The popular
Nigerian Pastor, Dr. Sam Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Centre has revealed that
African countries practice “rulership” instead of leadership.
Dr. Sam
Adeyemi revealed this on his twitter handle @sam_adeyemi in a trend of thirty
tweets.
His Words:
1. Several
reports have shown that African continent experiences a lower rate of
development than its counterpart despite being in possession of the world's
largest mineral resources. What could be the major cause for this disparity?
2.
What are countries in other continents doing right that African countries are
not doing right? Today's discussion would seek to address this issue.
3. Discussion topic: Rulership Vs Leadership in
relation to African style of leadership.
4. I will describe Rulership as a situation in
which one rules over others. A ruler possesses and exercises his power and
authority over other people; he controls, he dominates, he coerces and imposes
his will on the people he rules over.
5.
Rulership is the predominant style of leadership in Africa. Our culture and
practices were built on monarchical form of government where kings possess
absolute power.
6.
During the colonial era, the colonial masters also reinforced the concept of
rulership in Africa through imperialism and exploitation. This slave-master
relationship was just an emphasis on the pre-existing culture in Africa.
7.
A slave knows he owns nothing and that if he is ever productive; his
productivity is for the benefit of someone else – his master. When people can’t
see themselves in the big picture they are weary to give their best.
8.
Culture influences how people think and behave. The shared assumption that
being the head gives one unlimited right and authority over others has become
the collective programming of the mind.
9.
Being the head in a group, a father in a family, a boss in an organization or a
political leader somehow stir a sense of entitlement to privileges and rights
to exercise power without being checkmated.
10.
People who are forcefully controlled suffer oppression. The oppression then
slowly moves from something that is externally imposed to that which is
internally induced by the mindset.
11.
There were expectations for development when African countries gained
independence in the 60s, however, those who inherited government misused the
political power. The objective was to control rather than inspire the
development of their countries.
12.
The truth is, a nation whose citizens are not at liberty to express themselves
often remain trapped in a cycle of failure; such nation will remain
underdeveloped and unprogressive.
13.
Africa has great potential but lacks good leadership system to achieve
greatness. Poor leadership leading to bad governance is Africa’s greatest
barrier to social and economic development.
14.
There is an urgent need for a change – a change of mindset, approach and
strategies that will enable Africa to harness its resources and be repositioned
for socio-economic and political development.
15.
Leadership is a process of influencing others to understand and agree on what needs
to be done and how to do it. It is about facilitating individual and collective
efforts to accomplish shared objectives.
16.
Leadership has been the major instrument for the successful growth performance
and development of the First World nations.
17.
Leaders empower their followers to
understand how leveraging on others can help to break new barriers, exceed
limitations, and achieve big impact.
18.
Jesus established his leadership model on the foundation of service. True
leadership begins with the natural feeling to serve other people and not to
rule.
19.
Africa must begin to view leadership from the perception of rendering service
to the people rather than placing people in servitude. There can be no good
leadership without servant leaders.
20.
Service to others like Jesus is about stewardship, that is, leaders accept
responsibility to carefully manage the people and organizations they have been
given to lead.
21.
The height of leadership is empowering others to lead. Jesus demonstrated this
in Luke 10:19 and Acts 1:8. Servant leaders allow their followers the freedom
to be independent, make decisions on their own, and be self-sufficient.
22.
As opposed rulership which is the use of positional authority to force
compliance, a leader uses less institutional power and control while shifting
authority to those who are being led.
23.
Through empowerment, leaders build followers' confidence and strengthen their
capacity to think and address their own problems in the way they feel is best.
24. Lack of good governance in Africa is as a
result of failed leadership. Hence, we need to rethink our structures and
strategies, learn from other developed nations and leverage their experiences
and opportunities.
25.
The need for leadership development and capacity building is non debatable as
it is very essential and critical to the future of Africa (and Africans).
26. We must stop appointing/electing unqualified
and incompetent individuals into key positions of power right from the local
government level to the federal and across board.
27. It is our collective responsibility to
recreate and promote an authentic ideology that fit into our development agenda
– an ideology that addresses inequality, illiteracy, poverty, insecurity and so
on.
28.
There is an urgent need for a renewed commitment among African leaders to move
from dividing the people through ethnic and religious lines for the sake of
selfish political gains to fostering a cohesive society with common identity.
29. When the goal of a leader is on people’s
development, it helps to weigh various patterns for cultural understanding,
this then encourage collective involvement because everyone has a sense of
belonging.
30.
The challenges we face may be enormous but not insurmountable. What we need are
true leaders with the capacity to see and convert challenges into opportunities
that will benefit the nation and the continent at large.
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