The overarching mandate for every political authority in Africa, to be meaningful, must be to employ the human and material resources of Africa to restore prestige and power to Africans, in the global scheme of things.
Currently, the world is operating on global policy templates and incentives guided to continue to move Africa away from industry and back to the farmlands, through agriculture.
Under such templates and initiatives, Africa will never industrialize, and failing to so do, cannot accumulate the capital and savings needed to expand social and economic infrastructure to further grow jobs, and reduce poverty.
This consciousness should underpin the ‘authority mandate’ across the countries of Africa. In achieving the “authority mandate,” it is vital, and even most expedient, for Africans to construct formidable structures or cradles for the recruitment of leadership.
The African Interest refers to the continent’s (understood) goals and ambitions, whether economic, security, military, or cultural. In his defense of ‘the reason of State’ (raison d’etre), Jean de Silhon captures it aptly as “a mean between what conscience permits and what affairs require.”
A key challenge for African societies has been the flagrant abuse of power and the concomitant impotence of enforcers of governmental authority to hold and keep everyone – strong and weak alike – under the Rule of Law.
Any foundational structures which compel the African leadership to enforce their body of laws, without let or hindrance or affection or ill-will, to cease-and-desist from corrupt practices and enrichment, and apply the State resources strictly towards realizing the vital interests of States, will accelerate progress in the continent.
It is sad to observe that governance of most African countries is undergirded by ethos which are antithetical to their cultures.
The culture of most African societies is built around ancestral spirits. These spirits are deified, and are believed to stand as guardians of society and of authority.
Any sincere efforts at enforcing discipline amongst Africa’s cults of leadership, and imposing developmental rhythm and order, will do well to build greater connectivity with these ancestral spirits.
The African political office holder is more likely to honor and abide by an oath sworn before an African deity than that executed with the Holy Koran or the Holy Bible.
With fidelity to ‘The Mandate,’ on the part of the leadership class, reassured by the incorporation of ancestral spirits, pitfalls on the march to reclaiming Africa’s stature may only occur occasionally as errors of judgement, not of fidelity.
Societies come partitioned into social class structures or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic, and referred to estates of the realm.
Prior to the French Revolution, there was the Monarchy, while the system was made up of the clergy (The First Estate), nobles (The Second Estate), and peasants and bourgeoisie (Third Estate). Each of these estates possessed distinct political rights and influences.
This was not different in pre-colonial Africa. After the king, came the traditional chief priest. Members of the Elder’s Council were usually a part of the noble class. What is easily noticeable in the leadership structure of post-colonial African states is a replacement or swap of the influence of the traditional clergy with the ‘new clergy.’ This, of course, is attributable to the adoption of foreign religious cultures in the African mainstream.
By every reasonable assessment, the dearth of leadership commitment continues to undermine the capacity of African States to raise their people from penury, and drastic decisions need to be made across the continent and actions taken.
What is required is to ensure fidelity to the State by Africa’s leaders, and to hold the leaders accountable to the people. Achieving this, demands fresh, even unpopular, strategy initiatives in statecraft; initiatives which restore official spaces to African deities in the pecking order of State affairs.
Reserving a critical official role for reverenced African deities in the inauguration, understood in the context of initiation, of political leaders into the ‘Authority Mandate,’ is a path worth travelling.
