Under the Tree of Talking: Leadership for Change in Africa, edited by Onyekachi Wambu; London: Counterpoint/British Council, 2007; pp. 299. £11.99 (pb). ISBN 0863555861.
As developmental realities, policy and research all stumble unproductively along well worn and long contested tramlines, any intellectual venture that tries to do things differently is to be welcomed. This collection of essays, brought together by Onyekachi Wambu with the title Under the Tree of Talking: Leadership for Change in Africa, certainly offers a fresh approach. It consists of a variety of contributions looking at issues of leadership, and not just political leadership, from a variety of perspectives: the historical, from the top down, from the bottom up, from the present to the future, from the outside looking in and from the inside looking out. The book's declared aim is to promote an open dialogue, located in the personal experience of the authors, ‘under the talking tree’, which aims to move us on from the fixed positions and embedded conflicts of the past. As such it should not be blamed for avoiding, for the most part, the type of explicit political comment that can strangle dialogue at birth. Nor should it be blamed, from an academic perspective, for not offering a comprehensive conceptualisation and definition of leadership. Given the current interest in ‘leadership’ that would be interesting but, again, might close the door on the dialogue the book aims to promote.
However, the book stands as a deliberate collection of essays around a theme and, as such, some concerns can be expressed about notions of leadership that are or are not addressed within its pages. One concerns the conceptualisation of ‘leadership’ as a function in and of itself. As Ali Mazrui usefully explains, there are many possible types and characteristics of leadership, which individual leaders may mix and match in the way they think may serve them best. However, both he and the book neglect to explore the representative function of leadership. In all but the most extreme circumstances, leaders are in fact representing some existing social and political forces, however unrepresentative these may be of a general population. It is surely through an exploration of the multiple facets of this representation that the relationship of the governing and the governed and the accountability of leaders – both stated concerns of the book – can be enhanced.
A second concern relates to who the leaders are to be. Several contributions talk, without additional reflection, of ‘emerging leaders’ and the book, published by a think-tank of the British Council, is related to a wider British Council project aimed at ‘networking and supporting the next generation of African leaders’. Who are these people? Are they simply bright young things with lots of energy and ideas? In which case, fine, but surely they should be supported in whatever direction they most want to serve the further development of their societies? Or are they people who define themselves as simply wanting to become leaders? If the latter, there are surely significant political issues relating to their selection, not least their class. Competence might also be an issue. Experience of real work in the societies they aimed to change was fundamental to the development of two great African leaders, Amílcar Cabral and Samora Machel, whose stories are once again not recognised in a collection largely emanating from Anglophone Africa. Yet it was Cabral who not only railed against the ‘ignorance of the historical reality which these movements [liberation movements in general] aspire to transform’ (Cabral 1980, p. 122), but based the strategy of his own country's fight for freedom on the intimate knowledge of the whole country gained when, as an agricultural engineer, he had conducted an agricultural census of the country.
Questions about the precise combination of themes and contributions overall – were there no trade unionists or even retired generals willing to reflect on the issues raised? – should in no way detract from the individual contributions, all of which in some way shed new light or stimulate further thought on the issues they address. Some, such as a reflection on the leadership of women at the grassroots in the fight against AIDS by Martha Chinouya, or an insider's/outsider's look at the changing configurations of a Nigerian village by Onyeachi Wambu, are essentially case studies. Others such as ‘Time for Change’ by Ndidi Nwuneli, ‘Creating the Business Leaders of Tomorrow’ by Taddy Blecher and ‘2017: Empowering and Engendering the Future’ by Susan and Juliet Kiguli offer vignettes of what might or could be different. Eva Dadrian, Wangũi wa Goro and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza address respectively the roles of journalism, translation and intellectual engagement, each fundamentally important to the integrity of the political and social environment in which any leadership can take place.
I am not myself sure how well all these contributions relate to ‘leadership’ either as I understand it or as the issue is framed in the many pertinent questions raised in the introduction. However, this probably does not matter. They certainly relate to identities and personal roles in processes of potential change in Africa and they offer many lessons and food for thought that might not have emerged through a more focused approach. Perhaps this is the difference between a conversation and a debate, and the reason the producers of the book chose the former route.