Lascelve Graham | Entrepreneurs, opportunism and leadership

An entrepreneur can be considered the engine of society. They will create something out of nothing, take risks, see and seize opportunities where others hesitate. If such individuals are not allowed to exercise their talents in legitimate ways, then they will do so in what are considered illegitimate ways. Hence, we find the Chinese traders cooperating, collaborating with the British opium pushers, Jews facilitating the Germans during the Holocaust, Africans working with the Europeans during the slave trade, etc.

People align themselves with power, and hence, power will always find people to corrupt so that it may continue to exploit in the way it wishes. It is very difficult to lead a principled life, very difficult to stand against the status quo. That is why we revere great leaders. Among other things, it takes tremendous sacrifice to be a great leader. That is why great leaders don’t come a dime a dozen. They are few and far between. They have to reverse the trend, turn around the big ship, and oppose very powerful forces.

This is the context within which we need to view Africa and African leaders. They have been corrupted, weakened, devastated, undermined, exploited, divided, and oppressed by the most powerful forces on the planet for centuries, and this continues to this day! Puppet leadership has been installed by the powerful, which allows them to continue their rape of the continent. They murder leadership that has the best interests of the populace at heart. They initiate regime change whenever they see fit. They continue to sponsor insurrection, which is inimical to proper governance, while they help themselves to the resources of the continent.

The book Diary of an Economic Hit Man and others spelled it out clearly, as did presidents Mitterrand and Chirac of France, and most recently, the current prime minister. Hence we can understand why Africa is in the condition it is now and why it has the leadership it has now. Complaining about this leadership is almost trite, given the circumstances from which it evolved. It is not at all surprising that it is so.

UNREASONABLE

It is unreasonable to expect African leaders to overcome the mighty forces against them without some help from a change in external circumstances. It is going to take great leadership to unite Africa and lead it out of the quagmire in which it has been put. China, after being allowed to breathe, by the powerful forces, which had previously brought about its subjugation, eventually found its great leaders Mao, etc. Africa, too, will generate its great leaders who will get a foothold and develop some strength, which will allow them to ward off the external forces and their allies. We must not despair.

Jamaica also, like all other underdeveloped countries, needs its great leader(s) to get it out of the rut it is in. We need a great leader to tackle the crime and violence, the education problem, the squatting problem, the indiscipline, the crudity, the corruption, the tribalism, the trust deficit as it relates to institutions and leaders. This great leader must have the intellect, the vision, testicular fortitude, courage, revolutionary mindset, best interests of the masses at heart, strategy, and skill required to stay alive long enough to bring about the fundamental changes necessary to the status quo.

This is, of course, a herculean, humongous undertaking, which will require an extraordinary person to attempt.

Hence, it is understandable that until now, we have been gifted essentially with leadership displaying a maintenance mindset, making incremental changes at the fringes, marking time, dealing more with form rather than substance. Thus, the masses of the people continue to suffer, continue to be deprived.

ABLEST AND BEST

As Lee Kuan Yew did, a great leader must be able to get ablest and best people into politics and paid at the market rate. He warned that to try and get a government on the cheap will mean ending up with a cheap government, which will be to the detriment of the people and the country. They will be opposed, of course, by wealthy, powerful, ruthless, clever stakeholders and their lackeys, whose interests will not be served by change. The odds will be tremendously skewed in their favour.

It appears that so many of our leaders, in all areas, at all levels, just tell the people what they believe they want to hear and are bedevilled by a condition a Wolmerian of note, Mr KD Knight, described as being “pathologically mendacious”, that one has to wonder if it is a requirement for leadership roles in Jamaica. Our leaders don’t seem to want to understand that for progress, they must teach the people new ways of thinking and acting and that just pandering to their familiar patterns will get us nowhere except to the bottom, fast.

Education and socialisation are fundamental, key variables in almost all our problems. However, the family and school, major socialising agents in the society, are both dysfunctional. Hence the majority of our children are left unprotected, without the guidance, love, values, attitudes, and skills they need to successfully fend for themselves in this cruel world.

Fixing the family is a long-term project. Therefore, the focus must be on the school being given the resources to efficiently and effectively act as surrogate parent in the short to medium term. We must tackle the education and socialisation of our youth with the greatest will, courage, and urgency. Our specialised educational/socialising institutions (up to high-school level, basic education) must not be distracted from their mission by red herrings, e.g., the win-at-all-costs approach to sports. The remedial approach to doing things must stop. Let’s get it right the first time! The masses of our people are depending on this! Let’s all work towards our society coughing up our great leader.

Dr. Lascelve “Muggy” Graham is a former captain of Jamaica’s senior football team.Urs consum escervit