We take look at leadership in the context of what Ibrahim Traore said about “true leadership.”
Just background information, Ibrahim Traore was born on the 14th of March 1988. He is the president of the West African country of Burkina Faso. He is 37 years old.
He became the president of his country in September of 2022. And, since having become the president of Burkina Faso, President Ibrahim Traore has shown strong, decisive, and compassionate leadership. His brand of leadership shows how he has revolutionised his country and put in place infrastructural development to ensure that the people of his country become independent, self-sufficient, and secure.
His influence has extended right across Africa and the rest of the world, and he is revered by ordinary people around the world (including many in St Vincent and the Grenadines). Some world leaders are enamoured by him. Others envy him. And others would like to get rid of him because they simply cannot stand the fact that this “little black boy” out of a small West African village could have such leadership qualities, capabilities, power and influence across the world.
So, what did Ibrahim Traore say about leadership? Well, he said “true leadership isn’t just about …. wielding power: it’s about protecting the dignity of your people.”
There is so much power in those words. There is so much that one could learn from them. Those words are applicable in any situation where one is in a leadership position, be it the home, the workplace, the country, the church or elsewhere.
Because President Ibrahim Traore is the leader of his country so intention is to put the focus on leaders of countries. There are too many leaders of countries who believe (and they practice it too) that leadership is about being all powerful – they are full of bluster and on man ism.
They believe that leadership is just about “wielding power” and control. They believe that leadership is about denigrating people. Their own people – the citizens of their country! They believe that leadership is about bluster and bravado. They believe that leadership is about bamboozling and hoodwinking their population for votes. They believe that everyone else (especially in their country) must be subservient to them. They believe that the citizens and people in their country cannot hold an opinion different from theirs.
They believe that leadership is to attack the dignity of their own people to silence them. They do so to create fear in their people; to keep their people trapped in unemployment, underemployment and reliant on government handouts.
Perhaps those leaders of countries who see themselves as all or any of those things described could learn a thing or two from those powerful words of President Ibrahim Traore. They are well advised to spend more time and energy focusing on the things that will bring independence, self-sufficiency and security to their people.
They are advised that rather than wielding power and believing that they are archaic monarchs, their time would be better spent on addressing the crime rate in their country. They are advised that rather than wielding power to subjugate and embarrass their people – their citizens, they need to spend their time on devising and implementing programs and projects that bring prosperity to their people and country. They are advised that rather than wielding power to enrich themselves (and their families) while at the same time they keep a large portion of their population in poverty to create a voting herd, they need to spend more time on healthcare. They need to spend more time on roads, buildings and other infrastructure that are in disrepair.
True leadership is needed in every country (St Vincent and the Grenadines being no exception). And whenever the people in a country become aware that their leader or the leadership of their country is only about wielding power, then it is imperative that the people take the steps necessary to remove such a leader and all government ministers who singularly and collectively support such abuse of power.
Vincentians, imagine what our own country would be like if the type of true leadership which President Ibrahim Traore described is practised in our country! Use the opportunity to move away from corrosive leaders and always remember the words of President Ibrahim: “true leadership isn’t just about …. wielding power: it’s about protecting the dignity of your people.”