‘Death is Africa’s Cheapest Commodity’

Ololade Adeyanju/

A leadership consultant, Mr. Morak Akin-David, has observed that death is the cheapest commodity anyone could buy in Africa.

He expressed this view in his address at the launch of the Nigerian chapter of Do it Right Africa initiative (DIRAi), in Lagos, at the weekend.

DIRAi is an emerging pan-African organisation committed to values reorientation among Africans.

Akin-David, who spoke on the theme, “Doing it Right: A New Approach to Re-engineering Nigeria Project Where You Are a Stakeholder”, observed that death has become so commonplace on the continent that “it could be picked at one for peanut”.

He canvassed an industrial and economic revolution in Africa, noting that only this could “grant her seat and voice in the comity of advanced nations”.

He warned that African nations must not assume that things would change for the better on their own and urged them to take responsibility for their own future.

He described DIRAi as a timely intervention in the economic and political evolution of the continent, given the fact that the present crop of political leaders “have virtually exhausted their wits, with no clue in view, to solving the hydra headed socio-economic and political problems that Africa continent is currently confronting”.

Akin-David stated: “Africa has come of age. The continent of Africa is long overdue for industrial and economic revolution that will grant her seat and voice in the comity of advanced nations.

“But, as it is said, we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. It is time we stop wishing, watching and waiting for Africa to suddenly change for better from the current wobbly and unpredictable political, and unfortunate socio-economic condition.

“It is time African masses stop fantasizing for a prosperous Africa. It is time to start emphasizing on change of orientation by making deliberate and pragmatic move towards the realization of the Africa of our dream.

“The unadulterated truth is this; nothing ever works out anywhere except someone somewhere is working it out. Behind the industrial and economic revolution of any nation in the world, is a visionary leader.

“Many years after the independence of African nations from colonial rule, the continent of Africa has traversed through the dark alley of political uncertainties, economic stagnations and social insecurity.

“One of the cheapest things to pick in African sub regions is death. It is so cheap it could be picked at one for peanut. To say that African nations, particularly Nigeria, require urgent intervention of deliverers is an understatement.

“The advent of Do it Right Africa Initiative is timely at such time as this, when the political leaders have virtually exhausted their wits, with no clue in view, to solving the hydra headed socio-economic and political problems that Africa continent is currently confronting.”

Here is the full text of Akin-David’s address:

THEME: DOING IT RIGHT: A NEW APPROACH TO RE-ENGINEERING NIGERIA PROJECT WHERE YOU ARE A STAKE HOLDER

Africa has come of age. The continent of Africa is long overdue for industrial and economic revolution that will grant her seat and voice in the comity of advanced nations.

But, as it is said, we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. It is time we stop wishing, watching and waiting for Africa to suddenly change for better from the current wobbly and unpredictable political, and unfortunate socio-economic condition.

It is time African masses stop fantasizing for a prosperous Africa. It is time to start emphasizing on change of orientation by making deliberate and pragmatic move towards the realization of the Africa of our dream.

The unadulterated truth is this; nothing ever works out anywhere except someone somewhere is working it out. Behind the industrial and economic revolution of any nation in the world, is a visionary leader.
Many years after the independence of African nations from colonial rule, the continent of Africa has traversed through the dark alley of political uncertainties, economic stagnations and social insecurity.

One of the cheapest things to pick in African sub regions is death. It is so cheap it could be picked at one for peanut. To say that African nations, particularly Nigeria, require urgent intervention of deliverers is an understatement.

The advent of Do it Right Africa Initiative is timely at such time as this, when the political leaders have virtually exhausted their wits, with no clue in view, to solving the hydra headed socio-economic and political problems that Africa continent is currently confronting.

I believe strongly that it takes revolution of the spirit souls and body for any people to experience socio-economic revolution in any nation. It is therefore expected that Do it Right Africa Initiative will engage the two edged sword of:

1. Conscientizing African citizens of the enormity of power that they possess to achieve the change of their dream, and

2. Challenging the political leadership, through her advocacy platforms and awareness programs, ensuring adequate priority is given to the welfare and affairs of the citizenry in all ramifications.

The economic recovery ambition of African leaders may remain mere daydreaming, until African citizenry first experience freedom from emotional and psychological captivity due to many years of disappointments and demoralization in the hands of successive political leaders.

The legendary music maestro, Bob Marley, once enthused, “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind…”

The minds of African citizens, especially Nigerians, need to be disabused from negative impression towards governance. True revolution, I believe, begins from mass mobilization for reorientation of the citizenry towards their active participation in governance.

It has always been believed that everything rises and falls on the leader, and I am not here to make light of that. But it is also true that, in a democratic dispensation, everything rises and falls on the people. It is the people who decide the leaders and not the other way round.

