*Photo: Professor Kehinde Yusuf*
The question-and-answer title of this article is from a captivating citizenship and leadership training 5:35 minutes video which has been trending online since around 25 December, 2024. The patriotic motivational conversational exchange occurred at a militaristic boot camp – a vacation camp in Kampala, Uganda, for 7 to 17 (or 18 to 24) year old male children from different homes and different schools in Uganda and a number of other countries under the Boys’ Mentorship Programme. The Director of the programme, Godfrey Kuteesa, is “a graduate in Information Technology and a Certificate [holder] in Business Process Outsourcing from Mbarara University of Science and Technology and Makerere University consecutively in 2009 and 2011,” according to an autobiographical account.
The website of the Boys’ Mentorship Programme notes that it “offers a Christian oriented mentorship programme that grooms boys into men of purpose that live their lives according to the masculine traits of manhood. These include taking responsibility for one’s actions, making the right decisions, self-discipline, servant leadership, respecting others, family leadership, integrity, productivity and hardwork.” The motto of the programme is “Responsibility Starts With Me.” In the above-mentioned video, Godfrey Kuteesa was the one who asked the question “Is there a country better than Uganda?” and his trainees in the boot camp were the ones who answered, “Sir, No, Sir!”
In the video, Kuteesa began his motivational speech to the trainees with the following declarations: “A weak man runs away from problems. A strong man stays and manages the problems. A weak man runs away from problems. A strong man stays and manages the problems. A weak man runs away from problems, but a strong man stays and manages the problems. Can you say ‘Problems’.” And the trainees responded in unison: “Problems.” “Now, you are Ugandans. You are the hope of Uganda. Can you say, ‘I am the hope of Uganda’?” They responded: “I am the hope of Uganda.” And he said, “I don’t hear you.” And they responded louder: “I am the hope of Uganda!” And again, he said, “I don’t hear you, people!” And they responded again, even louder: “I am the hope of Uganda!” He further said, “I don’t hear you!” And they responded: “I am the hope of Uganda!” And again, he said, “Speak louder than that!” And they said: “I am the hope of Uganda!”
This powerful exhortation brings to mind the “japa” syndrome in Nigeria – a situation in which people, especially, young ones, emigrate from the country, seemingly in fright and without critical appraisal. But it’s not only in Nigeria that the japa syndrome has been prevalent. In fact, in Senegal, the fate of young people who embark on the flight through perilous routes is often a subject of organised group supplication to God for divine intervention. A 22 July, 2017 report in Aljazeera titled, “Saving Senegal’s sons from vanishing in European seas,” noted: “Traumatised by loss of young men at sea, mothers and relatives work to find alternatives to perilous journey to Europe.”
In his inspirational mission, Kuteesa declared further: “Yes, you are the hope of Uganda. You are the one who is going to fix the problems of Uganda. You don’t run away from Uganda. You love Uganda. You embrace Uganda, because there is no country like Uganda. There is no country like Uganda. Is there a country better than Uganda?” They replied in unison: “Sir, No, Sir!” “Is there a country better than Uganda?” They replied again: “Sir, No, Sir!” “Is there a country gifted like Uganda?” They replied: “Sir, No, Sir!” “Is there a country blessed like Uganda?” Again, they replied: “Sir, No, Sir!” He continued: “There is no country better than Uganda! There is no country! Every imperfection in Uganda is going to be fixed by you! Every wrong thing in Uganda is going to be fixed by you! Everything that you see on TV that is not good that they are talking about.”
To indicate that the patriotic duty he was challenging them to take up was not delusional, Kuteesa asked his trainees: “How many of you see things that are not good in Uganda? Raise up your hands. Raise up your hand straight! I told you, when you raise up your hand, you use the right hand straight! Straight! That’s not straight! What do you see that is imperfect in Uganda? What do you see?” He points at a student who answered: “Bad roads.” And Kuteesa responded: “Bad roads. Very good. Thank you, Sir!” Other camp members mentioned the parliament, corrupt leaders, rubbish disposal, poor accommodation, poor political infrastructure, high crime rate, police stations, pollution, poor businesses, anti-social behaviours, illiteracy, slum development and increasing inflation.
Kuteesa further declared: “Everything that you see that is imperfect in Uganda is going to be corrected by you. … ‘I am the leader the world is waiting for.’” The students responded: “I am the leader the world is waiting for.” He said: “I don’t hear you, people!” The trainees repeated after him in unison: “I am the leader the world is waiting for.” I don’t hear you, people!” They respond: “I am the leader the world is waiting for.” Then he said: I am the leader Uganda is waiting for.” And they responded: “I am the leader Uganda is looking for.”
