Jonathan on leadership
Former President Goodluck Jonathan was recently reported advocating generational shift in African leadership by which countries on the continent would post persons of youyhful age in power because they are
Former President Goodluck Jonathan was recently reported advocating generational shift in African leadership by which countries on the continent would post persons of youyhful age in power because they are more physically and mentally equipped for the rigours of modern governance.
Speaking at a memorial lecture and leadership conference marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of former Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, he reportedly ruminated on demands of leadership, recalling that while in office, he himself sometimes had no more than two hours of sleep in 24 hours. According to him, leadership requires unusual stamina and resilience that youthful age endows whereas advanced age could limit the capacity to cope with such pressures. “If (younger persons) need to stay awake for 24 hours, they can stay awake for 24 hours. When I was in office, some days I did not sleep up to two hours. If you subject an older person to that kind of stress, the person will spend 50 per cent of the time in hospital,” he was quoted saying.
The ex-president supported the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ advocacy that seeks to lower age barrier for participation in politics, saying: “We have to bring some of these age limits down. If we are looking for people who can run nations in Africa, we should look within the 25 to 50 age bracket. That is when you can be very vibrant, physically strong and mentally sound.”
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Aides of the former president rushed in to clarify that he wasn’t thereby proposing an age cap on African political leadership. A statement by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, said commentary suggesting that Jonathan proposed a ceiling of age 50 misrepresented the context of his presentation at the event, because the remarks were intended as a reflection on generational inclusion in leadership and not a prescription for age-based exclusion. The former president, according to the aide, used historical examples to highlight the impact of youthful leadership, and that his core message was about competence and capacity rather than age limits. “His remarks were a call for generational inclusion and leadership renewal, not an exclusion of older individuals from public service,” the statement said.
Jonathan went hair-splitting with clarification apparently to avert unintended application of the case he was making for local partisan capital. And it was wise to keep mischief at bay. The point is about big-man politics in Africa whereby some leaders have reworked term limits in their respective country’s constitution to keep their hold in perpetuity on power, on the excuse that no one else could hold the place together. Some have hit the 90-year age mark and some 80, but they retain their chokehold on power and would not allow for injection of new blood. If and when elections hold in those countries, these are only to burnish their hegemonies.
That is the syndrome that is killing Africa, and Jonathan need not be apologetic about calling it out.
