In recent years, the world has seen a massive political upheaval. The uprising in Tunisia instigated by a frustrated young man spread to several Arab countries over several months and which we are now seeing in Syria and other countries. Many lives have been lost, both the guilty and the innocent. I see a trend as reflected through the media - citizens expressing disappointment in their leaders, citing ‘unsatisfactory performance’ of the incumbent ruling parties, dissatisfaction with new policies, policy changes and the listing of a host of “unfulfilled promises,” that were made during the electoral campaigns. Even as peoples have ‘fought’ for their independence, I wonder whether they have gotten what they were hoping to get.
It is amazing how much hope and faith people have in politicians or their leaders and what they claim can be done to change people’s lives. Sometimes the political leaders are idolized as if they are “saviours” of their countries and to the extreme, “saviours” of the world. But they cannot do all the work alone, neither can they do everything within 4 years, 5 years, 7 years or whatever the constitutional mandated period for a ruling government is. Even if every leader served for 60 years, how much can he or she accomplish, considering the life span of the average human being? These leaders just can NOT meet each and every single citizen’s expectations. After all, they are not saviours or God, they are just mere human beings like you and me who happen to be serving in leadership positions. They can make a difference, but they can’t make the ultimate difference. Thus we need to realign our expectations for our governing authorities and be realistic about it. Misplaced hopes, a recipe for disappointment.
It is amazing how much hope and faith people have in politicians or their leaders and what they claim can be done to change people’s lives. Sometimes the political leaders are idolized as if they are “saviours” of their countries and to the extreme, “saviours” of the world. But they cannot do all the work alone, neither can they do everything within 4 years, 5 years, 7 years or whatever the constitutional mandated period for a ruling government is. Even if every leader served for 60 years, how much can he or she accomplish, considering the life span of the average human being? These leaders just can NOT meet each and every single citizen’s expectations. After all, they are not saviours or God, they are just mere human beings like you and me who happen to be serving in leadership positions. They can make a difference, but they can’t make the ultimate difference. Thus we need to realign our expectations for our governing authorities and be realistic about it. Misplaced hopes, a recipe for disappointment.
To be continued...
Food for thought,
Lady Akofa.
