YOUNGER LEADERS – THE KEY TO REAL DEVELOPMENT

Image Courtesy of Karen Nyamu

“No army can stop an idea whose time has come”. This is a famous quip by the iconic French poet, novelist and playwright; Victor Hugo. Gone are the days where youths were regarded as the leaders of tomorrow. This has stemmed from enlightenment and the realization that they form a critical mass of the population. It is the trend the World over. Look at Canada with Justin Trudeau and France with Emanuel Macron. Beginning 2009, the most powerful man in the world; POTUS was Barrack Obama, a relative youth compared with his contemporaries. Closer home we had until recently youthful Andry Rajoelina; a former Disk Jockey, the president of the island nation Madagascar serving between 2009 – 2014. For long the youth were shunned to the periphery and outer echelons of leadership. Their numbers were only exploited to gain power only to be parlayed as a crow-bar to access greater wealth and fortune for their forebears. Needless to say, little trickled down back to them. In days gone by, they were conveniently conscripted with the sole intention of harnessing their massive reserves of energy for either negative if not downright nefarious agenda. They were merely used as a battering ram to wreak havoc and interrupt political rallies for rival candidates. Their creativity, ingenuity, muscle, naivety, zeal, eccentricity and even idiosyncrasies were only channeled to the benefit of the older financially adroit candidates. Matter of fact; as per my spoken word colleague “Teardrops” there is an amorphous invention by the crime deterrent agencies dubbed – The Crime triangle. To calculate its area (propensity for potency) you require a ‘base’ where young men “chill-out” and the determinant – altitude, being the height of you guessed whom, the youths involved. Why all this stereotyping? We will perhaps attempt to quantify in a future post the role of young women in the Traditional African political scene. I lied. If warming the beds for the ‘hallowed ones’ counts, then that it was. Even politically in eon past, the youth were only relegated to members of quasi-military wings of political parties to coerce the hand of the electorate. Case in point, in the cataclysmic outcome of the fiercely disputed 2007 General Election, most of the social ills that were perpetrated were blamed on the youth. They were virtually the hatchet boys who meted out the diabolical schemes manifested phenotypically as murder, rape and forceful transfer of population at the behest of their older counterparts. Many of them were incarcerated in retribution for their acts. Some were even purged off extrajudicially to ostensibly extricate the real purveyors of these heinous acts from their own cups of judgement and culpability. A very dark episode in our history indeed.
Fast forward now. Never in the history of Kenya has the prospect of so many youthful elected leaders ever loomed so large. Once frowned upon as naïve, inexperienced, undisciplined, puerile, disco and shisha-heads with the proverbial porridge behind the ears; they now stand at the cusp of leadership and with a real chance to deliver the long mooted meaningful change. After proving themselves at the acme of personal businesses and even industry they have found their voice and now intend to dabble in the quagmire that is the political scene. Some are already prominent personalities in acting, music, dance, youth organization initiatives and sports (mostly Athletics- our pride and joy). As is often stated experience can never be purchased from any shop but can only be lived through; the same experience has shown that older leaders perhaps may not be so suited to the task after all. My job here is not to try to attract curses for lampooning the silver-foxes who may read this piece but just to enumerate the innumerable merits of having younger leaders.
Younger leaders are often still pliant and amenable to change. With all the time in the world ahead of them, they feel the need to experiment with as many combinations and permutations with the aim of unraveling the best formula. They still are audacious and no doubt will champion for change, taking as many risks as can be balanced on their shoulders. Those wise enough know their weaknesses and hence seek the services of more vibrant and intelligent team members. They always strive for improvement as unlike the old Turks they are aware of the fact that they will be around for a long time. This may be too long to tolerate or suffer the consequences any failed strategies & anathema. They have only a modicum invested in the past. As such they have no difficulty challenging the status quo as they are not part of it and may be are not yet aware of any benefits stemming from breaking in. They are neither shackled by any misgivings, traditions nor impediments that come with ‘getting bitten too many times.’
