If one could be true to himself, he would realize that bad leadership could be traced to the poor educational background of the leaders in question. Coming down to African leaders, most of the countries experiencing bad leadership exemplify this. We know that in today’s world, for one to thrive, they should be sound academically because intelligence and education are the bedrock of this innovative era.
When a leader lacks the basic knowledge (which mostly are acquired through education), he may lack the capacity to lead. A learned leader stands the chance of leading his people than the unlearned counterparts. Africa is such an interesting continent where an uneducated person is allowed to run the affairs of a nation. This is so sad. Technology, in this dispensation of global innovation, is part of the requirements for a successful leadership, which makes one wonder how an uneducated man could lead millions of educated people successfully.
In this article, we want to give you a run-down of African leaders whose lack of basic educational qualifications are the reason for their poor leadership. It will surprise you to know that some of them have no educational qualification. How then, do they lead a country with a large population?
The president of the Republic of Congo, Dennis Sassou-Nguesso has been the president of his country since October 25, 1997. He had his educational training at a teachers’ college in Dolisie. Thereafter, he proceeded to receive a military training at the officer’s schools of Cherchell in Algeria and the Infantry Academy in France between 1961 and 1963.
The only basic educational qualification of Joseph Kabila is a high school certificate, though he has currently got a training at the PLA National Defence University in Beijing, China. Also, he followed a military curriculum in Tanzania, then at Makerere University in Uganda after the acquisition of his high school certificate.
For over 40 years, he has been ruling the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose leadership position he mounted at the tender age of 35.
Jacob Zuma is the fourth president of South Africa. After attaining grade five in primary school, there was no known or recorded formal education he could boast of. It is even argued that he has no sort of education at all, due to his poor background. Following the footstep of a union activist relative, however, Jacob Zuma started politics at a very young age. May 2009 saw him as the South African president. There has been a hot debate surrounding his lack of education as a basis for his unfit to rule the nation.
Born in Dawa, Ethiopia, Ismail Omar Guelleh was a very young boy when he attended a traditional Islamic school. His clan, Issa clan, was known to be a politically powerful clan. Before the end of his high school education in the ‘60s, he migrated to Djibouti and later joined the police force with the rank of a junior non-commissioned officer.
Although he received training from the Somalia National Security and the French Secrete Service, the highest known level of formal education attained by the president of Djibouti is secondary school education.
He was born in 1956 in Akjouit, Mauritania and attended college at the Royal Military Academy in Morocco. Thus, he pursued a military career in Mauritania, thereby, forfeiting every possibility of acquiring a high school certificate.
In 1977, he joined the Royal Military Academy of Meknes, Morocco and founded the elite Presidential Security Battalion (BASEP) after several promotions. He was one of the key role players to foil an attempted military coup in June 2003 and a military uprising in August 2004. No matter how much he has labored for his people, the problem still remains that he is uneducated.
Yahya Jammeh received his primary education at St Edwards Primary School in Bwiam and his secondary educational certificate at Gambia High School in Banjul. He obtained his General Certificate of Education with more credits and few passes in some subjects in1983 and in 1984, he joined the Gambian National Army. He became a lieutenant in 1989 and a commander of the Gambian Military Police in 1992. He further received some military training in Senegal and the United States Army School respectively.
Paul Kagame started his primary education in a school close to a refugee camp where he joined other refugees in Rwanda to learn English. He later moved to the Rwengoro Primary School where he graduated with the best grades. Subsequently, he enrolled in Ntare School in Uganda and in the early ‘70s when he lost his father, he encountered a decline in education. He also fought those who looked down on Rwanda which led to his suspension at the school and completed his studies without any distinction at the Old Kampala Secondary School. That was the end of his educational career and today, he is the president of Rwanda.
Buhari attended primary education in Daura and Mai’adua and then, proceeded to Katsina Provincial Secondary School (Government College, Katsina) where he obtained his secondary education between 1956 and 1961. His highest educational qualification is secondary education.
Isaias Afwerki obtained his secondary school education from Prince Makonnen High School. He gained admission to study at the College of Engineering at Haile Selassie University. However, he dropped out of school after studying for one year and joined the Eritrean freedom struggle. He is the first president of Eritrea.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika grew up in Oujda and attended Abdel Moumen High School. It was recorded that he was a good student, but he did not receive any higher education. He is the president of Algeria.
Reasons for Political Leaders to be Educated
Qualities expected of an Educated President
For a president to rule his people right, he is expected to possess the following qualities and more.
Education is a vital element in the life of every president. Without proper education, he cannot rule the country well. No wonder Africa is so backward and lacks development and technological advancement. Poor educational background of the leaders, as we have seen, is the major reason they lack proper decision making. This also affects the growth of the economy.
This post was last modified on April 17, 2020 6:06 pm