Olu Allen
Perhaps we have misunderstood the concept of leadership.
Maybe a president does not necessarily have to be physically present in the country to govern effectively.
Perhaps what Africa has been pioneering all along is a new model of leadership:
Remote governance.
Nigeria may therefore not be witnessing anything particularly unusual. We may simply be joining a continental tradition.
- Paul Biya — Cameroon
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya is perhaps the grandmaster of long-distance leadership.
For years, his extended stays in Switzerland have attracted public attention, particularly because of the amount of time he has spent outside Cameroon.
At this point, one could be forgiven for wondering whether Cameroon’s presidential stationery should carry an additional address:
State House, Yaoundé — Geneva Office.
- Muhammadu Buhari — Nigeria
Nigeria also made its contribution to the model.
During Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, prolonged medical trips to London became a recurring feature of national conversation.
Between 2017 and 2021, Nigerians became so accustomed to hearing about presidential medical trips that jokes about an “Aso Rock branch office” in London practically wrote themselves.
- Ali Bongo — Gabon
For former Gabonese President Ali Bongo, France also became an important destination, including during periods of medical treatment.
The lesson, apparently, is that sometimes the presidential office is wherever the presidential itinerary happens to be.
- Faure Gnassingbé — Togo
Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé has likewise attracted attention at various times over official engagements and periods spent abroad.
Again, the African presidency appears to have discovered the beauty of international roaming.
- Robert Mugabe — Zimbabwe
And then there was Robert Mugabe.
Singapore became a familiar destination for the former Zimbabwean president, particularly in connection with medical treatment.
So perhaps Africa has been quietly developing a governance philosophy of its own.
THE DIASPORA GOVERNANCE MODEL™
Why insist on keeping everything at home?
Better hospitals
Why spend decades building world-class hospitals when Europe and Asia have already done the work?
Efficiency!
Better air
Perhaps presidential thinking requires premium oxygen.
Swiss air.
Parisian air.
London air.
Meanwhile, citizens can continue negotiating with Abuja dust.
Less disturbance
No angry protesters.
No endless Abuja traffic.
No “NEPA has taken light.”
Just the tranquillity of a hotel suite in a foreign capital from which the affairs of state can presumably be contemplated.
Remote work
Africa may actually have beaten Silicon Valley at its own game.
Forget Zoom meetings.
We have perfected Zoom presidency.
Foreign reserves
And if our money is abroad anyway, perhaps our presidents occasionally travel there to personally supervise it.
Very hands-on leadership.
ONE PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE FOR AFRICA?
Perhaps we should stop pretending.
Instead of spending enormous sums maintaining presidential facilities across the continent, why not build one giant African Presidential Office in Geneva?
African presidents could share the building.
One reception.
One conference room.
One presidential Wi-Fi.
And, naturally, a loyalty programme:
“Stay 30 days, get five days free.”
The joke, however, eventually runs into a serious question.
How much of leadership can genuinely be conducted from abroad before physical presence becomes part of the responsibility of holding public office?
There is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with presidential travel.
International diplomacy requires it.
Medical treatment may require it.
Economic and security engagements may require it.
A president cannot govern a country by refusing to leave its borders.
But there is a difference between travelling in the course of governance and creating the impression that governance itself has travelled away.
A president may be able to sign documents from another country. Officials can attend meetings through video links. Advisers can brief a president remotely.
But government is not merely paperwork.
Leadership is also presence.
It is being physically available when citizens are anxious, institutions require direction and the nation needs reassurance.
At some point, people should not have to ask:
Where exactly is the government?
That is the question beneath all the jokes about “diaspora governance.”
And perhaps it is a question African governments should take seriously.
Because a government may be able to operate remotely. But can a democracy afford to feel remote from its people?
Olu Allen writes on public affairs, governance and society.
