(OR THE DEARTH OF THE RIGHT LEADERS IN AFRICA OR AFRICAN LEADERSHIP CRISIS OR FAILED LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA)

There is a direct reference to the failed leadership situation in Africa. Here is a group of animals without a leader. It is clear that everyone in this gathering is acutely aware of the urgency to find the best leadership material to steer the affairs of the community.

However, it is not easy finding the right calibre of leader that the animals desperately need. Just like the animals in “The Leader and the Led”, African people have always been unable to get the right people to lead them.

The unacceptable attributes of the animals vying for this leadership position portray a troubling reality in the continent’s search for competent leaders. It is these same kinds of people who often emerge as leaders on the continent. On parade are the following

• Brutal autocrats just like the Lion with the “ferocious pounce of his paws.”
• Greedy and corrupt nation-wreckers. They are no different than the hyena with “his lethal appetite.”
• Short-sighted leaders, far removed from reality. Bereft of the right visionary qualities, they resemble the giraffe with eyes that are “too far from the ground.”
• Dishonest leaders. The zebra with its duplicitous stripes symbolize this crop of leaders.
• Leaders who trample on the basic rights of their own people the way the elephant, with its powerful feet, tramples on everything in its path.