Africa and Visionless Leadership

Victor E. Dike

This article highlights the challenges facing Africa and the seemingly lack of leadership vision and political will to face its problems. It concentrates on the quality of life that continues to deteriorate in the continent due to visionless leadership, and concludes with suggestions to improve the economy and thus the poverty profile of the people.

Africa and the myriad Challenges

Africa remains one of the World’s poorest continents as the economy seems to have failed to prosper. This is not surprising to many observers because “of the 86 countries that are defined as low-income and food-deficient, 43 are in Africa .” As the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) studies have noted many Africans are surviving on less than one US Dollar per day. In fact, the World Bank estimates that about half of Tanzania ’s ‘population of 34.6 million subsists on less than $0.65 per day.’ Yet, Africa is a continent with vast mineral and oil, water, land and abundant human resources at its disposal. And the 1996 World Bank Report, noted that about 50-70 percent of poor (men, women and children) in Sub-Saharan Africa lives in the rural areas. Are these statistics not bad enough to wake the region’s political leaders from slumbers? Because of increased procreativity among the poor and less educated Africans living in the rural areas more children than adults are believed to live in many households. This appears the same in the urban areas, but as mentioned earlier, we are here concerned mainly with the poor rural dwellers. It has also been noted that poverty in children is inherited from their parents. Thus, those born of poor parents are likely to be poor, at least in the early part of life. Weak rural economy and poor industrial base and inept leadership, lack of basic education and corruption, lack of transparency and accountability in governance, ethnic/ regional and religious crises seem to have complicated their problems.

The poor rural dwellers (like those in the urban sector) are those who cannot afford decent food, medical care, recreation, decent shelters and clothe. It also includes those who cannot meet family and community obligations, and other necessities of life. With this, it is not surprising that poverty is regarded as a form of oppression (UNDP Conference Report, 15-17 March 2001). Therefore, a poor person could not afford the life style a rich individual would regard as the minimum for decency and acceptable in a particular community. However, the Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary (1980) depicts poverty as the condition or quality of being poor, in need, indigence, and lack of means of substance. It is also deficiency in necessary properties or desirable qualities, or in a specific quality, etc. The Journal of Poverty notes that poverty means more than being impoverished and more than lacking financial means. It is “an overall condition of inadequacy, lacking and scarcity, and destitution and deficiency of economic, political, and social resources.” This is a broader perspective of poverty that reflects its true dimensions. As NAPS, 1997 noted people are living in poverty ‘if their income and resources (material, cultural and social) are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is regarded as acceptable’ by their society generally.

In fact, the 2004 United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) report released recently indicated that those living in ‘absolute poverty’ in the Sub-Saharan African rose to 47 percent in 2001from 42 percent in 1981. This was in contrast with the situation in other regions of the world where absolute poverty dropped to 21 percent from 41 percent during the same period in review. The UNIDO report defined absolute as those earning $1 dollar a day or less (2004-UNIDO; and The Punch, July 24, 3004 ). However, because of the nature of Africa ’s underdevelopment and the effects of bad and visionless leadership and corruption, the poor are found in great number in the rural settings.

As mentioned earlier, we are not assuming that there is no poverty in the urban areas in Africa ; studies show that ‘between 15 to 65 per cent of African city dwellers are living in poverty’ (Soumare and Gerard 2000). In particular, the USAID has noted that roughly 58 percent of urban population in Mali and 66 percent of urban dwellers in Burundi are poor; the figure could be higher in other nations. Any person who has visited the remote villages in Africa would discover the myriad difficulties the poor rural dwellers endure. In Nigeria for instance, one would be confronted with disturbing pictures of human suffering. With its oil wealth Nigeria should not remain in the same camp with the African countries endowed with less natural and human resources, but as earlier mentioned, corruption, and visionless leadership has wrecked havoc in the society. As in other nation-states in the troubled African continent, many of the rural dwellers in Nigeria live in crushing poverty as they lack ‘income, assets…to produce, [and] buy…sufficient food’ (World Bank Report 1996). Consequently, able-bodied youths loiter around from dawn to dusk without means of livelihood. Thus, with only scattered bright spots life in the rural areas seems lifeless.

