EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP: A PANACEA FOR AFRICA'S PROBLEMS

Have you ever wondered , why the richest continent in natural resources is also the poorest in the world? Have you ever wondered , despite Zambia  enjoying a long period of peace and stability, 60% of the population lives in poverty with stunted growth of Children? People of Nations, just hear these findings from the 2017 Global Hunger Index: http://www.globalhungerindex.org/results-2017/

• 15% of Liberian families don’t know where their next meal will come from; 
• Over half of Madagascar’s children are chronically malnourished, and 50% of children under five are stunted;
• The Central African Republic remains at the top of this list as the “hungriest country in the world.”;
• Sudan has spent decades facing violence and conflict, including two civil wars. Waves of displacement have impacted the country, where 3.5 million face hunger;
• 60% of the population lives in poverty, and stunting impacts almost half of Zambia’s children.

Zambia and her neighbors are among the poorest Nations in the World and yet en-dowered with minerals such as Copper, Diamonds,Oil, tourist attractions , good climate for farming and other natural resources.The question is, WHY??????????

After reflecting, reading and watching  what is happening in Africa, my conclusion is that Africa has a serious Leadership Vacuum? The kind of Leadership styles exhibited in Africa  has negatively impacted most Nations of Africa. Even after political liberation from the colonial masters, most of our so called Leaders highly exhibited traits of conquest, enslavement and new colonialism. In the African context, leadership has been viewed as individuals’ predisposition to serve their families, their peers, and their communities they emanate from. Its most focus on accumulating POWER and not loyal service to the Nations and Continent.

The African continent is known for suffering from leadership vacuum. Excellent leadership is obviously rare in Africa. Whenever there is an emergence of a progressive leader in Africa, the enemies of the African progress always find ways to hinder the progress. Poor leadership is the top most source of most problems plaguing African Nations. Its therefore not the lack of resources as Africa has 50% of the world's gold, most of the world's diamonds and chromium, 90% of the cobalt, 40% of the world's potential hydroelectric power, 65% of the manganese, millions of acres of untilled farmland, as well as other natural resources but lack of effective Leaders.

The African continent need to take deliberate sacrificial steps in establishing a new generation of leaders committed to fostering development; tackling conflict, corruption, and dictatorship; and building a new Africa.  Africa’s hope for effective leadership is thought to be a younger generation that, for the time being, remains on the margins and used for political campaigns. There is therefore a need to get younger generations involved in leadership. The older generation should remain as fountain of wisdom to guide, mentor the young generation without using them for their own hidden agendas.

Africa needs transformational Leaders as change agents. Africa is in serious need of a new breed of ethical and moral leaders to deal effectively with evils that plague Nations. These evils include among others systematic corruption, economic mismanagement, senseless war, crime, poverty, hunger, political tyranny, violation of human rights and property rights  and disease etc.

Anyway, we won't give up on Africa and there is hope for a better and brighter Africa.

God bless Africa ! May God bless Us with Effective Leaders !