The Individual and the Challenge

By Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari
18 Sept 2005

It is indeed very difficult to begin these remarks with the conventional pattern of stressing what a great honour it is to be here. Truly, I'm honoured, but saying so would be an understatement. More correctly, I am honored but exceedingly humbled since I am not quite sure that I am fully deserving of the honour of this gathering.

I am not being diplomatic or self-effacing. It just occurs to me that it is something exceedingly special, when friends, admirers, supporters and acquaintances come from far and near on a Sunday evening and give up their valuable and quality time with their families and loved ones to honour an individual as you've done today. It speaks volumes, not of the individual being honoured but of the selflessness of those gathered here.

The people gathered in this room have dedicated themselves to making a difference by publicly acknowledging one of their own. And I am proud to be counted as one your own. This is the essence of true friendship and brotherhood. But beyond the underlying camaraderie, is the desire to uphold the virtues of public service and leadership.

As individuals, we do not accomplish or achieve our set goals or dreams strictly by our own making, even if by merit. Therefore, tributes for any accomplishments in the service of our humanity must, of necessity, be prefaced by acknowledging the great and divine benevolence of the Almighty and the support of family, friends and country. After all, no man is an island. I want to assure you that in different ways, you have touched my life and enriched it. You have certainly touched and continue to touch my own.

Also as humans, we all have our respective wishes and aspirations. Be that as it may, the trajectory which one's life assumes and eventually traverses, for the most part, remains a matter of dreams, hard work and a combination of luck and unforeseen developments. I believe the latter is what we frequently refer to as destiny - something that is preordained but unknown until it happens. As Shakespeare puts it: "there is a divinity that shapes our end. Rough - hew them how we will"

As for 2007, that is in the hands of Allah, Almighty God, and it is his will that shall be done. Right now, I am settling in my new position at the United Nations and will continue to do my best to fulfil the responsibilities of the job. As most of you already know, although I am a political scientist by training, I hardly lay any claim to being a diplomat. Rather, as I have always said, I am an academic by choice and training and a diplomat by default, albeit an elongated default.

Inevitably, occasions like these have the capacity to induce introspection. One is predictably forced, often against one's will and better judgment to take stock of where one has been and grasp those accomplishments that other people see and value, which they wish acknowledge and honour. Indeed, mine has been a busy and fulfilling life - as well as a life of continuous learning, challenges and appreciation.

To say that I do not feel lucky is to be inhuman; just as it would be hypocritical rather than immodest to say that I do not feel proud of the enormous opportunities that I have had to serve at the national, and global levels. The honour must therefore go to the United Nations under the leadership of Mr. Kofi. Annan, to Africa, to Nigeria and to my family and friends.

But the greatest component of any individual achievement is the added value one is able to bring to the table - be it in politics, business, diplomacy, sports, community work, academia or even the frequently overlooked difficult task of parenting. The challenges we face as parents are multiplied, when we are in professions that make extreme demands of our times and frequently and unwittingly make us absentee parents.

I stress this point, only to underscore that whereas the invitation to those gathered here suggested that Ibrahim Gambari was being honoured by the African family -- that honour in the strict sense, belongs in part, to my dear wife Fatima and our children who made it all possible. It belongs also to my life-long associates - be they students, faculty colleagues, or staff of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs (NIAA), the Nigeria Foreign Ministry, the Nigerian Mission to the UN or colleagues in the UN Mission in Angola and the UN Secretariat in New York. They have all enriched my life in one way or another.

There are also those people - friends and acquaintances - with whom I have crossed paths. Surely, fate had ordained my interface with such people and greater still, our mutually endearing affinity with each other. To you all gathered here and to all those mentioned afore, I owe a debt of gratitude for you love and kindness.

I must however not let an auspicious occasion like this slip by without making some remarks about Africa and about our leadership challenges.

Permit me therefore to reflect briefly on the challenges of leadership. Why so? I believe that every challenge that confronts our globalized world must give those in leadership a cause to pause and to devise appropriate and effective strategy to address them. In this regard, we live in a world aflush with affluence, yet mired in poverty and hunger and for this human condition and contradiction we cannot escape culpability. And Africa is the continent where this paradox is most conspicuous and where the challenge is both huge and urgent.

Barely forty-eight hours ago - some fifteen miles from here in Manhattan, New York- we concluded the largest gathering ever, of world leaders convened to discuss how to tackle old as well as new threats and challenges that we face. The older threats range from the fight against poverty and disease to conflicts between states, while the new threats include terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, failed and failing states, and HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

As Africans, we are mindful also that what affects us the most is poverty and underdevelopment which are now buffeted by perennial bad governance and debilitating corruption.

In our traditional and cultural context these are bane traceable to leadership failings. Those who perceive Africa as a "basket case" are not necessarily being derisive or dismissive. Such perception is rooted in actualities and is self-evident and inexplicably linked to the prevalence of poverty, conflict, hunger disease, famine, and homelessness. One must add to this, the collective numbing despair orchestrated by an unending sense of disenfranchisement. Hence the claim of those who chastise Africa must be considered in the correct context and reality.

And the reality is that today Africa contains 32 of the world's 48 poorest countries. It has the lowest primary school completion rates of any continent. Also Africa has a largest percentage of the 100 million children, mostly girls; who are out of school worldwide. Just as life expectancy has declined from 50 to 46 years since the early 1990s, Africa's, per capita income has plummeted, falling by 13 per cent since the 1980s. Consequently, the number of people mired in "extreme poverty" has doubled over the same period. Indeed, Africa is the only continent which is not likely to meet the #1 Millenium Development Goal of reducing by 50% those who live in extreme poverty by the year 2015 - unless Africans abandon the approach of business as usual and the international community provides massive resources (increased ODA, debt relief, lowering of trade barriers and private foreign investments) in the spirit of true partnership.

