Big Man Syndrome is curse of Africa’s leadership and makes rulers infallible

By Otuma Ongalo

Two events in two nations unfolded recently to prove that although we live in one world, we are worlds apart, depending on the side of the planet we were born.

One event happened and continues to unfold in Nigeria — sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous nation and perhaps the custodian of the ghost that haunts Africa.

The other happened in America — the world’s most powerful nation and study case of democracy and transparency.

Both cases involve medical fitness of the two nations’ chief executive officers. And there ends the similarities.

In Nigeria, at least by the time of filing this column, the president’s state of health remained a tightly guarded secret. It was not clear whether Mr Umaru Yar’Adua was dead or alive, in Nigeria or Saudi Arabia. Even his mother and siblings — of all the people — were not aware of his fate.

Across the ocean, Barack Obama’s medical record was published for all and sundry. Courtesy of the Americans’ right to know details of their leader’s health, we know many things about Obama that we will never know about President Kibaki.

In Africa, leaders suffer from the Big Man Syndrome so much that they would like to be perceived in the realm of gods and angels. They do not suffer the misfortunes of lesser mortals. As far as we are concerned, for instance, Emilio — besides the 2001 road accident — is as fit as a fiddle and has never sneezed thereafter. Suggesting otherwise would be sacrilegious. We can only discern the President’s state of health from his near robotic moves where former President Moi would have sprinted. We know the diagnosis of Obama’s mental state and even colon cancer examination. We cannot subject this unedifying tests to our rulers, despite some of them having telltale signs of lunacy and terminal illnesses. That is how we end up with the likes of Idi Amin Dada and hordes of several other eccentrics.

Even in death, they remain as mysterious as they were when alive. In absence of fact, rumour mills spin in overdrive. That is why the only credible information we have about former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha’s last moments on earth is that he died of Viagra overdose in the arms of two prostitutes.

It is the Big Man Syndrome that also makes the typical African ruler infallible. It took guts for former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere to publicly apologise that his Ujamaa policies failed miserably. In Africa, we build monuments to celebrate failures.

Even the very basic little failings of our leaders become a guarded secret to perpetuate a faÁade of sainthood. We know, for instance, that Obama has failed to dump the cigarette despite promising to kick out the habit once in State House. Do we know if Kibaki still enjoys his kamoja?

Back to medical fitness, perhaps the guarded secret is informed by the fact that many of them are medically unfit to lead even a kindergarten.

And by the way, why would Uganda’s President Museveni strap an A-K 47 rifle on his shoulder when visiting victims of a landslide?