It is appropriate to note that there are variations in living standards around the globe, as economic growth rates and productivity vary from nation to nation. As documented by Dike, Nov 20, 2003 , some countries are poor, some are fairly well off, and others are rich, just as some individuals are poor, some are fairly well off, and other are considered rich. Everything is relative and that’s certainly the case with poverty. For instance, although millions of Americans can’t make a decent living, what most people in the United States today regard as stark poverty would seem like a luxury in parts of Asia and Africa . Similarly, poor individuals in Nigeria might not be perceived, as such by other Africans in dare economic need. This does not in any way mean that poor Nigerians are doing well economically by international standard. Because of diseases caused by lack of good water supply (very few can afford private water borehole), medical care, poor feeding, hardship, and ignorance each day in the villages begins with stories of overnight death. Some would argue that there is poverty in every society. Yes! But in many societies the leaders have the vision and programs to effectively tackle the poverty menace. This is quite the contrary in the oil rich Nigeria (and other African states) where the politicians with unlimited access to the national coffer convert the public fund into private use. This attitude exacerbates the poverty problem thereby giving Nigeria a place among the poorest nations in the world. In addition, the perennial fuel scarcity, bad roads that are barriers to movement of goods and services and lack of functional electricity for cottage industries, etc make live much more miserable for the poor rural dwellers. Without modern and efficient refineries and sensible energy policy that ensure constant supply of fuel the price of other commodities and services will continue to ratchet upward (fuel is used in the production and distribution of goods and services).

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has allowed the value of the Naira to depreciate, with inflation pushing up the prices of foodstuffs. Nigeria ’s inflation figures seem to be in dispute. While the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) stated that the nation’s Dec 2003 inflation figure was 14% (up from 13% for Nov 2003), the CBN had the Dec 2003 inflation figure at 13.8%. However, the new governor of the CBN -the young and smart Prof. Charles Soludo - has rolled out some revolutionary plans to sanitize the economy. As the Vanguard of July 17, 2004 (and other national dailies reported), the apex bank plans to withdraw ‘N74 billion public sector funds from the vaults of [the commercial] banks’ and to make them to increase their capital base with the it to N25billion from the current N2 billion? Let’s hope the ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ Members of the National Assembly at Abuja will allow him free hand to take appropriate monetary policies to strengthen the economy and cool off the inflationary pressure. However, no matter what the rate of inflation might be the fact is that high rate of inflation negatively impacts savings and frustrates new investment (economic growth involve savings and investment).

Visionless Leadership

Many factors contribute to the worsening poverty profile of African states. But the leaders and managers of the continent and the corporations therein are the main causes of the economic problems facing the region. Many of them keep extracting from the organizations they manage until they collapse. This extractive behavior creates unemployment and the poverty of the people. Therefore, resource mismanagement and corruption (stashing public funds abroad, etc) -thus ‘capital flight;’ the unending ethno-religious crisis in the region (insecurity, etc) and lack of good investment climate and visionless leadership are clog in the wheel to sustainable democratic development. Other factors include lack of freedom and liberties and social injustice, etc. It has been noted that the expansion of ‘freedoms’ and ‘enhancement of human capabilities’ could reduce the poverty of a people (Sen 1999). However, ethnic and religious crises in Africa impede its economic and social progress. But African leaders do not seem to have done enough to resolve the problem in the continent. For instance, the unending conflicts in Burundi and Rwanda , Ethiopia and Eritrea , the Sudan and of course Nigeria have caused a lot of human misery. Again, the leaders seem to lack the vision and political will to halt the ‘genocide’ going on in places such as Sudan (The Guardian, July 23, 2004 ). In Burundi life expectancy, which averaged 54 years in 1992 has fallen to 41 years; infant mortality rate is 114 per 1,000; and under-five mortality rate is 190 per 1000 birth. In addition, maternal mortality is about 800-1,300 per 100,000; the illiteracy rate is 52 percent; and the proportion of the population living under the poverty threshold in the rural areas is 58 percent (USAID). By definition, ‘poverty threshold’ is the statistical version of the poverty guidelines used by the U.S Census Bureau to calculate the number of persons in poverty in the country (Schwarz Oct.1998, and UNDP 2002). Nigeria has a similar dismal statistics; about 70 percent of the population are living in poverty (and many on less than a dollar a day). One out of every five Nigerian children is said to have died (or will die) before his or her fifth birthday. Like in many other African nations, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is ravaging the society; due to paucity of reliable statistics, it is estimated that the epidemic has already claimed 1.5 million lives and at ‘least four million Nigerians are currently living with the virus’ (USAID). Despite repeated promises of poverty alleviation over the years by African leaders those living in poverty in the continent seem to be increasing. It is sad that African leaders take delight in traveling to the West to enjoy the goodies in the area (with the pretense of attracting international investment to the region). But they lack the vision to transform the continent into a place that would be attractive to foreign businesses.

