People know their true leader. You don’t unleash bad leadership on the people either by gun or through the ballot. True leadership is about the people first,and about the people last. It’s about passionate service by the leaders and huge sacrifice..
It’s a serious indictment of civilian presidents in Africa especially West Africa subregion that a young military head of state, Captain Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso, is now being projected as an example of good leadership and anti-colonial struggle by Africans including Nigerians.
Traore coming after Captain Sankara and Col. Muammar Ghaddafi who were also military men and were equally lionised as “people’s radical leaders” because of developing their countries, represented their citizens aspirations and for their anti-colonial economic stand, becomes a serious issue of concern on how “democratic” civilian leaders have used democracy to underdevelop their countries, impoverish their fellow citizens while they live in affluence with primitive accumulation of property.
Rogue leaders in power are big threat to democracy and the people. It’s only the people including the organised working class and civil society that can save democracy by rejecting crooks in power and always struggle for good governance . If not, democracy under rogue leaders becomes a threat to people’s aspirations for good governance.
Democracy is in danger, real danger when leaders cannot provide basic things like food, jobs, wealth creation, good economy, security of lives and property. Bad leaders cannot continue to use democracy as a blackmail for people to surrender to mass poverty, hunger, joblessness, illiteracy, diseases and insecurity.
Africans are desperately in search of heroes. Is it not unfortunate that they now find one in a young military dictator Captain Ibrahim Traore, rightly or wrongly? Africans want total decolonisation of their economies from the dictates of imperialism, is it not embarrassing that they see one in Traore?.That’s the reality today
This is a bad and good lesson for African leaders especially the corrupt totalitarian dictators in civilian garb to learn that only good governance can save democracy to make it relevant to the people. If not, democracy becomes a mere elitist expression and it dies.
