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| Lee Kuan Yew |
Where’s
the evil in this world coming from? Why do we have so much premature death i.e.
people dying with unrealized potentials and unfulfilled dreams all around
us? Why do we have so much hunger,
plagues, famines ravaging our lands? What could be traced as the backbone of
the wasting diseases that have traumatized, hounded, and made many lives to
crawl on the floor in involuntary abasement , instead of soaring on the wings
of purpose, touching and restoring lives with inspired visions? Why do so many
live from debt to debt, clutching at the ragged edges of poverty, feeling
silently betrayed that all they had for their long years of hard work, patience
and hope, was their broken bodies and cracked dreams?
I
came to one single conclusion. The error or evil entailed in all these comes
from the way people define and aspire to what is leadership greatness within
the human community on planet earth.
Now
the mandate given to the man created in God’s own image was clear , simple and
unequivocal: “Be fruitful, multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth.” (see Gen.1:28) The man had
to subdue the earth first to enable
him exercise dominion over the sea,
the air and the earth. Two combative words come into unquestionable display in
the last sentence that cannot be glossed over. They are subdue and dominion. Subdue, a brutal unsparing word, means
conquer, vanquish, overpower or defeat. Dominion,
a forceful word, speaks of power, authority and control.
These
strong words, for what they are worth, cannot be divorced from the capacity of
leadership. Yes, you have your different theories on leadership from eminent
writers which I will not bother to bore you with. However you spin it though, leadership is having the force or power to
influence others to achieve a certain pre-determined objective either in the
public/corporate interest or the self-aggrandizement of the supposed leader. It has been largely abused because people are
forgetful, ignorant and neglectful of the Creator’s purpose for leadership.
The
world is full of leaders, religious, political or military. You can name as
many as you can without missing a beat. Some have names that evoke dread and
antipathy. Some inspire deep-seated devotion and love. Some ruled their nations
with autocratic hand, killed and imprisoned many who dared to oppose their
leadership, repressed public opinion without remorse; but today they are
largely forgotten in the dungeon of history, and conveniently ignored in the
hall of infamy.
Hitler
of Germany was a notorious, obnoxious leader
who brought his country to its ruin, despite its well-muscled military machine
that he largely built. Largely self-educated, and without a high school
diploma, he rose to power by his iron-will determination and oratorical skills,
inflamed the dissatisfaction of his country men and women with the ineffectual
ruling order, and presented himself as the hero who could take them to the
height of unconquerable greatness. Having supreme confidence in the delusion of
his mind, he overrated his intelligence above the expert views of well-trained
military generals and intellectuals of his days. His rage made grown men to wet
their pants. Great political leaders from other nations trembled in his
presence. Prodded by his false orthodoxy of Aryan supremacy, he methodically
presided over the brutal annihilation of 6 million Jews. The terror of his
reign was unimaginable and unpardonable.
Alexander
the Great, son of King Phillip of Macedon, restless and charismatic, superbly trained in military warfare from an
early age, did not waste time to give vent to his expansionist ambitions as he
conquered Persia, Babylon and Egypt one after the other, extending the
influence of Greek culture and commerce far and wide. At a time in his rapid
ascent to world dominion, when Thebes, a Greek-city rebelled, he swiftly put
down their revolt. Intimidated and weakened, Athen and others quickly submitted
their loyalty. By the time he died at
the age of 32 of malaria in June 13, 323 B.C., his rule was unrivalled. He was
cunning, he was violent, he was diplomatic, no art was so remote or hidden that
he would not deploy to secure the loyalty of the men that he commanded.
Lee
Kuan Yew, born into a wealthy Chinese family on September 16, 1923, and educated
as a lawyer in University of Cambridge, had long reign as prime minister of
Singapore from 1959 to 1990. Despite his country’s lack of natural resources,
he was unyielding in his determination to make Singapore an economic
powerhouse, a feat that he achieved long before he left office. He championed
for women to be empowered, and moved for comprehensive educational freedom. He
deployed his authoritarian leadership to develop, instead of impoverishing
Singapore.
Martin
Luther King, a Baptist preacher, was moved to challenge the collective shame of
how America tried to keep its black citizens from developing, and voting to
control their political fate. He never held a government office or a secular
position. Yet by the time, America heard his rousing oratory from the rising
hills of Georgia, the country was never the same. A Nobel Prize winner for
Peace, he had the courage to stand and fight for his convictions, blazing the
trail for leaders like Barack Obama to eventually emerge.
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| Martin Luther King |
Robert
Mugabe, over 91, aging and tired, but unwilling to retire, with his long
degrees of massive education, turned Zimbabwe into his personal fiefdom, stagnant
and scorned, despite his avowed struggle to free his country from white
colonial rule. The opposition figure he could not kill, he hounded into exile. He
is a despot, a blunder and a joke.
With
the notable exception of men like Nelson Mandela, the African continent is
littered with laughable thieving figures who shot their way to power, and trampled
willy-nilly on the sovereignty of the people, human excuses passing for
ennobling leadership. (To Be Continued)
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| Felix N. Jarikre. |
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