Poverty destroys aspiration and hope, and many of the poor rural dwellers seem to have given up on the current African leaders that do not seem to have any real plans for their welfare. Although poverty affects everyone it is said to affect the African child and their poor mothers disproportionately. In Nigeria for instance, ‘almost 40% of young children suffer chronic undernutrition’ (USAID); the rate might be higher in less affluent nations. Poverty has also exposed some of the poor women and young ladies to constant humiliation, as hardship seems to have forced many into ‘prostitution;’ and because of lack of public toilets they are forced to ‘use open spaces to relieve themselves’. It is proper to note here that naturally, ‘women are expected to observe some standard of modesty’ (Warah 2000). The poor rural dwellers are the forgotten poor because they are excluded from the scheme of things. Fairness and principles of democracy dictate that there should be an equitable distribution of resources in democratic societies. But as we seen events of every passing day add resonance to the plight of the poor rural dwellers.

Despair and Discontents

To avoid the peoples’ anguish, despair and discontents from degenerating into an uprising African leaders should be responsive to the plight of the masses. The recent uprising in Haiti should serve a good lesson to the visionless and corrupt African leaders, as the masses are capable of revolting against any regime that does not represent their interest. Everyone in the region should, in one way or another, benefit from the abundant mineral resources in the continent. As Stiglitz (2002) has rightly noted “development is about transforming societies, improving the lives of the poor, enabling every-one to have a chance at success and access to health care and education.” But many Africans suffer from insufficient access to food, basic social services and limited access to basic education. Yet, these are the prerequisites for an enabling environment for sustainable development and democracy that African nations are clamoring for.

To improve the welfare of the people there is need for laws that would prevent the leaders at local, state, and federal levels from abusing their powers (many of the god are reaching beyond their domain). For instance, in Nigeria corruption and greed has crippled activities in the local councils that are closer to the people. Because the federal government has for sometime now refused to give out the monthly allocation to some sates because they are alleged to have created some local council without the ‘permission of the almighty federal government.’ This attitude has disrupted the little assistance the poor rural dwellers receive from their local council. As the World Bank states in its World Development Report 2000/2001 ‘in a world where political power is unequally distributed and often mimics the distribution of economic power, the way state institutions operate may be particularly unfavorable to poor people.’ This is true given activities in Third World Countries of which Africa is a member. However, in advanced democracies powers are clearly defined and the leaders are conscious of their political boundary; and social programs are on the ground to assist the needy. Cities and communities compete among themselves to lure foreign and local investors, and each is known better for what it produces. However, the ‘African Union’ (the new nomenclature for the ‘Organization of African Unity’) should remove “incentives for asset stripping at every level” in the region and adopt policies that would lead to regional stability, job creation and true democracy, instead of the ‘predatory democracy’ they practice in the continent. And they should take control of their destiny and resist the dictates of the international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank, the WTO, etc). Many of their prescribed medicines for economic growth to the Third World Countries, according to Stiglitz (2002) have more often than not, pauperized them. Obviously, African nations need dynamic and visionary leaders and entrepreneurs that could create vibrant private sector and jobs and reduce poverty in the region.

