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Africa & Leadership
Africa & Leadership
Leadership theory has evolved – from pre-classical to postmodern eras – and has been influenced by several factors. It is worth noting that economic, political, and social systems have had bearing on the definition, interpretation, and application of leadership over time. For a long, scholars have been striving to draw a clear distinction between the roles of leading and those of managing. Drawing a clear distinction between leading and managing has been challenging. As a concept, leadership is complex. Thus, one of the main challenges facing scholars and practitioners has been to come up with a comprehensive definition of leadership.
“The African continent has been
therefore known for suffering
from a leadership vacuum.”
Leadership is an intricate and ever-changing process that has been defined in several different ways (Grimm, 2010; Weiskittel, 1999). According to Andrew (2008), leadership is “a multifaceted process of identifying a goal, motivating other people to act, and providing support and motivation to achieve mutually negotiated goals”. According to Duerst-Lahti (2010), leadership is a relationship between leaders and followers. This implies effective interaction between the two. Unfortunately, leadership is traditionally deployed in the context of hierarchies, reinforced from and communicated through chain-of-command authority models (Friedman, 2013). In such models, leaders have the power of voice; whereas their followers are on the listening end (Friedman, 2013).
Today, situational leadership, also known as having a contingency approach, has become popular, as different situations require different leadership styles (Grimm, 2010). Despite this advantage, it has been criticized for focusing too much on leaders and not enough on group interaction (Parry and Bryman, 2006). On the other hand, transactional and transformational theories are based on interactions between leaders and followers. These two theories seem to be gaining ground.
Effective leadership requires trust between the leader and followers. If followers trust their leader, they will do whatever the leader envisions (Bach and Ellis, 2011). To develop trust, there should be mutual respect. Leaders should treat everyone in the way they would wish to be treated (Rolfe, 2011). Rolfe (2011) and Grimm (2010) suggested that, first and foremost, leaders should be honest. The reasoning is that it is difficult to trust someone unethical or immoral.
Leadership is earned, and once it is achieved, it is not sustainable without continuous proof of concept (Sederer, 2012). This means that effective leaders are those who have an excellent record of their performance or accomplishments. Leaders must demonstrate their value ceaselessly and tirelessly (Sederer, 2012).
Leadership means service to followers and the general public. Leadership is the action of leading other individuals to achieve a common goal. In the context of public administration, this means the pursuit of broader moral principles in the public interest. These principles include “justice, fairness, individual rights (e.g. privacy and due process), equity, respect for human dignity, and pursuit of the common good” (Ehrich, Cranston, and Kimber, 2004, para 5). For a long time, the question relating to leadership in Africa has been on the front burner (Salawu, 2012).
Leadership in Africa
In the African context, leadership has been viewed as individuals’ predisposition to serve their families, their peers, and their communities. Traditionally, ethnic African leaders played three roles: political leaders, social leaders, and religious leaders. In their role as political leaders, ethical leaders were public administrators. In their role of social leader, they settled social conflicts among followers. In their role as religious leaders, they were priests whose role was service to gods. Although three leaderships resided in the caring and protective hands of ethical leaders, there seemed to be no conflict of roles in traditional African society.
Unfortunately, the colonial era reshaped traditional African leadership. Ethical leaders saw their powers taken away to some extent. They were compelled to share power with the colonial authority. The sharing of powers –political, social, and religious– between ethical leaders and the colonial authority favored the latter.
With the emergence of democracies in post-colonial Africa, Africans hoped to regain, through new African leaders, the ethnic power lost during the colonization. Unfortunately, the world witnessed the birth of two groups of leadership in Africa. The first group included among others elected leaders such as Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah. They were nationalist and charismatic leaders (Nkrumah 2013, Lumumba 2013). To them, leadership meant more than power; it meant loyal service to their nations and their continent. They had the trust of their countrymen.
The second group comprised Africans brought to leadership positions by colonial powers. They had no choice but to remain loyal to their masters. They were the extension of colonial hands. They had the trust of those who vested them with leadership. Through them, former colonial powers have been exercising control over young African nations.
The coexistence of these two groups of leadership has had negative effects on the fate of African people. The African continent was unfortunately divided into two ideological clusters. Invisible ideological boundaries emerged in Africa. Their ramification has had bearing on the social, economic, and political development of African nations.
The African continent has been therefore known for suffering from a leadership vacuum. Excellent leadership is rare in Africa (Salawu, 2012). Whenever there is an emergence of a progressive leader in Africa, the enemies of the African progress always find ways to hinder the progress (Bangarah, 2011). Poor leadership is thought to be the source of most problems plaguing African societies (Salawu, 2012).
The African continent has taken a step backward from establishing a new generation of leaders committed to fostering development and democracy; tackling conflict, corruption, and dictatorship; and building a new Africa (Van Niekerk, 2009). Africa’s hope for leadership is thought to be a younger generation that, for the time being, remains on the margins (Van Niekerk, 2009). There is therefore a need to get younger generations involved in leadership.
Celebrating the Black Jewels Ambassadors
Martin Luther King once said that “Not everybody can be famous, but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service.”
