Over the past weeks, I have been reflecting on and re-evaluating the fundamental qualities of leadership on the African continent. While thinking about this, what immediately came to mind are beacons we as a people recognise such as Nelson Mandela, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Botswana’s former president Festus Mogae, among others. Indeed such figures were and still are African heroes who clearly constitute the crème de la crème of African leadership. They have stood the test of time because of their ability to eloquently articulate their dreams for a new Africa; an African Renaissance. They dared to envision new beginnings for our beloved continent.
However, my wandering curiosity began asking questions. “What of those leaders who did not get media attention? Those who were not in the limelight? Those unsung heroes who started a positive wave of change but were not recognized for it?”
As I was sitting in my Political Science seminar it dawned on me that while we are busy grooming leaders for the future, we are forgetting essential ones from the past. We have overlooked those ‘grass roots’ leaders who have changed people’s way of thinking about themselves and their countries. In my quiet contemplation, two examples came to mind, one from our beloved continent and the other from the United States.
Thomas Sankara was the central leader of the popular, democratic revolution in the West African country of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. What I found fascinating about Sankara was his progressive support for women’s involvement. In his speech on International Women’s Day on March 1987, Sankara stressed that the revolution could not triumph without the emancipation of women. He propagated the correlation between understanding the struggle of Burkinabé women today (1987) and the part it played in the worldwide struggle for all women – “The struggle for the full rehabilitation of our continent.” Up and coming future leaders of tomorrow could learn valuable lessons from forward thinking leaders like Sankara.
Secondly, we have Sir Ralph Johnson Bunche. One of my political science professors had mentioned how Bunche was the chief negotiator in the 1949 Arab-Israeli armistice and a major 20th century United Nations peacekeeper. As the first African American to graduate with a PHD from Harvard, his ideas and use of exemplary skills in negotiations were employed in pioneering the United Nations Observer missions.
Reflecting on Bunche’s leadership, I began exploring the delineation of his basic philosophy on life. In his essay titled ‘Nothing is impossible for the Negro’ in 1949, Bunche redefined the term American to include blacks in which he stressed that all American Negroes are one hundred percent Americans. “Who indeed, is a better American, a better protector of the American heritage, of the American way, than he who demands the fullest measure of respect for those cardinal principles that are the pillars of our society?”
His philosophy has been actively practiced in Africa and is a valuable concept that budding leaders of the future can learn from. Take tribes in Kenya for example; a Maasai, Kikuyu or Luo is one hundred percent Kenyan first – regardless of tribal differences. As a whole, they all constitute and should protect the Kenyan heritage, the Kenyan way. These understandings according to Bunche are our responsibility as a people; these structures are the pillars of our society.
In order to understand and conceptualize leadership for the future, we need to revisit the past and identify the contributions of our unsung grass roots heroes. From Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso to Ralph Bunche of the United States, let us learn from such unsung heroes who may not have received international recognition, but were nonetheless impeccable leaders. {w}