Lack of vision, greed, and selfishness on the part of African leaders has already done a lot of damages to the economy of some nations in the region, as revealed in their poor GNP. As Dike (Jan-March 2003) noted “ Nigeria ’s current GNP per capita of about $260 is below that of less affluent countries such as Bangladesh with a per capita income of $370. Nigeria ’s poor per capita income becomes more frightening when compared with those of some western nations. For instance, the GNP per capita income of the United States was about $27,086 in 1996 (USAID 2002); and recently that of Britain was put at $23,590 (see The Commonwealth Yearbook, 2002). This is not to mention the impressive economic performances of the four Asian Tigers of Singapore, South Korea , Taiwan and Hong Kong !”

The economy of many of the African states is still comatose. The 2004 Human Development Index released recently by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) indicated that African countries ranked at the bottom in the ‘quality-of-life index’ in life expectancy, literacy and education levels, per capita income and health care (Vanguard, July 16, 2004 ). In particular Nigeria ranked 151 out of 177 in human development, Uganda 147, Eritrea 157, Malawi 166, Sudan 140, Mali 175, Burkina Faso 176, and Niger 177, just to mention a few. Thus, Africans need a workable humane government - one that would invest in human capital and are concerned in the plight of the poor and the retired folks that make up the bulk of the poor in the villages. Due to lack of medical care and food scarcity many of the retired has died off and the remaining is angry because their contributions to the development of the continent seem unappreciated. More importantly, the poor rural nursing mothers need urgent assistance to provide better nutrition for their children. Such programs as the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) that give out food stamps to pregnant women and juice, milk, cereal and infant formula to preschool children should be developed and judiciously implemented in Africa . As Galbraith (1956&1958) had noted, if the children of poor families have access to first-rate schools; and if school attendance is properly enforced. If the children (though, poorly fed at home), are well nourished at school. If the community has good health services and the physical well being of the children is vigilantly watched. If there is opportunity for advanced education for those who qualify regardless of means; and if law and order are well enforced and recreation is adequate. Then there is a very good chance that the children of the very poor will come to maturity without grave disadvantage. This could (ceteris paribus) translate into improvement in their productivity and the poverty profile of the people.

As critics have noted the poverty profile of Africa would not improve unless the leaders would ‘enthrone good governance and [better] macroeconomic management.’ Thus, closing all the ‘opportunistic loopholes’ that abound in the region and repatriation of the stolen and stashed public funds abroad could assist in funding most of their poverty alleviation programs (Punch, July 24, 2004). Previous alleviation programs undertaken by many African nations do not seem to have worked because the managers of the programs were corrupt. Without controlling government waste and corruption and without infusing some dose of transparency, accountability and good leadership any poverty alleviation program would end up becoming ‘poverty creation programs.’ Some of the programs involved small loan disbursement to the rural poor; that could not increase the productivity of the recipients. This was apparently because it did not give them the education and skills needed to manage their lives and to remove the specific frustrations of the environment to which they are subjected. Moreover, many of the banks that were involved in the program were not located in the poor rural communities where the majority of the group lives. It has been noted elsewhere that modern poverty may not be eradicated by giving out small loan to the poor; a true poverty alleviation program should encompass education and skill training and assist the needy to secure employment. Economic diversification and the spread or location of industries in the rural communities will have remedial effect on the poor. In addition, a society could alleviate poverty by guaranteeing a minimum income to the poor and the unemployed for decency and comfort (such as the welfare and unemployment programs in the US , Britain , etc). Securing a minimum living standard would ensure that the misfortunes of parents (deserved or otherwise) are not visited on their children and would also ensure that poverty would not be self-perpetuating. Since African countries do not seem to have similar programs any person without a job would starve, even if he or she has physical and mental disabilities. The poor should be rehabilitated, because lack of employable skills and frustration are dragging them down. Also, good public health care services are necessary because a sick person is usually an unproductive worker. One cannot emphasize enough the need for good governance in Africa , as this has been their Achilles Hill. This should go beyond mere political rhetoric, because some of the African leaders who are known to have been involved in ‘political repression, human rights abuses and corruption’ at home rattled on good governance during the just concluded African Union Summit in Addis Ababa .

