ColumnsNewsOpinionPoliticsIbrahim Gambari: Transformational Leadership and the Misconceptions of Age Politics

One of the greatest misconceptions of Nigerians or Africans about age in leadership is being unable to differentiate age from wisdom

Minutes after Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari was announced the Chief-of-Staff of Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, the social media went wild with commentaries and analysis. Professor Gambari replaces the former Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, who died on April over COVID-19 complications.

While the majority praised him as a level-headed intelligent leader who diligently put his country first, a few others including Some Nigerian internet newspapers countered, associating him with unpopular regimes he previously served under. Also, some unguarded social media bloggers are wild with his appointment, citing his age as a detriment to this position. They wanted a young appointee. Professor Gambari is 76.

This essay is neither an endorsement nor disapproval of Professor Gambari’s appointment, but simply a rationalization of his progressive qualities not just as a fit for this job, but also as an antidote to the current structural issues of Nigeria’s governance. Accordingly, this piece invokes the most effectual events and concepts to debunk the misconceptions of age in political leadership.

Age justifies eldership but wisdom validates elder statesmanship. Thus, one of the greatest misconceptions of Nigerians or Africans about age in leadership is being unable to differentiate age from wisdom. In the academic spheres of political governance, there is a clear difference between the “age politics” and the “longevity politics.”

Samuel Kanyon Doe was just 29 when he ruled. It was not his young age that ran down this country in his 6-year tenure but his total ignorance and illiteracy in the field of executive governance.

The age politics questions the age of the leader whereas the longevity politics questions the duration of service. For instance, Samuel Kanyon Doe was just 29 when he ruled. It was not his young age that ran down his country Liberia in his 6-year tenure but his total ignorance and illiteracy in the field of executive governance.

Mobutu Sese Seko was a 35-year-old Chief of Staff of the Army when he installed his government. He led for 32 years and become one of the world’s most deadly military dictator. It was not his age that facilitated his actions but lack of leadership knowledge and his ugly behavior. But what about Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela?

Mandela was 76 years old when he was legitimately elected. He demonstrated a charismatic competence and took his nation along as he synchronized a fragmented country devastated by years of apartheid. Mandela, however, did not overstay his constitutional limits. If he did, that would have been another issue.

Furthermore, Paul Biya ruled Cameroon for 44 years; Teodoro Obiang Nguema ruled Equatorial Guinea for  40 years; Yoweri Museveni handled Uganda for 34 years; and even in Rwanda, Paul Kagame has sat on power for 25 years. So we should be worried about unprecedented longevity of overambitious self-imposed leaders -–definitely not about Professor Gambari’s age or who he served in the past because those opinions are watery, unreasonable, and unduly nonsensical.

The focus should be on what this gentleman would bring to the table and how? As electorates or the masses, we should be worried about how Professor Gambari, a progressive with proven transformational values would work hand-in-hand with President Buhari, a straightforward traditionalist who sees innovation as a Western movie.

Unlike an average African successful man, He has scorned every opportunity to run for a political office but spent his time coordinating research and development on governing policy, economic and social advocacy…

Professor Gambari, globally endorsed and a tested diplomat has served virtually in major Nigeria’s regime without losing a scrap of his progressive values. He respectfully chose to serve as a public servant rather than as a political cohort–and this has been the secret behind his victory as a progressive. Unlike an average African successful man, He has scorned every opportunity to run for a political office but spent his time coordinating research and development on governing policy, economic and social advocacy, and strategies on conflict prevention and resolution, democratization, and development in Africa.

This is not a surprise, because from 1984 to 2007, he had served as Nigeria’s Foreign Minister; United Nations Permanent Representative of Nigeria; United Nations Special Committee; President of the Executive Board of UNICEF; Under-Secretary-General of the UN (Special Adviser on Africa) and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (Department of Political Affairs).

While Nigerians persevere in evaluating his designation, we must also understand that Professor Gambari is not an elected law-maker and has never served in that position. He was a public servant who served under existing structures. As he resumed this new office, he remains a public servant-leader who would leverage his experience to serve a regime struggling with numerous social, economic, and political challenges.

As a leader-servant whose predecessor died of COVID-19 complications, Professor Gambari would be faced with enlightening his new boss about how to tackle a shaky national response to devastations of this virus. On paper, Nigeria has only recorded 4,787 cases with 158 deaths, yet the alleged massive deaths in Kano remain a mystery.

Professor Gambari, an open-minded moderate who would not negotiate his leadership values for divisive party-politicking could bring along his charismatic appeal to Aso Rock. He may wade into the current nonexistent connection between the Buhari’s government and the masses.  Nigerians are beginning to feel the wraths of a corrupt culture they are living in. The regime is falling short in addressing troubling matters of an economy that does not move, crime, terrorism, and widespread joblessness.

He would prove critics wrong and convince his boss to create a route that must inspire change, motivate a downhearted population, and carry them along toward the finishing lines of survival.

Therefore, as this 76-year-old Professor Gambari sits down with his boss who is 77, age or oldness would not be the factor in reconciling their contrasting ideological principles. Professor Gambari could juggle his boss’s memory about the multiplicity of Nigeria’s sociopolitical terrain. The demand for fairness in making decisions regarding national policies has not received adequate attention. This regime must consider a transformational plan that would encompass not only the systems but also usher in fairness at all facets of national policies.

If indeed Professor Gambari would be able to leverage his influence and power toward his new designation, he could embrace an entirely new paradigm and create an all-encompassing path to building the nation. He would prove critics wrong and convince his boss to create a route that must inspire change, motivate a downhearted population, and carry them along toward the finishing lines of survival.

♦ Professor Anthony Obi Ogbo, Ph.D. is on the Editorial Board of the West African Pilot News.

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