Meanwhile, today, as a result of civil strifes and the collapse of governance and human rights, millions across the span of Africa are homeless, sick, malnourished or dying in addition to millions who have died.

On the other hand, of course, there are pockets and thriving oases of good governance, stability and prosperity in Africa. And it bears saying that Africa is not alone in being laggardly in achieving its full potentials. The question now, is how we begin to redress these anomalies which are becoming insidious and entrenched?

One way is the manner in which as Africans we manage our own affairs. In sum, we must as individuals continue to look at how to fine tune our leadership. In as much as we would prefer to blame external factors including colonialism for our problems we must also have the honesty and the courage to look inwards.

Africa has a long history and rich traditions. Indeed, in the pre-colonial period and before the advent of western culture, we had norms and values as well as acceptable and efficiently functional orders and rule of law. To acknowledge the bad and overlook the good which we have abandoned for the sake of expediency is to exhibit historical amnesia. Africa today is in the cusp of change and renewal.

The paradox of Africa is that it is in dire shortage of skilled labour, not because such labour does not exist but because they reside outside Africa. It would certainly be a hard sell to ask many professionals and skilled hands servicing the industries of the developed world to return home. Concerns about security of life and property are valid as are concerns about instability and government meddling in private sector affairs and thus stultifying free enterprise. But there are other means of redressing prevailing handicaps that retard developmental efforts.

One proposal on the table is an African Grey Peace Corps, a replication of the American Peace Corps. This scheme would enlist retired volunteers from a range of professions to work in Africa. It would not only provide the much needed skills, but facilitate the transfers of information and technical know-how without cutting into the most productive years of those involved. This scheme would be an ancillary to contributions made by Africans in the Diaspora, who not only repatriate funds home thus augmenting capital inflow, but engage in other forms of community-based reinvestment initiatives.

The recent free medical mission by a 43-man team form the New-Jersey Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in Americas (ANPA) to Onitsha, in Eastern Nigeria is a case in point. I know that there have been similar missions to other parts of Nigeria in the past. I fully subscribe to the views of His Royal Highness Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, who in welcoming the medical team, called on the Nigerian government to formalize the process and noted that: "Our engineering professionals can come on a mission to help design roads, bridges and other structures. The doctors can come on free medical missions, and other professionals could be encouraged to give their own services."

Community-based efforts like those rendered by ANPA, undoubtedly dovetail into the growing role of the civil society on the African Continent, which I dare say we must continue to foster and nourish. And if I may be permitted to offer a word of advice, perhaps the time has come when the Association of Nigerian Physicians in Americas (ANPA) can mobilize funds to build and run their own hospital in Nigeria , hence creating a center of excellence comparable to any American or European top class medical facility. Furthermore, physicians from African countries now residing abroad could do the same for their respective home countries. Such efforts would constitute leadership stride.

There is no gainsaying, that when public trust is abused and national resources are wasted through corruption and maladministration, members of civil societies, and in particular, the poor and unemployed suffer the consequences. Consequently, it is in the interest of civil society to ensure that public officials manage these resources in an efficient, transparent and accountable fashion.

Moreover, civil society plays a critical role in strengthening democracy in that, it has capacity to bring about the movement from a bureaucratic to a more representative administration by providing a credible bridge between the rulers and the citizens. Civil societies help to build social capital by enhancing security, building trust and creating organizational capacity. In its totality, civil society wherever it exist and is empowered contributes to leadership and in the worst case, act as a forum for checks and balances aimed at good governance. This is in every sense a form of quintessential leadership that goes far beyond the capabilities and vision of a single leader, and indeed, well beyond the ability of one man to uplift a nation.

It is perhaps noteworthy to mention here that the African Peer Review Mechanism established under NEPAD, seeks to promote adherence to codes and standards in political, economic and corporate governance. Essentially this translates into setting codes of desirable political conduct and seeking to monitor them for compliance. In our continent where Governments and leaders are frequently omnipotent, the value of this asset can be priceless.

In closing, let me say that no problem was ever solved by good intentions alone. Concrete action required to back any good intention is a prerequisite for good governance. One must of course add to this, two key virtues of leadership - moderation and compassion as well as the ultimate paradigms of leadership - passion, commitments and critical and creative thinking aimed at problem solving. Coupled together, it is these values that lead to purposeful leaders. Needless to say, that their absence often translate to the culture of doing business as usual.

Indeed, through the strengthening of democracy, civil society becomes a tool with a capacity to enhance sustainable peace, security, stability and development; and that there can be no civil society without our collective and direct involvement. Much international spotlight has been cast on the severity and magnitude of Africa's challenges. Addressing those challenges in a new cooperative spirit should nurture and sustain change and renewal in Africa. But problems and challenges can be hardly tackled in a vacuum.

Our getting involved, all of us, in all spheres of leadership is half of the battle in overcoming the challenges we face. After all, history and great accomplishments start and end with us as individuals and the commitment and sacrifices we are willing to make in the public interest. On my part, while remaining grateful to all my friends, family and colleagues, inside and outside this hall, who have stood by throughout the ups and downs of my public life, I pledge to continue to do my best in the service of the UN, Africa and Nigeria. I feel it in my bones and will dedicate the rest of my life to the proposition that Nigeria will be great again; Africa's greatness will be restored and the UN will become the best multilateral instrument for a more peaceful, prosperous and fairer world. I thank you.

Thank you.
Remarks made in Newark, New Jersey at a reception to honor the new head of the United Nations Dept. of Political Affairs

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