Conclusion

African leaders do not seem to care about the poverty of the people and other myriad problems facing them because they seem to have personal interests that are often at odds with those of the general public. Any fairly rich, rational and compassionate society could afford this prescriptions articulated in this article. If they really care they should show it by providing good quality education and social infrastructure and improve the ‘legal system that can enforce contracts and settle disputes and banks that can lend money’ and control corruption. Otherwise, “asset stripping rather than wealth creations” would continue, as the powerful oligarchy and special interest will continue to rape and pillage the region. African leaders should also promote the application of modern technology in agriculture for massive food production, processing and storage and to protect the environment. The type of environmental degradation going on in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria should not be tolerated. And some form of subsidy to the poor should be allowed. It is hypocritical for the West that has varied forms of subsidy for its citizens, would recommend that the Developing World should scrap the few public subsidies it has for its citizens. As mentioned, any country that is unable to provide employment, food, and medical care to its citizens, incapable of controlling crime, maintain its educational institutions and other infrastructure; and any state that is unable to protect its environment from pollution is really a ‘failed’ State. To break the circle of poverty in the troubled Africa the leaders must have clear and progressive vision that would ensure sociopolitical and economic development (trade and industry, etc), and to assume the responsibility of meeting the basic needs of those they govern. If not, only the divine intervention would rescue the African child born of poor parents from poverty.

References

Amadi, Sam; “Poverty And the Nigerian Child;” ThisDay, July 16, 2004 .

Dike, Victor E; Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason: A Study of the Obasanjo Regime; [ London : Adonis & Abbey Publishers, Nov 20, 2003 ]

Dike, Victor E; “The Global Economy and Poverty in Nigeria ;” in the NESG Economic Indicators Jan-March 2003 (pp.7-16).

Mlambo, Sivukile; “Intermediate Technology Development Group Southern Africa sets its sight on the region;” (online-ITDG Southern Africa , Sept 13, 2001- accessed July 17, 2004 ).

Stiglitz, Joseph; Globalization and Its Discontents [W.W. Norton & Company, 2002].

Smith, Warrick; “Striking Balance: Creating a Better Investment Climate;” in ThisDay, July 20, 2004 .

Soumare, Mohamed and Jerome Gerard; “Reducing Urban Poverty in Africa : Towards a New Paradigm; in the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) 2000 - vol.6, No.4

Sen, Amartya; Development as Freedom; New York : Anchor Books, pp.87-110.

See “N25b Capital Base: CBN withdraws N74.5bn from banks, Wednesday;’ Vanguard, July 17, 2004

See “UN ranks Nigeria 151 out of 177 in human development;” Vanguard, July 16, 2004

See “Revelation from United Nations: Nigerians Stash $107b Abroad: ‘Nigerians, others poorer today than 20 years ago,” The Punch, July 24, 2004 .

See “UN ranks Nigeria 151 out of 177 in Human Development;” Vanguard, July 16, 2004 .

See “African Leaders Endorse Integration Plans, Balk at $1.7 Billion Budget” in ThisDay, July 13, 2004 ; “…Stress Good Governance in Africa ’s Devt;” ThisDay, July 13, 2004 ; and “…Security Issue Dominates Summit Agenda;” ThisDay, July 13, 2004 .

See Journal of Poverty – ‘Statement of Purpose;’ at www.journalofpoverty.org/joppurp.htm.

World Development Report 2000/2001-‘Attacking Poverty’-pub for the World Bank by Oxford Univ. Press, 2000.

Warah, Rasna; “‘All I wanted was a Toilet’: Why Voices of the Poor Matter;” in the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement (Habitat), 2000, vol.6, No.4

Victor E. Dike, CEO, Center for Social Justice and Human Development (CSJHD), is the author of Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason: A Study of the Obasanjo Regime [ London : Adonis & Abbey Publishers, Nov 20, 2003 ].