Kuteesa continued, “Even you in Tanzania, where are my friends from Tanzania? Where are you? Are there things you see that are imperfect in Tanzania?” The Tanzanian trainees replied, listing some of the exact problems the Ugandans had identified. And Kuteesa responded: “Tanzania is waiting for you. No one is going to fix the problems for you.” The trainees in unison respond: “No one is going to fix the problems for you.” He then said: “I don’t hear you!” The trainees responded: “No one is going to fix the problems for you!” Kuteesa commanded: “Say it again!” And the trainees responded: “No one is going to fix the problems for you!” Kuteesa then said again: “No one is going to fix the problems for you. It’s you. You are the leader the world needs. That’s why you are in this boot camp. That’s why I’m teaching you. … You’ll fix that problem.”
For the avoidance of doubt, he asserted: “Some of you are going to fix roads for us. Some of you are going to fight corruption for us. Some of you are going to fight illiteracy for us. Some of you are going to be doing what I am doing 18 years from now. You are going to be training those boys that will be growing up. You’ll be telling them exactly what I’m telling you. You are the fathers the world is looking for. The good fathers. The good leaders. The good ministers. The good soldiers. The good policemen. The good infrastructure experts. You are the leaders. … How many of you believe you are the leaders the world is waiting for?” And the trainees raised their hands. He then continued: “Say, ‘I believe that I’m the leader the world is waiting for.’” And they responded: “I believe that I’m the leader the world is waiting for.” And he said: “I don’t hear you! I don’t hear you! I don’t hear you!” So, they repeat: “I believe that I’m the leader the world is waiting for.”
It’s pertinent to note that, in relation to this country, if the question had been “Is there a country better than Nigeria?”, one of the country’s most prominent opposition leaders, Peter Obi, would probably have encouraged the young people to answer: “Sir, Yes, Sir!” In fact, in its 11 November, 2024 issue, Daily Post reported that Obi advised graduating students of a Nursing School in Anambra State to seek greener pastures outside Nigeria and return when things become better in the country. So, it’s gladdening that 2024 ended on a note of hope with the Ugandan youths’ patriotic response. It underscores the fact that though the country has problems, the right thing to do is to stay back and tackle them, rather than fleeing one’s own country only to discover later that, as the English proverb notes, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”
For striking delivery, Kuteesa overwhelmingly employed the repetition of statements, questions and commands to underscore his points, give his speech an active tone and create a muscular atmosphere. He also aptly used questions and commands for effective audience engagement. Moreover, he addressed the trainees respectively as “Sir”, ostensibly to boost their self-esteem. This rare act of politeness in which the young people were addressed with such reverence by an authority figure is likely to have made the boot camp experience especially memorable for the trainees, and the values of mutual respect and self-worth inculcated in the young people more enduring. Kuteesa complemented these elements of style with engaging gesticulations and walking through and touching some of the mentees.
It is important to note that the Boys’ Mentorship Programme is a private initiative. And it is not free. Parents or sponsors pay for the 10-day programme. They also pay for international trips meant to expand the trainees’ horizon, enrich their experience and consolidate their patriotic commitment to Uganda, following the dictum that “travelling is part of education.”
There are lessons for Nigeria to learn from the Ugandan Boys’ Mentorship Programme. A situation must be avoided in which the proposed 30-day National Youth Conference of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration will be seen as a “go-and-take-your-own” honey pot. It must be a programme to instill in young Nigerians the love for and hope in this country and the willingness to work to solve its problems. It should also be a programme which will encourage the government to equip the youth with what is required to fulfill their dreams and earn the country a sustainable respectable standing among the comity of nations.
For efficient implementation, and to fulfill the objectives of the Nigerian youth programme optimally, it should entail joint action by the Ministry of Youths (under which are National Youth Service Corps [NYSC] and the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre), Ministry of Information and National Orientation (especially, the National Orientation Agency) and the Ministry of Interior (especially, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps). In fact, that programme should be expected to lead to the formation of something like a National Youth Reorientation Initiative, or even a Nigerian Youth Hope Initiative, as an anchor to stem psychological and socio-cultural drift which promotes the defeatist japa syndrome.
Given Nigeria’s leadership role in West Africa and, indeed Africa, the Nigerian initiative could also be the foundation for the setting up of a West African Youth Reorientation Initiative and even an African Youth Reorientation Initiative.
