30 <strong>—</strong> Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, , 2019
Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2019<strong>—</strong>31 Send Opinions & Letters <strong>to</strong>: opinions1234@yahoo.com Leadership and moral conscience THE art of leadership is difficult enough in normal times. In an age of upheavals, the complexities are infinitely more daunting. Political leadership is the one vocation <strong>to</strong> which many are called but few are really chosen. Today, sadly, the world is truly bereft of great leaders. You wouldn’t, for example, call Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain a great leader. Anybody who goes and deceives Her Majesty the Queen and decides <strong>to</strong> lock up parliament for weeks ought <strong>to</strong> be tried for high treason. Nor would we dare <strong>to</strong> tag Donald J. Trump with the undeserved appellation of a statesman. Some psychologists believe that his entire cognitive corpus <strong>—</strong> by way of concepts, lexicon and cosmology <strong>—</strong> <strong>do</strong>es not transcend that of a high school teenager. I wouldn’t pass the <strong>to</strong>rch <strong>to</strong> the young Emmanuel Macron who fancies himself the god Jupiter who dishes out ex cathedra pronouncements <strong>to</strong> the uncomprehending hoi-polloi Ȧnd there are still a few madmen around: North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un is a good example. Robert Mugabe, as you all know, has gone where his types normally end up. I am not exactly sure where <strong>to</strong> place the de fac<strong>to</strong> ruler of the King<strong>do</strong>m of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. In the West, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany fulfils some of my basic requirements of a visionary leader. She has served Germany well. In Africa I would defer <strong>to</strong> Paul Kagame of Rwanda <strong>—</strong> warts and all. Recent Nobel laureate Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia has deservedly earned rock-star status within and outside his country. He is a breath of fresh air in Ethiopia where the people have been strangers <strong>to</strong> free<strong>do</strong>m for more than a century. Tanzania President John Joseph Magufuli is also making the right waves. By real leaders I mean those servants of the people who have the courage of their own convictions <strong>—</strong> who make things happen and who transform our world <strong>—</strong> transformational rainmakers who have the capacity <strong>to</strong> move societies from a low level <strong>to</strong> a higher one. One of the principal qualities that sets apart great leaders from the common run is conscience and moral conviction. By moral conscience we are referring <strong>to</strong> the still, small voice which tugs tremulously on our hearts; urging us on when we are on the right and warning us when we are on the wrong. Every human being is born with a moral conscience. Conscience lies at the foundation of moral law. And it is largely from the moral law that natural justice and equity arise as precepts of jurisprudence. Conscience tells us that we <strong>must</strong> <strong>do</strong> un<strong>to</strong> others as we would wish them <strong>do</strong> un<strong>to</strong> us. It also tells us that it is wrong <strong>to</strong> bear false witness against another or <strong>to</strong> take what is not ours or <strong>to</strong> take another’s life or property. Conscience dictates that we treat others with fairness and justice. It also tells us that all life is sacred. It all goes back <strong>to</strong> Socrates, the Greek philosopher and ancient gadfly of Athens. He claimed <strong>to</strong> have been guided all his life by a voice. When he was <strong>do</strong>ing the right things, the voice always expressed approval. But whenever he was derailing, the voice would always give a reprimand or warning. The inner voice compelled him never <strong>to</strong> accept the <strong>do</strong>minant i<strong>do</strong>ls and prejudices of the age, but <strong>to</strong> always question them. It soon got him in<strong>to</strong> trouble with the ruling establishment. Our country will never live up <strong>to</strong> its promise of greatness unless we hand over the <strong>to</strong>rch <strong>to</strong> a new generation who possess the courage of their convictions He was eventually tried on false charges of treason. He was forced <strong>to</strong> drink hemlock <strong>to</strong> his own death. Socrates was one of the most remarkable human beings who faced the prospect of his own death bravely and without bitterness. He recognised the awful fact that some lives would have <strong>to</strong> be sacrificed in the defence of truth, virtue and justice. His last words, as recounted by his student Pla<strong>to</strong> are extraordinarily haunting: “Wherefore, O judges, be of good cheer about death, and know of a certainty, that no evil can happen <strong>to</strong> a good man, either in life or after death....The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways<strong>—</strong>I <strong>to</strong> die, and you <strong>to</strong> live. Which is better God only knows.” Martin Luther King Jr famously observed that a man has not begun <strong>to</strong> truly live until he has a cause for which he will willingly give his life. That is the foundation of conviction leadership. Mere politicians are two for a penny these days. It is almost considered <strong>to</strong> be a mark of political sophistication for a public servant <strong>to</strong> be shorn of politics and convictions. Three thinkers are guilty for this current state of affairs. The first is Niccolo Machiavelli. The Florentine political thinker famously proclaimed that “the end justifies the means” and that it is better <strong>to</strong> be feared than <strong>to</strong> be loved. The most dangerous type of leaders are those who read The Prince out of context. Machiavelli was writing at a time when renaissance Italy was made up of warring city-states. <strong>What</strong> he wrote was a treatise on how the statesman might secure the existence of a free republic in an age of internecine strife. It is therefore not surprising that those who read him out of context are likely <strong>to</strong> behave like beasts. The second culprit is the 17th century English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes’s famous work, The Leviathan, was written during the years of the brutal bloody English civil war. His pessimistic temper was shaped by those violent experiences. The Leviathan emerged as a thought experiment of how a sovereign <strong>must</strong> govern under what he terms “the state of nature”. In that primordial condition in which life is “solitary, nasty, brutish and short”, the sovereign <strong>must</strong> rule with an iron hand. Moral considerations are <strong>to</strong> be suspended when what is imperative is protection of human beings from devouring one another like beasts. The third culprit is Robert Greene, the author of The 48 Laws of Power. An aspiring politician once gave me a <strong>to</strong>ur guide of his library at his palatial home. The only book on the sprawling oak table was Greene’s book. He looked at me knowingly. Deep in my heart, I concluded that this man has become a lost soul. I believe that 70 percent of our politicians have read The 48 Laws of Power. The irony is that when all of you have read the same book and are trying <strong>to</strong> play the games recommended by the book on each other, it all becomes a fools’ market. You know that I know that we are all playing the games of power. In the end it all leads <strong>to</strong> nowhere but a common dungeon of moral nihilism. <strong>What</strong> will ultimately save our country is conviction politics. We may never all agree on values. This is why Wins<strong>to</strong>n Churchill described democracy as the worst system of government <strong>—</strong> except for the others. And because this is so, we <strong>must</strong> be prepared <strong>to</strong> subject all our principles <strong>to</strong> the rigorous marketplace of ideas <strong>—</strong> <strong>to</strong> reason, debate and dialectical logic. The godfathers and moneybags that control our political and party systems abhor such things. They prefer pliable opera<strong>to</strong>rs in dark, smoke-filled chambers. Most of our politicians think strictly in terms of religion, ethnicity, tribe and region. Rare are the statesmen and women who believe in <strong>Niger</strong>ia, her common good and her manifest destiny within the temple of humanity. I daresay that our country will never live up <strong>to</strong> its promise of greatness and will never transcend its mediocrity unless we hand over the <strong>to</strong>rch <strong>to</strong> a new generation who possess the courage of their convictions <strong>—</strong> who are guided by conscience and the ideals of enlightenment and civilisation. 74th UNGA and <strong>Niger</strong>ia’s new international face By Ayo Akanji The role of the United Nations is <strong>to</strong> set the mental clocks of the world leaders from past problems <strong>to</strong> the present opportunities, and from local power mindset <strong>to</strong> global welfare mindset – Amit Ray NIGERIA is steadily charting a new and dynamic course for itself, diplomatically, on all fronts, be it regional, continental and global. These gains can be ascribed <strong>to</strong> recent shuttle diplomacy by President Muhammadu Buhari. <strong>Niger</strong>ia can be said <strong>to</strong> be part of the power circle with foreign policy initiatives well focused, and which would help create and reinforce favourable images of a country <strong>to</strong> the external world. Consequently, <strong>Niger</strong>ia’s foreign policy has been rooted on its Afro-centric policy, big market for Euro-America, antiapartheid policy, and her policy of technical aid and assistance. The cooperation President Buhari has been able <strong>to</strong> garner from countries visited during his shuttle diplomacy has created commitment of collaboration and cooperation from key international partners. And this is indicative of his acceptance, integrity and credibility. Mr. President’s foreign policy thrust has given <strong>Niger</strong>ian businesses the opportunity <strong>to</strong> explore and partner with their foreign counterparts. <strong>Niger</strong>ia’s <strong>do</strong>mestic policy is indeed, intrinsically linked <strong>to</strong> her foreign policy. Under the