There was a joke told decades ago of a country so favoured with an abundance of riches that the other nations complained the Almighty had not been fair to them. After all, here is this small country, ranked highly and even above larger and more populated countries when it comes to the availability of wealth producing factors, circumstances and assets. The statistics on the production and reserves of diamonds, iron ore, bauxite, rutile and other minerals, added to the fertility of the soil, the merciful absence of natural disasters, a very manageable population density, and even favourable relationships with neighbours and the much wider community of nations apparently make understanding the state of the country’s affairs a monumental task for even the cleverest amongst us. However, the answers might be a lot easier to find and it might only require a simple joining of the dots to reveal the picture in the puzzle. There is also a clue in God’s response to the complaining nations: “wait and see the people I am going to put there”.

An examination of leadership in Sierra Leone over the decades tells a story with episodes that include the “mad and bad”, the “not so sure what to do”, and the “give me time… a lot of time… to think”.  One could say these episodes were deficient of ideas on the meaning of leadership and therefore stood no chance of how to perform it. Indeed, what is remembered most about the different cabals that accepted or grabbed the task of taking the nation upwards and onwards are the actions taken to promote and protect themselves and their cronies. It is the ruthless determination to eliminate opponents, unjustifiable appointments for inadequately qualified friends and relatives, deeply megalomania-inspired actions, and an utter contempt for the people that are mostly remember. Some might say that is all there is to remember. Worryingly, the attitudes and process that have produced and sustained the failures of leadership endure, and the tragedy therein is summarised in the simple but very true thinking that “if you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you always got”. In other words, Sierra Leoneans as a people must look at how and why they have ended up with the leaders they have had and then seriously consider whether they do not believe there is an alternative.

There has got to be an alternative to the miserably low scores and rankings on the Human Development Index. The young people deserve to grow up with hope as well as perception of a country in which they too have a stake. It can no longer be acceptable for people to not have the basics in medical care and sanitation. There should not be for households and enterprise the frustration and uncertainty that go with unreliable electricity generation.  The next generation should not be denied, because of an absence of adequately funded and equipped education establishments, the potential to better themselves and contribute to their country’s development. The indignity that is the struggle for clean and safe drinking water in a country with so many flowing waterways must not be accepted.  Above all, this miserable state of affairs cannot be happening while those who fight so hard to gain power using promises to make real difference just sit back, shrug shoulders, and embark on embarrassing attempts to blame someone else or some factor from another time.

Individuals, families, communities and nations have thrived mainly as a result of the commitment by each generation to leave a better world for the next.  Alas, for Sierra Leone, as is the case for many other places not a million miles away, there is apparently no intent to abide by this principle and no shame about the disgraceful abdication of this instinctive duty.  Those who believe in better, and believe things can be better, and are committed to the idea that things should be made to get better, must appreciate the fact that the person(s) guiding the processes and how that is done is critical to what will be achieved. However, there must be an acceptance of that other succinct assessment that concludes “people get the government they deserve”.

If in the search for leadership the focus remains on where people are born, what language they speak, or even what secret society they belong to, there will be no change worth celebrating. Astonishingly, a nation that shines as an example of how the rest of the world can overcome the very difficult issue of religious intolerance, remains hung up on factional interests that are almost exclusively driven by tribal allegiances. A failure of much of the cabals that have held the reigns in Sierra Leone has been promotion of this divisive and utterly unproductive attitude. Unfortunately for the nation, not enough have woken up to the realisation that just as poverty is always painful, irrespective of who or what causes it, success and prosperity are sweet regardless of who delivers them. In effect, the people must start looking at who is capable of doing the things that matter and pay less attention to where the person who says he or she will do it comes from or was born to.

After all the troubles, all the missed opportunities, all the recklessness, all the cronyism, all the squandering and thieving, all the abdication of responsibility, and all the utter shamelessness that have failed a potential great and prosperous country, the time has surely come for a look at the type of leadership that is needed and how it can be got.

Sierra Leone desperately needs leaders who understand the honour of leadership comes with responsibility and pride in the privilege of that burden. It needs leadership that has a vision buttressed by a sense of purpose. There is a need for leaders who appreciate the idea that leadership is about service to people, state and the truth. It needs leadership that sees all the people as one: equal to each other and equal in their rights to opportunity and hope. It needs leadership that understands and values and pursues integrity. It needs leadership that rejects the sycophancy that often sustains the status quo; leadership with the morale courage to challenge what is bad and extol, without fear or favour, what brings rewards for all and not just for a privileged few. Vision, humility, courage, integrity, pride in doing good, and commitment to what is right; that is what Sierra Leone has always needed and now needs more than ever. If the attitudes of all change to select the leadership that is needed using the criteria that should count, the odds will greatly favour the reality that government that will be deserved will be of the kind that is desired. It will be government that is capable, willing, determined, productive, answerable, and true to the dreams of the people.