Fellow Africans, I have often wondered about what is the
matter with most African leaders and rulers that they love to cling to power,
by fire by force, as if their very lives depended on it. An average African
leader will never quit power voluntarily, and enjoy a standing ovation, as well
as everlasting adulation, no matter the situation. He would rather subject his
country to sorrow, tears and blood, just for him to remain in power.
One of the
earliest spiritual teachings I learnt as a kid was the Biblical aphorism: “The
Lord giveth, the Lord taketh!” Whatever has a beginning must have an end. No
matter how long you spend in power, you must quit one day, voluntarily, or
involuntarily, when your time is up. And your time is up when the Law say it
is, not when age or extraneous forces, like coups dictate truncate your heinous
rule. Why then, you may ask, can’t mere mortals understand and appreciate this
dictum and spare their people the agony of many years of misrule and sit-tight
syndrome?
Let me emphasise that it is not how long you govern that
matters but how well. Every leader must decide how he wishes to be remembered.
It is pertinent for every leader to consider this and decide on what he can do
very quickly to attract eternal grace and praise. Anyone who has studied the
history of power would readily know how time flies indeed. Since Nigeria’s
return to democratic rule in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo has come and
left. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has come and departed. President Goodluck
Ebele Goodluck has done his bit and retired. President Muhammadu Buhari has
nearly spent half of his first term, just like that. This confirms my thesis
about how quickly time evaporates.
But I’m happy to meet a man who has demonstrated that you
come, you serve, you go. It has been a privilege for me to know and work
closely with His Excellency, former President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana,
before he quit office and now that he has. He is an eloquent example of how a
responsible leader should behave in power and afterwards. I met him shortly
before he became the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. Though a Member
of Parliament and Minister at the time, he was reluctant to accept the
position. I was invited to his home by our mutual friend, Mr Victor Smith,
later the High Commissioner of Ghana to the United Kingdom. Mahama and I became
friends instantly. I discovered a personable gentleman who did not see power as
a big deal other than as a call to service.
As fate would have it, a man who reluctantly became Vice
President would later be catapulted to the seat of President and
Commander-in-Chief, without lifting a finger, after the unfortunate death of
his boss and mentor, President John Evans Atta-Mills, of blessed memory. In a
jiffy, and without much ado, he settled down quickly to serious work, and
continued from where his boss stopped. He not only mapped out his priorities
but he produced a road map to achieve them. He understood what Ghana needed to
join the comity of other nations in the march towards superlative development
and pursued his mission rigorously and vigorously.
He made infrastructure development the cardinal principle of
his government and stayed glued to it stubbornly no matter how much others
preferred stomach infrastructure. He told his people the bitter truth at every
point. He spoke what no politician would have said and what the citizens would
not like to hear. Mahama was a man in a hurry to build a new Ghana. His dream
was to surpass the commendable work of his predecessors, especially that of the
father of modern Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Like all mortals, Mahama was
not a perfect human being. He had his foibles but was rigidly committed to his
developmental projects. He was accused of overlooking the excesses of some of
his close disciples who were accused of corruption. Many expected him to spend
time pursuing corrupt people, making heads roll and if necessary make blood
flow. However, Mahama chose to concentrate on his goal of societal development
through revamping the economy, infrastructure creation and firming up of
institutional structures. He was content to leave the established enforcement
institutions to tackle all the corruption once he strengthened the system. He
said he knew it was not the job of the executive arm to prosecute and convict
and so would not be distracted, or bogged down by a job that largely belongs to
other arms, especially the independent and impartial Police and judiciary.
Mahama worked as if he had a premonition of the electoral
hurricane that would eventually blow him away, unmindful of his stellar
achievements. He modernised the Kotoka International Airport monumentally.
Built new regional hospitals. Added about 800 megawatts of electricity to the
national grid. He pursued rural electrification with uncommon gusto. Regraded
many roads and established new ones. Upgraded many educational institutions and
paid more attention to technical schools in order to train and graduate
world-class engineers and artisans. He provided an enabling environment for
agriculture to thrive. Access to data services became widespread in rural
areas.
On the foreign scene, he opened Ghana to all Africans who
are now able to obtain visa on arrival without stress. He stabilised the
Ghanaian currency, Cedis, and investors made Ghana a preferred choice because
of its stability and tranquillity. He welcomed non-Ghanaians with open arms. He
doused the perennial tension between Ghanaians and Nigerians. He encouraged
Nigerian businesses to blossom. As a gesture of genuine goodwill, he awarded
the highest civilian honour in Ghana to the spirit of Africa, Dr Michael
Adeniyi Agbolade Isola Adenuga, a business prodigy, who has quietly affected
Africa with his closely guarded treasure.