current administration, deliberate focus is made on improved relationship with other military forces worldwide, promoting the welfare of <strong>Niger</strong>ians abroad <strong>to</strong> ensure they are treated with respect, improved bilateral and multilateral trade among nations. President Buhari’s participation and speech at the 74th United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, was not only strategic but a poignant pointer <strong>to</strong> what straight lines can be achieved when a right-thinking leader is employed by the citizenry <strong>to</strong> articulate a dynamic position for not just <strong>Niger</strong>ia but the African continent. In short, the dynamic leadership of President Buhari is attracting a great deal of goodwill for <strong>Niger</strong>ia, as was witnessed in the strategic decision <strong>to</strong> unanimously elect, by acclamation, Ambassa<strong>do</strong>r Tijani Muhammed - Bande as President, 74th session of UNGA by the 193-member states. The presidency rotates between representatives of the five regional groups in UNGA. The General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the UN. <strong>Niger</strong>ians are currently manning key international positions, from the Deputy Secretary General of the UN, <strong>to</strong> the current president and the permanent representatives of the African Union, AU <strong>to</strong> the UN, the President of the African Development Bank, ADB, just <strong>to</strong> mention a few, are all flying the Green-White-Green flag. UNGA is the most representative organ of the UN, its presidency is a position voted for by representatives on a yearly basis. It rotates annually between the five geographic groups: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Caribbean and Western and other States. Ambassa<strong>do</strong>r Bande’s en<strong>do</strong>rsement by the Economic Community Of West African States, ECOWAS, AU and other member states signaled the acceptance of <strong>Niger</strong>ia as a dependable leader. He was named <strong>Niger</strong>ia’s permanent representatives <strong>to</strong> the UN in 2016 where he served as Vice President of 71st General Assembly. <strong>Niger</strong>ia joins Argentina and Ecua<strong>do</strong>r as the only countries <strong>to</strong> have supplied twice a president of UNGA, <strong>Niger</strong>ia’s first, being its permanent representative Joe Garba in 1989. Ambassa<strong>do</strong>r Muhammad-Bande will be a highly effective face of African and <strong>Niger</strong>ian diplomacy, his <strong>to</strong>p priorities which cut across poverty eradication, inclusion and quality education are important policy thrusts for <strong>Niger</strong>ia and Africa. “Today in New York I join other World Leaders <strong>to</strong> address the United Nations Climate Action Summit, with the theme: “A Mr. President’s foreign policy thrust has given <strong>Niger</strong>ian businesses the opportunity <strong>to</strong> explore and partner with their foreign counterparts Race We Can Win; A Race We Must Win”, said President Buhari. It was a welcome opportunity <strong>to</strong> restate <strong>Niger</strong>ia’s commitment <strong>to</strong> fulfilling all our obligations under the Paris Agreement. President Buhari, an advocate of climate change, aside restating <strong>Niger</strong>ia’s commitment <strong>to</strong> fulfil all her obligations under the Paris Agreement, used the international platform <strong>to</strong> raise awareness and advocate action against the worsening state of the Lake Chad Basin, which has affected the livelihood of more than 45 million people. The expansion of the United Nation Security Council, UNSC, “<strong>to</strong> reflect the diversity and dynamics of the 21stCentury” – the fight against Illicit Financial Flows in which <strong>Niger</strong>ia lost $157 billion in just nine years and the African continent loses $50 billion annually, are other welcome developments from the 74th UNGA . In the same vein, President Buhari highlighted how his administration is fighting corruption head-on, by stating that <strong>Niger</strong>ia won’t <strong>to</strong>lerate attempts by international criminals <strong>to</strong> defraud <strong>Niger</strong>ia, citing the prosecution of Process and Industrial Development, P&ID over the controversial $9.6 billion judgement it obtained from a Lon<strong>do</strong>n court and called for collective efforts by all countries <strong>to</strong> address the menace. In short, President Buhari in his speech underscored the importance of the industrial nations <strong>to</strong> partner with developing countries. “As the world grows richer, there are regrettable signals in the World Economic and Political Order. Millions in Africa and around the world remain in abject poverty raising the tide of racism, xenophobia, resurgent nationalism,” said Buhari. Going further, President Buhari called for a Marshal Plan for Africa, reminiscent of the United States’ Marshal Plan for Europe in 1945. He opined: “A developed Africa will not be antagonistic <strong>to</strong> industrialised countries but will become friends and partners in prosperity, security and development”. *Akanji, a foreign policy analyst, wrote from Abuja C M Y K
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