In as much as i like politics and leadership, have never liked how prof Lumumba does his more than i do now, was just reading his speech and I see a son of the soil i see the light of Africa, I see a future in him, I took time to just go through just find time and read carefully and let your mind see the Africa that all of us dream of.
" permit me also to recognize the family of the late Dr abubakar saraki and permit me for good order to stand on the protocols already established let me say how glad honored and privileged I am to be invited to deliver a memorial lecture on the 10th anniversary to commemorate the departure of Dr abubakar or lushala saraki any Keen student of African politics and I claim to be such a keen student would have had of Dr saraki and I had heard of him before this invitation I don't so hard the honor and privilege of meeting foreign when he was the president of the Senate and he granted me the opportunity to address the Senate then that is not to forget that my good friend also granted me a similar occasion in the House of Representatives.
I'm glad to deliver a lecture to memorialize an individual of whom it can be said that he was a Colossus who bestowed the Nigerian political Terrain and made this contribution in a manner that makes it worthy to be remembered favorably I say so because there is no shortage of individuals who come and go and their memories are not worth much we have had the honor and privilege of seeing the Snippets of what he did during his lifetime and if it is true that one is not successful until his successor succeeds then Dr saraki was successful ,he was successful because his successors have succeeded and they continue to succeed ,if it is true and that men and women is dead are recognized for their positive contribution to society, then it is true that Dr saraki was a man worthy of Celebration.
I'm glad to be in your distinguished presence to deliver a lecture in his memory , that lecture Focus on the critical question of leadership in Africa and the critical question of followership in Africa .The Africa that I talk about is the postcolonial Africa the Africa which is now divided into 55 countries with 55 boundaries imposed on her an Africa which is famous as the Cradle of mankind and Africa which is said to be great in Prospect an Africa about which there is much expectation but on Africa which continues to punch below her weight that is the Africa that I will be talking about as I focus on the question of leadership and followership as I think about that Africa and her leadership and fellowship and I think about her often as all of us should the words of a book that I read as a youngster come to mind and any one of us who had the opportunity of reading the book, A
Tale of Two Cities we remember as these words it was the time the best of times and the worst of times it was the age of wisdom on the age of foolishness ,it was the epoch of belief and the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light and the season of Darkness, it was the spring of Hope and the winter of despair .Those words Define the mother continent .
As we live in heart today those who commentate about the continent never tired to say that this is a great continent those who care about this continent never tired to remember that this continent divided our shears ,had many leaders and when I allow my mind to go down memory lane, I can remember so very vividly ,The Immortal words of many great African leaders on the eve of our regaining our many of us can see pictures of young African whether in Nigeria or Ghana or Algeria or Kenya or Tanzania celebrating, when we regained our independence ,and many of us can remember the words that they spoke and the promises that they made. If it was in Nigeria here ,you can remember the immortal words about what they would do to Nigeria of namdi aziki, where you can remember those words, you can remember the promises, you can remember the erudite words of the saudana of sokoto ahmadu.Bello and the promises he made and many others.
when they spoke then those who I am sorry in them the similitude of Moses in the Bible they thought of their leaders and saw their leaders as Messiahs who would bedazzled Latter-Day pharaohs with miracles ,who would liberate them from the Egypt of poverty and one who would cost pillars of fire to stand between them and sorrow and one who would park the Red Seas of tribalism and ethnicity who in times of hunger, would summon Manner and quail from heaven that is what they thought of their Leader's Messiahs, but today permit me to say many, African countries they are saying it was better while we wait and it was better while we waited there is our sins in which through out the continent of Africa there has been disappointment with leaders at all levels so that when on the eve of Independence.
We wanted to come home now that we regained independence we never started to see images of our young men and women dying in the Sahara dying in the Mediterranean Sea being humiliated at the embassies of the earth while colonizers as they seek to leave our countries and the continent it was better while we waited they said which begged the question what happened and what is happening that we have so many individuals who occupy positions of leadership and yet the biggest deficit is that of leadership in Africa, you know in 1983 your own country man the late chinua wrote a little book which he could well have been writing about Africa but he focused on Nigeria the trouble with Nigeria and chinua without mincing words says the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a problem of leadership, whether you agree or disagree with the chinua that is another debate but he had his perspective and he was asking a question that we continue to ask about the continent of Africa, why is it that while on average 60 years after we regained independence the 55 countries that constitute the continent of Africa ,why is that that we cannot feed ourselves ? why is it that we have no faith in our institution ? we have no faith in our hostels why is it that we have no faith in our abilities ? why is it ,where has the leadership been ? why is it that so many years while politics becomes the toy that lulls us into a false sense of security .Our economies are controlled by people from other civilizations why is it?
These are uncomfortable questions which we must pose and confront and answer if the mother continent is to realize the potential why is that the mother continent is ever so negatively attractive to other civilizations you know as I talk about leadership and as I think about leadership and I think about lead what leaders are enjoying to do I think about this mother continent and many times I see how our men and women in positions of leadership are being treated by other civilization and I said oh God where are our leaders when the world congregates under the G7 there are no African leaders there the best they can do is to invite one or two and Beyond the fourth opportunity they are told to go away and go away they do when there is a meeting of the G20 it is the same thing there is no African.
Present here and many of you who are present in this assembly who are honored and respected and claimed to be leaders, that you have a duty to ensure that you are in front in order to serve , not to be served but ladies and gentlemen, lets also ask ourselves about followership. You know as a young student and many of us who are young students ,it was the culture that when you are in your first year of studies ,you must be a revolutionary and a revolutionary in the style of Karl Marx and therefore you would say ,workers of the World Unite.
You have nothing to lose, but you have changed all of us were revolutionaries and we used to say then that the safety of the visual demands that the proletariat be kept in the most profound ignorance we were revolutionaries who is the leader is he a leader who allows meta ignorance terrain Supreme amongst the people he or she is leading is it the duty of a leader to ensure that he leads men and women who are enlightened , men and women who can question what he or she is doing .
I am suggesting to us the true and sustainable leadership also required that you have a followership that is enlightened, a followership that calls you to account ,a followership that is going to make demands of you, a followership that when you say that you are going to improve the quality of their food they do not believe that agriculture stops on that day but they believe that agriculture must be intensified and the technology must be used a followership which knows that when you say you are going to deliver heaven on Earth they know that that is merely an advertisement that you are incapable of delivering
Heaven on Earth a followership that knows that when you are promising to do things within a hundred days which ordinarily can only be done in five years they know that you are a liar a followership that is capable of discerning that when you speak things there are many variables and it is the duty of a leadership to ensure that such a leadership is indeed created what do African leaders do African leaders in many African countries have now assigned the question of Education the educating their followers to NGOs and CBOs which are financed by the Americans which are financed by the Europeans which are financed by other civilization how do you think how do you imagine that the people of Denmark would have the interest of Nigeria at their heart how are you satisfied that all those civic education activities that are being undertaken in Borno in my degree or in financed by USAID.
https://youtu.be/Mage11OfU8E