As audacious as Mahama was in the area of infrastructure
development, he was not able to balance this with putting cash in people’s
pockets. The unemployed youths kicked, shouting that they preferred jobs. His
explanation that infrastructure would lead to jobs fell on deaf ears. More
hospitals, he enjoined, will employ more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, health
technicians, administrators, paramedics and so on; more schools would absorb
teachers and students alike as well as the requisite support staff;
construction would attract engineers of various disciplines, artisans and
others. For him, it was only a matter of time before the jobs sought by the
restive youths would come. The long and short of it was that he achieved his
dream of modernising Ghana but lost his plum job. His humongous work will never
be forgotten and he would always be remembered as Nkrumah II, as he is now
fondly called. History has only repeated itself because Nkrumah the Great
suffered a similar fate when he was similarly chased out of power. But Nkrumah
became apotheosised only thereafter. Everything he did was criticised but the
landmarks are there till this day.
Mahama has become a global citizen after leaving power.
Since he handed over on January 7, 2017, he has moved from being a Ghanaian
leader to being a much sought after international statesman. I’ve been greatly
inspired by his meteoric rise on the world stage. I’ve travelled extensively
with him in the last two and half months. The usual Nigeriaphobia has never
affected our relationship. Mahama is a rare species and a true Christian who
practices the tenets of love. I’m proud to stand with him all the way. His
speeches flow from his heart. He speaks extempore and has the facts and figures
in his head. We have spent the last one week crisscrossing the best of American
institutions. He spoke and lectured, as the situation demanded, at Harvard,
MIT, Boston University, University of Chicago, Chicago State University, The
Institute of Politics, The Africa International House, and Northwestern
University Kellogg School of Management.
Former Obama strategist, David Axelrod, summed up the story
of Mahama, when he climbed the stage to commend his speech at the Institute of
Politics, Chicago, delivered to a packed audience of American scholars and
influential leaders: “I don’t know what happened in Ghana but if a vote were
conducted here, majority would vote for you.” Mahama’s speech was simply awesome.
He captured and wowed his audience. The Question and Answer session was
gripping. Mahama was honest and candid. He autographed his autobiography, MY
FIRST COUP D’ETAT. It was such a glorious and victorious trip.
As someone said, Mahama has glamorised life outside power so
much that no African leader should be scared of losing election and fearing
what the future holds. If you have done well, the world will be your oyster!
Mahama’s own reaction continues to resonate: Your duty as a leader is to
come, serve and go…” I concur.
I have the honour of paying tribute to one of Africa’s
biggest brands, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who turns 60 in the next few days. I came
across Dangote’s name from the most unlikely quarter, Sir Shina Peters, in
those days of Afro Juju rave, at the beginning of 1990. At the time, I used to
wonder at what drove this commodity merchant who was synonymous with rice and sugar.
His single-handed monopoly of the commodity market was a stuff of science
fiction, both true and untrue. He was in effect The Don that nobody could
question. He has never looked back from those days of foundation building. As
he built his business empire on that solid foundation, he continued to build
bridges that would link the poor and the rich and lift nations.
His foray into the noodles market helped to bring
competition into that market and sparked a new beginning for that segment of
the food industry.
Today, he is better known as the King of Cement. And very
soon, his foray into the energy industry, straddling petrochemicals, oil and
gas exploration, refineries, power and power generation, might give him a new
nomenclature to add to all the others. The bold serial investor is on rampage
across Africa spreading his wings like the eagle. He has flown me to a few of
his incredible projects in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia and it would be an
understatement to say I was much impressed. His cement factories, now dotted
across Africa, have become a veritable and choice alternative to foreign
brands. He has made cement, and therefore housing capacity, available and
affordable for both the poor and the rich because of the quality that is the
hallmark of his endeavour and the pricing that he is able to achieve
notwithstanding his quest for such quality. He is a pride of the black race.
I would like to thank him for his support over the years for
Ovation International. I must not fail to mention how he called from South
Africa when I celebrated my 50th birthday and flew straight to Lagos to attend
my party. I’m not the type that forgets favours, big or small. It takes grace
to recognise greatness in others. Alhaji has worked very hard and God has
blessed him richly. I mention this because it is a testament to this
indefatigable business icon that he remembers those little things and makes
time out for his friends. He is a simple man, a loyal person who
continues to hang out with those friends that he grew up with before he became
a man of substance and means. Indeed, he cherishes and nurtures them. It
is not a coincidence that a few of these friends, like Femi Otedola, Sayyu
Dantata and Sam Iwuajoku, have also grown exponentially with him as he has
supported them in their own businesses
I know him to be a loyal reader of my Pendulum column. On
several occasions, he has called and marvelled at how I managed to write
regularly and weave my words together. He respects my political views and
appreciates objectivity in my writings.
I salute Alhaji Aliko Dangote and wish him many happy
returns, in good health and more prosperity.
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