Youth: Leaders of Tomorrow! Why South Sudanese referred to Youth as Leaders of tomorrow? (Part 2)
5 min readBy David Matiop Gai, Juba, south Sudan
February 10, 2017, (SSB) — Identifying youth leaders is a sole responsibility of those leaders who are already in leadership. The future of youths in South Sudan is uncertain. Youths are couched for executing tribal conflicts, followers of weak and self-ambition politicians, failed politicians, tribal politicians, and their potential talents supposed to be use for national development is always exploited by these politicians and put youths as a fence for their own protection.
Youths always died in a big number in South Sudan, and nobody mind about their lives even parents. Both those in leadership, and parents failed to advise youths because youths long time ago live by advices of elderly people and parents. Lives of youth hood is stupid, and fool, they relayed on their own strengths and ability, and therefore, elders, leaders, and parents adjust youths on the right paths of save life.
I put clear in part one that it is not being a university graduate that qualifying youths into leadership, or somebody to be a leader, and this is a big problem we do have here in South Sudan. If you are university graduated with bachelor degree, the concept to become a leader without traits and qualities of leadership.
Leadership is not an assumption to be a leader. It is not a self-claim leadership as many people do say in our country. It is not about hypocrite’s behaviour of leadership. It is not a positioning occupation. Leadership is not just a dream of self-centred ability. Leadership is not a division based on meritorious cloudy evidences of leadership pride, and pretender.
Leadership is a terrible job ever without flatteries reflection of self-glory. It is a gift of God; it is a gift from God, and a total dedication of one entire life sacrifice to serve others. Leadership is a servant-hood or servant- ship and willingness to work for the welfare of others. In other countries where system is properly lied and no ways to accumulate national wealth for yourself, leadership consumed your time and people refuses to work for it.
Leadership is a God ordinance, and it is a great blessing to people if people honour it and obey it. It is more than authoritative, because authoritative, democratic, dictatorship, autocracy, Theocracy, transactional or transformational are all centred in leadership; it remains leadership in its name of its structure. Ask those in any leadership either in government, church, or family and they can help youths understand leadership better.
To identify youth’s leaders and leadership in war- torn country where majority of youths got spoiled in dirty politics, off course dirty politics for dirty people always dirtying the planners, but I don’t define politics as dirty games, I always define it as management of government affairs and lives of citizens. Therefore, youth’s leadership in South Sudan can involves methods of developing leaders into position of leadership, and it may include the followings:
The first point is to identify youth leaders and leadership. If we intent to produce new youth leaders, it is difficult. It contains certain things that are seen less important by other people who are not been in position one time. Some qualities in a person look after being a potential leader. The person may possess servanthood, positivizes, progressive leadership, growth up leadership, potentiality, follow through difficulties, loyalty, humility, self-discipline, resiliency, big picture, and gratitude.
The second point is that home life is the beginning of true leadership. The home training from father and mother and entirely family members. The leadership training need to take place at home and sincere faith of leadership invest in child- home training. This mean that youth home is South Sudan, and home training leadership must ground at levels of youth leadership across the country. This home life true leadership may also include failures, crisis, and success are examined to follow leader, because methods of learning all wisdom, ways and power, and tools of men are totally difficult.
The third point is that youth leaders are prepared, and build. The good example of preparing leaders is the best of SPLA/SPLM methods leadership development under chairmanship of Dr. John Garang de Mabior. If not, 90% of SPLA/M leadership were prepared and built leaders. Garang raised leaders from nowhere, at lowest levels of all corners of south Sudan. He (Garang) produces leaders whose foundations in education are primarians, and secondarians; their education was affected by civil war. He is a producer of new youth leaders to be remembered for centuries in South Sudan.
Lastly in this part two, it takes time to prepare leaders. It takes many years to prepare leaders who will be bestowing in them confident of leadership. And since leadership takes more time to prepare youths, we should not deceive ourselves that we know everything about leadership. Even born leaders need guidance in leadership.
Therefore, youth leadership is a long journey with many miles in South Sudan because youths are lost on the main road to their future of country leadership. In addition, the foundation of youth leadership laid by Dr. John Garang on the truth is totally altered with admitting mistakes of why do youth leadership is referred to youth as leaders of tomorrow without preparation of tomorrow?
The author is a co-founder of South Sudan Mental Health care Organization, (SSMHCO). He holds Bachelor degree in Social Work and Social Administration from SSCUST, Bachelor of Theology from CLT, Bungoma, Kenya/Kalispell, USA, and a fellow researcher. He can be reach at david.matiopgai@gmail.com.
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