Therefore, the destiny of a nation apparently rests on the shoulders of the people. The onus rests on the citizenry to collectively and carefully choose credible people who should represent their interest at various levels of governance.

The reason is very clear, the altitude of any society, in all ramifications, whether it is a clan, community, organization, association, State, or a Nation, is a function of the attitude of the leadership in that dispensation.
One will be ignoring the fact, to think that the above deduction is just a simple oratorical combination of letters, so as to merely make an impressive expression.

Certainly it goes beyond such. Here is the truth. No nation, or community, or clan, or any group of people whatsoever; that can ever grow beyond the thinking level of the leader.

The change we seek in Africa may not become a reality so urgently, until we have in one leader, a perfect blend of intellectual know how, innovative instinct, and radicalism with human face.

According to professor Aize Obayan, in her Professorial inaugural lecture held recently at Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria, she said, and I quote:
“The nation states of Africa do not need despots, autocratic leaders, neither do they need authoritarian, laissez-faire, egalitarian, transactional leaders.

What Africa needs are leaders who can and will envision and birth transformations, leaders who have the language doing with emphatic skills, leaders who will go the extra mile, leaders who will stop at nothing to lead tirelessly, sacrificially, and birth a new order, leaders who will rise up,…passionately giving expression by way of creative dissatisfaction, even at the threat of the loss of their lives, and begin the project of rebuilding the fallen walls with every sense of urgency, and propel the people to rise up and build.”

It is no more a subject of debate, that blame trading has become a major identity of African leadership system. While visionary leaders in other climes produce remarkable results by their intuitive thinking, African political leadership has penchant for concocting excuses for their failures in making good their mouth watering promises.

It takes a visionary and innovative leader to turn a desert to a tourist and commercial center, as in the case of Dubai in UAE. The major malady of African leaders is insufficiency, rather deficiency of creative and innovative intuition.

We have witnessed severally in recent time, what one can describe as cook and cock stories, a situation where the Cook, in an attempt to defend himself and keep his job, transfers the blames on the Cock, over the tastelessness of soup. And the Cock, out of the pot, in utter disapproval raises wings to the air in protest, and splashed in return, mud of blames on the face of the Cook.

As illogical and irrelevant this story is, African political practitioners will create scenes out of such dead on arrival stories, just to keep the public busy arguing for the next few weeks, so they’d distract the populace from issues that are central to their wellbeing.

They do this most times as cover up for their leadership and management misappropriations. Visionary leaders have no such luxury of time for blame transactions.

The earnest yearning of African masses is the advent of more visionary and radical leaders after the order of Kwame Nkruma, Thomas Sankara, and Jerry John Rawlings.

J.J Rawlings in his national broadcast of December 31 1981, said:

“Fellow Ghanaians…I ask for nothing less than a REVOLUTION – something that will transform the social and economic order of this country.

Fellow citizens, it is now left to you to decide how this country is going to go from today. We are asking for nothing more than the power to organize this country in such a way that nothing will be done…without the consent and authority of the people. In other words, the people, the farmers, the police, the soldiers, the workers you – the guardians- rich or poor, should be part of the decision-making process of this country.”

That is the voice of a visionary and revolutionary leader, who truly meant what he said, and only said what he meant. His positive leadership impact in Ghana remains indelible.

As long as the present breed of confused and tired political jobbers remains in the corridor of power across African continent, the masses of the people should not dream of any meaningful political leadership delivery. Until the people recognize and exercise their power in determining the direction of affairs in governance, they will remain tossed to and fro in the hands of visionless leaders.

An average African has no clue to the direction towards which the vehicle of leadership is heading. They are oblivious to various decisions that are daily taken on their behalf.

No society should expect any significant progress from a system where the people, on whose behalf decisions are taken, are sidelined from being part of the activities of governance.
As it is said, “Nobody has the right to cuts the hair without the consent of the owner” (Yoruba adage).

I close with the unequivocal confession of Jerry John Rawlings:

“I knew that Ghana would not be brought out of the political abyss of 1981 without a visionary, but more importantly, the people were yearning for nothing less than a popular democracy. They were asking for nothing more than the power to be part of the decision-making process of their country. In other words, they wanted a voice in deciding their everyday life, as it is done in the West, and not for politicians to be dominant and who are all-knowing to be at helm of affairs of everyday life in Ghana.”

Any leader therefore, who places premium on his ambitious agenda and downplays the importance of the people for effective governance, has failed woefully from the beginning of his administration.

I see a new Africa of our dream emerge out of the ashes of her past glory into the limelight of a never ending prosperity.

Africa shall be saved!

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