As stated earlier younger leaders bring energy & dynamism to the table. Zeal and enthusiasm is the staple of the youthful leader. He still has well oiled muscles, flexible tendons, vibrant comportment, straight backs, no creaky bones; hence, the spring in the step sufficient to surmount any challenge. Fail today, they are unlikely to rest on their laurels but get back in the face of the same challenge till it is defeated. They can easily enjoin song and dance in their campaign and may travel long distances without having so much of the aches that come with doing so. Their resolution and restitution is still on point. They possess both physical and mental energy required to face colossal hurdles that may teem their way. Tell me, which old man will go through the physical rigours to deface his rivals’ posters in the dead of the night when the very cold gives him joint ache?
Younger leaders have visions which come with yet unfulfilled expectations. They still possess the optimism that most of their goals are attainable no matter what as only a function of time. They don’t have sad, bone-gnawing stories about what a tough life they have had, errors in judgement or failed initiatives. Even Biblically, it is captured in Acts 2:17 “I will pour out my spirit on them such that young men will see visions while their progenitors will dream.” Even those early day sages could perceive the clear-cut dichotomy between the functioning of the mind of a young and old person. The old guard is nostalgic of the good old days they wish to relive while the younger character wants to create the ambitious new and better world he has never experienced or change it for the better. New wine does not deserve to be packaged in old wine skins.
Vote in a new crop and they will set ambitious long term goals. The older generation know they haven’t many years ahead of them and so will attempt to achieve as much as possible quixotically within a crammed period of time. It is even more dire if you have a character who in his youth lived the happy-go-lucky life and never saved or invested his finances. The thought of every passing day fills them with great terror and trepidation of what heritage they are to bequeath upon their progeny. Self aggrandizement and corruption sets in. As has been observed in many African countries older leaders preside over the most kleptocratic regimes. Some even attempt to hand over power to their newly acquired younger wives getting severely chided in the process. “Power is not a S*****ly Transmitted condition,” the rebuke they get. Independence leaders have totally sullied their legacies. The saying, ‘if you do not exit the stage if still a hero you will live long enough to turn into an odious repugnant villain’ rings perpetually true. Young leaders pick scalable targets that can be improved or regressed backwards when deemed unattainable.
Younger leaders are more innovative geared. I am not castigating anyone’s Gramps here for being a cave man with no knowledge on electronics’ use. Hell No! I’m just trying to make the point that the younger generation live in the digitally inclusive world that has turned the world into a small village. Creative and even unheard of ways of doing business & politics are put into play. As recently as the late nineties who ever heard of predictive analytics and its use to forecast popular trends. Crowd sourcing for very desperate, noble and even useful initiatives in society was unheard of. The digital age heralded a grand revolution in the modus operandi of getting elected and even determining the functionality of initiatives. Social media trends are the way to go. No self respecting politician exists without a myriad of social media platforms to boost their popularity and get word out to more. Gamification which is a new and interactive way to call your audience to action has taken traction all thanks to the younger politician in the developed world. Our founding fathers never engaged the man at the grassroots at such close quarters as the current leaders.
Younger leaders are more compassionate albeit altruistic with their fellow youth. The socially oriented are even more open to getting their audiences more engaged, energized and excited about achieving their own goals. They inspire their teams in some strategy similar to affiliate marketing that gives them the impression that if they make one person succeed the entire team succeeds. They are more in tune with the new world problems affecting the majority of the populace who are the youth, empathetic to their plight. They most likely came up through the same period, went to university in the “post-boom” era and struggled with odd jobs in the city, got pick pocketed and lost their phones and wallets to the ‘boys in the hood’. When similar message is transmitted to the crowds, mirror neurons pitch in and the leader is deemed more likeable to their peers, a rapt audience.
As opposed to generalized approaches of handling situations, younger leaders have been brought up on the S.W.O.T analysis of tackling challenges. You work to your strengths, while trying to make up for weakness, all the while capitalizing on opportunity with a tantalizing aversion to threats. Solutions are focused, targeted, deliberate and specific to a particular problem at a time. A younger prince may take an objective look to a problem perceiving it through the clear prism of their eyes untainted by misconceptions. This is a clear advantage to them.
To crown it all, Power political or other is not issued freely like confetti at a victory parade but usurped by proper planning, deliberate action, sound implementation of one’s vision and a clearly adhered to strategy. My message to fellow youth- Strike while the iron is still hottest. My hope this year is that more of the young guns get elected as I have this innate feeling that they will excel in the role and ameliorate our current social malaise.