There is a time for every purpose. A time to begin and a
time to end. A time to be born and a time to die. Beginnings are essential to
growth. There is a difference between swelling and growing. That which swells
can be deflated but that which grows has the element of roots. Politics has
been evolving; ideologies come and go; nations are twining to create a GDP
cross pollination effect than they would have done alone, relationships are
forming; all this and much more signify the need for a new beginning.
As we look to the future we know that there will be pains
and gains. However, just like the expectant mother, are we not willing to
endure the birth pangs in order to embrace a new life?
Nations just like human beings go through the same pains
and gains. Just as a lady gives birth while the midwives help in bringing forth
the new baby, politicians are the midwives to a nation. In the labor ward the
responsibility for a safe delivery lies in the hands of the midwife where anything
could go wrong as it sometimes does. Likewise, as a nation struggles to deliver
itself from social ills, the yoke of past mistakes and to cut the umbilical
cord that ties it to its colonial master, the politicians must handle it gently
lest it dies at birth.
In a labor ward there is life signified by the anguished
screams of the mother and finally by the hearty cry of the baby in contrast to
a morgue where there is silence as a result of death.
However, for the new mother, even in her greatest pain
there is the hope that at the end of it all she will hold a beautiful baby in
her arms. The midwife encourages her and guides her with the only relevant
vocabulary at the moment: PUSH, PUSH, PUSH, a four-letter word that offers all
the motivation and inspiration she needs.
Historically we have seen our politicians operate in
delivery mode during the campaign season prior to elections. Unlike the mother
who nurtures her baby after birth, politicians, having convinced the voters to
hand them the election treat the very voters as if they were political orphans.
They are left to fend for themselves until the next campaign season if they
survive that long.
Perhaps we must approach leadership from a different
angle. Politicians are not necessarily leaders for while they have SIGHT: faculties
of power and seeing, leaders have INSIGHT: a deep understanding. Politicians
see with the eyes; leaders see vision in their minds’ eye. We need leaders. We
need leaders and not just politicians. We need leaders because while
politicians merely win elections leaders win generations. While politicians are
event-minded, leaders are investment-minded.
If we would never choose a midwife who has a track record
of botched deliveries don’t we owe it to ourselves and future generations of
our beloved nation to choose leaders who will not strangle our democracy? Is it
not time for a new breed of politicians? Is it not time to choose political
leaders who will usher in a new beginning? To do so we must
PUSH…PUSH…PUSH…Politicize Until Something Happens! It is then that we shall truly
have a new beginning.
