What youths can do for their country

BEYOND the frenzy of media coverage, the intrigues of party power struggles and personality cults, the unending ANC Youth League-Malema saga should force everyone to reflect on the more serious and potentially far-reaching issues relating to youths and national leadership.

In a part of the world with a massive youth population, discussions about youths need to go beyond the hackneyed and often patronising considerations of respect for "elders" and what nations ought to do for their youth. It is equally (if not more) relevant to turn the question around and ask what youths should and can do for developing countries.

This question is particularly crucial at a time when youth power, coupled with increasing globalisation and the influence of social media, is quickly becoming a defining factor in national and regional politics. The Arab Spring is an example.

How might this unstoppable social and political force benefit the public good in Africa with our dire socio-economic situations, and South Africa, with its additional historical peculiarities?

This concern was lodged in my mind during an innovative leadership event held recently at the Bunting Road campus of the University of Johannesburg.

It was the launch, by the UJ Alumni Network, of its Current Students Leadership Programme with the theme "I can lead".

The hall, at the impressive Kerzner Building of the School of Tourism and Hospitality, was packed with more than 200 students from the SRC, different societies and Top Achievers Club.

In her humorous introduction Kwazi Magwenzi, UJ's senior manager for strategic partnerships, told a story that foreshadowed the concerns of this article.

The story went something like this: A smartly-dressed young man running late for a job interview loses his way. Standing confused at a shopping mall he notices some young, similarly smartly dressed, official-looking young women, walking with apparent purpose in a certain direction.

Guessing that the women are heading in his direction also, the guy decides to follow them. And this he does for some time ... until the women turn into a ladies' toilet! Of course the hall shook with laughter.

The story reminded me of an experience my best friend, Kayode, once had in Lagos, Nigeria.

Trying to navigate through Lagos's celebrated chaotic traffic, Kayode chose, on a hunch, to follow a vehicle that appeared to be taking a detour. After an hour or so, the "leading" vehicle turned into a blind alley and drove into what was obviously the driver's home, leaving my friend stuck.

After the laughter died down, it struck me how these two scenarios dramatise the plight of many contemporary African societies; how the compelling desire for, and unexamined choice of, leadership invariably results in embarrassment, regret and sometimes, unmitigated disaster.

Historically, periods of transition are periods of great uncertainty and confusion.

As the social, economic and political transition of South Africa and indeed of the entire continent moves from phase to phase, not a small number of citizens stand confused.

Many do not really know what represents national interests; they cannot tell the difference between group goals and personal ambition. They find it hard to decipher what social, political and economic trends portend as they remain caught between an unenviable past and a future that is yet undefined.

In such times, face value and appearance tend to play tricks on the ignorant and the unwary. Through catchy sloganeering, populist rhetoric and charismatic scheming, opportunists transform into demagogues and ensconce themselves firmly in positions of perpetual domination at the expense of the majority.

The important point for us today is that such opportunists are often untested and young, as history shows.

In spite of the common saying that today's youths are tomorrow's leaders, the reality is that quite a number of youths make it to prime leadership positions in their youth. Examples are Muammar Gaddafi, who became Libya's generalissimo at only 27, and Martin Luther King Jnr, who won the Nobel Peace Prize at 35.

And with the enhanced capacity provided by social media, youth power is definitely an unstoppable force in the modern world and particularly in Africa where we have a predominantly youthful population.

It is crucial therefore that current political actors and analysts understand (as the UJ Alumni Network seems to do) that youth power is now coming into its own as a distinct social force that cannot remain a tool in the hands of the older generation for much longer.

Rather, youths, as a key social and political constituency, must be approached with the respect they deserve, as equal partners in the political process, and with considerable and increasingly non-derivative powers of agency and autonomy.

In their continued unwillingness to bend the knee to President Jacob Zuma and company, Julius Malema and his friends appear to show, in part at least, an understanding of these dynamics.

In their capacity as important and self-respecting partners in the political process, youths, as individuals and groups, must come to the table with an enhanced sense of duty, ready to share in the blame for society's failures and weaknesses and not willing to play the role of proxies in palace coups and family feuds.

Rather than joining the blame game and making endless demands that free them from responsibilities, they must square their shoulders, pull up their sleeves and do more than talk.

Youths must be wary and extremely selective of the leaders to whom they lend their energy, devotion and support. They would do well to scrupulously interrogate those individuals among them who aspire to hold positions and exercise power.

They must require of such leaders and intending leaders - whether in varsity SRCs, political party structures, church or sports clubs - the same stringent requirements that are made of national leaders at all levels, because, as someone once said, you cannot judge yourself by your intentions while judging others by their actions.

Youths and their leaders must play by the same set of rules and be prepared to face the music when they run afoul of the law.

Furthermore, they must offer constructive and innovative solutions to the numerous maladies that plague African societies so that we can all embrace their leadership.

• Akpome is a post graduate student at University of Johannesburg