Throughout history, global builders, achievers are admired, celebrated, and worshiped as leaders by generations; however, in the Black race, we do not acknowledge them with deserved accolades because we hold a wrong perception of who an achiever is. An achiever is a person who courageously contributes under the most trying circumstances. He is an individual who acts unselfishly and who demands from himself or herself more than others would expect.
If there is a race whose rich history, culture, achievements, and contributions as builders are conspicuously unacknowledged and ignored, it is the Black race. Instead, black people have always been seen as inferior and considered second-class citizens. Yet, “Black Culture is about Achievement. It is about Greatness, and it is about Excellence.”
It is on record that several Black people had made, and many are still making valuable contributions to the progress of humanity, in the service of God in the African continent, as well as in the developed nations of the world.
Do you know that?
The inventor of a traffic light was by Black folk.
Ancient Rome once had an African Emperor.
An African American was the American President from Tuesday, January 20, 2009, till Friday, January 20, 2017.
History has it that the black slaves from Africa contributed immensely to the development and growth of the developed nations of the world.
And lots more!
Today, there is an emergence of esteemed young and enterprising black people of vision and mission as global champions in Politics, Leadership, Business, Academics, Education, Ministry, Art and Music, Sports, etc.
Nothing just happens unless someone makes it happen. Success does not just come easily unless you make it happen. For every problem, difficulty, or negative situation or circumstance that the Black race is presently facing, there is always a ray of hope and opportunity in it. William Shakespeare once said, “Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious JEWEL in his head.”
The Black Jewels Network appreciates and regards all those amazing personalities and achievers who had or have been contributing to society, human welfare, the black race, and the entire globe. To make them known to the world at large and with the view to sculpture their accomplishments in the black race, they are being honored with one of the most respectable and prestigious honorary awards of The Black Jewels Ambassador (TBJA).
In commemoration of 2022 Black History Month, The Black Jewels Network hereby honors these distinguished African Americans with the first honorary award of The Black Jewels Ambassador (TBJA).
Accompanying this award are publications to celebrate in indelible print these Colossi, Legends, and BLACK JEWELS, whose names will ever be in GOLD.
The stories of these awardees are a clear demonstration of the inherent and innate qualities of the great Black Culture. The Black Culture is about Resilience, Determination, Achievement, Greatness, and Excellence.
UNITED STATES AMERICA
Barack Obama
Without any doubt, we have read the history of some great black men like Garret Morgan, the man who invented the traffic light, Septimius Severus, an African Emperor in Rome, and Martin Luther King (Jr.), the black American activist. However, in our generation and lifetime, Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States of America, one of the supposedly greatest nations of the world. His tenure as president spanned for two terms, starting from Tuesday, January 20, 2009, and ending on Friday, January 20, 2017.
The great feat and achievements made by Barack Obama, a man whose family background is traceable to the African shores, should be an inspiration to the black African nations and folks, that with genuine vision, resilience, and the right focus, African nations or race can join the Committee of Great Nations of the World.
Kamala Harris
The history of the moment is about an American woman of color who had brought a worthy change to leadership in the United State of America. Known as the “female Obama”, Kamala Harris has made history as First Woman and Woman of Color as Vice President of United States. Her new position reads like a litany of firsts: she is the first woman vice president, the first black vice president, the first Asian American vice president, and the first Democratic Party vice president from the West Coast, an unprecedented feat from the California Senator Kamala Harris.
Oprah
Without mincing words, today, Oprah Winfrey is one of the amazing women who have changed the world. One woman who is rarely away from the headlines is Oprah Winfrey, the media legend and “The Queen of All Media”. Oprah’s achievements are legendary and well-documented. Taking the spot as the 23rd most powerful woman on Forbes’s list, Oprah Winfrey’s highlights include running her syndicated talk show for 25 years. Oprah is also noted as being the first African American woman to own her own production company, the Oprah Winfrey Network. Today Oprah continues to dominate the media world by being the number one ‘interviewer’ for the world’s biggest celebrities.
Bill Winston
Undoubtedly, we have heard and read about some great men of faith like Smith Wigglesworth, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham, Andrew Murray, A.J Gordon, Aimee S. McPherson, Osward J. Smith, George Muller, Charles Swindoll, Dwight Moody, Martin Luther King, Rick Warren, and a host of others. However, in our generation and lifetime, Dr. Bill Winston is one of the foremost distinguished anointed servants and apostles of faith who is visibly and practically engaged in ‘Making of Jewels’, not only for God’s Kingdom service but also, in the secular human activities.
(*The date for the presentation and award ceremony will be announced later.}
…..
UNITED KINGDOM
Jossine Abraham
Adebayo Ogunlesi
Sir (Chief) Bode Akindele
& others
……….
NIGERIA
Olusegun Obasanjo, Yemi Osinbajo, Aliko Dangote, Akinwunmi Adesina, Okonjo Iweala, Femi Otedola, Tony Elumelu, Innoson Motors, Rochas Okorocha
On this Leadership Forum, The Black Jewels Network features distinguished, treasured, and black achievers’ biographies, videos, and articles that celebrate their historic achievements.
It is worthy of note that every black folk is a potential Jewel or leader. If any black man or woman or organization formally aligns with this vision of The Black Jewels Network, he or she will be formally acknowledged and celebrated with an honorary award of The Black Jewel (TBJ) – “Name in Gold”.
