood of innocent millions who have been sacrificed in many of these needless conflicts. But why is Black Africa so troubled? Why is it that, while countries on other continents strive for forward development and excellence, Black countries appear to be irreversibly committed to backward development and self-destruction?

Why are the poorest nations found in sub-Saharan Africa? Why is a country like Nigeria the second  most corrupt country in West Africa, and the 34th most corrupt country in the world, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, 2019? Why are we so troubled? Is it, as some have posited, attributable to the colour of our skin?

I don’t think a crystal ball is required to figure out the answers to the above-mentioned questions!The problem with us is that of leadership and, to some extent, followership. Many of our leaders, rather than harness the resources of their countries for the overall development of their people, threw caution to the wind and, on the contrary, set about corruptly enriching themselves and members of their immediate family and political caucuses.

In Nigeria, oil money created a new breed of political elite that regarded power as a commodity or item that must be acquired by all means imaginable. Electoral fraud and violence are commonplace. The choice of the electorate is hardly reflected in the final outcome of polls, generally leading to voter apathy. This has had repercussions on the country’s efforts to achieve and maintain the highest democratic practices and standards. On the international front, the recklessness or lack of self-control of leaders has cost thousands of lives.

In the last decade, a former president in the sub-Saharan region was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the crimes he committed in Sierra Leone. Specifically, he was found to have aided some rebel forces during the Sierra Leone conflict in committing war crimes in exchange for diamonds. While official corruption and political conflicts are not unique to Black Africa, there is no denying that the level of these two anomalies and their consequences are most severe in the continent.

In one oil-rich West African country, the president’s son, who was being groomed by his father as his successor, is reportedly one of the wealthiest people in the country. This gentleman, who has no visible or recognisable source of income, continued to astonish investigators in some Western countries with his lavish display of ill-acquired wealth. Yet citizens of his country lack some of the most basic amenities of life, such as piped water, electricity, motorable roads, employment, and healthcare.

On the home front, the news of the conviction, in England of a former Nigerian governor for money laundering and other related charges, enjoyed much prominence in the media here in Nigeria. Virtually all newspapers displayed pictures of mansions and vehicles allegedly acquired by the governor with funds looted from the treasury of his state.

In her write-up, Stephanie Sehoppert on “The Most Corrupt African Dictator in Modern History” said: “When it comes to Africa, many African states can be recognised as having some of the worst leaders the world has ever seen. African dictators can be some of the richest people in the world and lead a country filled with the poorest. They can kill and starve their people with impunity while lining their own pockets.

“They treat the land and lives of millions as their own personal playgrounds, making people work to increase their leaders’ fortune, while facing brutal reprisals if they don’t work.” They include: Francisco Macias Nguema of Equitorial Guinea; General Sani Abacha of Nigeria; Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; Tedodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial New Guinea; Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan; General Idi Amin Dada of Uganda; Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola; Idriss Deby of Chad; Charles Taylor of Liberia, Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.