The problem with the government of strong men is that it is predicated on the twin principle that power is knowledge and the strong man is omniscient. Not only does he know it all, he monopolises wisdom and patriotism. We have seen that in recent and distant memory on the African continent. Since he wields the biggest stick among those contesting for power, he stages a coup d’etat or rigs at elections, or stages a coup d’etat so as to become the major contender in an election he organises. He does not get into office with people’s votes, so he is not accountable to them. He comes in by force and maintains his hold on power by force.

If he is not in government he sponsors some others to get into government and pay him tithes taken from public coffers. The strong man is nothing but a tyrant, a self-imposing benefactor, paternalistic and condescending in his style of leadership. The strong man sees himself as above the law. In fact, he breaks the law and gets away with it. He has power over life and death, or so he believes, and distributes patronage by distributing appointments and contracts. He builds or encourages the building of a personality cult around him. He is, as Mobutu Sese Seko was called, “father of the nation”, “enlightened guide”. The strong man brokers no divergent opinion.

He “settles” and stifles the opposition. And, for this reason, he ends up surrounding himself with sycophants and courtjesters, with yes men and yes women who glorify his incompetence, eulogize his tyranny, canonise his corruption, and beg him to institute a process of tenure elongation. That Africa has had and continues to have many of such strong men is largely responsible for the sorry state of the continent today.

For Obama, Africans can no longer blame the colonial past for her problems. “Yes, a colonial map that made little sense helped to breed conflict. The West has often approached Africa as a patron or a source of resources rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants.” Now, while that statement is true, it is somewhat misleading.

In fact, a number of commentators have rightly observed that while that speech proposes to point the way forward for Africa, President Obama appears to have glossed over the role of America and other superpowers Page 9 of 10 in installing and supporting corrupt, incompetent and bloodthirsty regimes, “strong men”, to use his own words, whose interests never coincided with the interests of the people.

How, for example, can one ever get over the romance between Mobutu Sese Seko, erstwhile doyen of corruption and despotism in Africa, once described by former President Reagan as “America’s best ally since the days of President Lyndon Johnson?” Whether the situation has changed in the Congo is a matter to be debated. But history shows that in the 1960s, the decade in which many African states hoisted their flags in place of the colonisers’ flags, Africa indeed graduated from the reign of strong white men to the reign of strong black men some of whom where assisted in infamy by colonial powers during the Cold War President Obama’s speech certainly has the potential to inspire and galvanise.

He said: I am particularly speaking to the young people all across Africa and right here in Ghana. In places like Ghana, young people make up over half of the population. And here is what you must know: The world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease and end conflicts and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can … because in this moment, history is on the move.

If this dream is to come true, indeed, we need strong institutions and not strong men. Africa needs leaders who enable, not leaders who disable. Yet, as intelligent and admirably inspiring as it is, there is something incomplete in this Obama recipe. Strong institutions are necessary for development.

But they are, in themselves, insufficient. They would be able to facilitate integral development if they would be imbued with deep spiritual and moral values. Institutions without morality are dangerously inimical to the dignity of the human person.

But the level of morality of institutions is a direct reflection of the level of morality and the depth of spirituality of the human beings who man these institutions. When President Obama spoke of strong institutions, he listed “strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges, an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society.” But institutions are creations of human beings.

They are instruments in the hands of human beings. That is why we must also be vigilant and prudent in our leadership selection process. It is a matter of ensuring that we not only create strong institutions, we must also ensure that those who man them are strong in the sense of possessing requisite competence to man them. A morally depraved generation can neither put in place nor maintain good institutions.

The personal moral life of members of parliament, policemen and judges, journalists and directors in the private sector is of vital importance if institutions are to protect and promote the dignity and the rights of citizens. If the people who man our institutions are corrupt and incompetent such strong institutions enslave even more than strong men. It is therefore of utmost importance that those who man our Page 10 of 10 institutions be men and women of intellectual, administrative and ethical competence.

If such men and women are to be formed and found, education at all levels must be given its premium in our country.

Concluded.

Father Akinwale, OP, is Vice Chancellor, Augustine University Ilara-Epe, Lagos State.