What do we seek in a leader in Africa? A visionary? Someone to get every problem fixed yesterday? An inspirational figure whose rhetoric uplifts us? All of the above? This question was front of the mind earlier this month, when hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets of Ouagadogou, Accra, London, Paris, Kingston and others, in a bold show of support for Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré.

These marches were a direct response to a statement during a U.S. Senate committee hearing by Gen. Michael Langley, the head of U.S. military in Africa, who labelled Traore a “dangerous” actor in the Sahel and accusing him of using Burkina Faso’s gold reserves to benefit the government at the expense of the population.

The choice of language used is interesting, and for many Africans across the world, very triggering. It elicited similar denouncements in the not-too-distant past used as justifications for precipitating ‘regime change’. The question is then if Traore is meant to be ‘dangerous’, who is he dangerous to – and why?

From the vociferous online response as well as the marches, it is clear that many people see in him a symbol of renewed dignity and hope. At 36, Traoré is Burkina Faso’s youngest-ever head of state. Given the reluctance of many African political structures to give youth a chance to lead, he is effectively the face of a generational uprising. His stance against foreign interference and his unapologetic embrace of Pan-Africanism have earned him both admiration and critique. He is seen as the 21^st century embodiment of the spirit of earlier PanAfrican revolutionaries such as Nkrumah, Lumumba, and Sankara.

To Africa’s youth, in Traoré they see boldness, conviction, clarity of purpose and a fierce sense of pride. To older generations who have lived through the hollow promises of post-independence governance, Traoré evokes a long-dormant hope of what leadership once aspired to be: grassroots-focused, committed to positive change and unafraid to challenge global hierarchies.

The main points of criticism of Traore are that he is undemocratic, is overseeing an economic disaster-zone and done little to free Burkina Faso from insecurity; effectively accusing him of being more style than substance. That he still inspires depths of loyalty and support indicate that African people understand the complexities of the geopolitical forces that are arrayed against him, that he is combating with limited resources. It also indicates an increased appetite amongst Africans to seriously debate the inherited or acquired forms of Western liberal democracy and how appropriate or not that is for the governance of a modern Africa.

In the context of decolonisation, we must consider what decolonised African leadership looks like.

These are the themes we explored last week in a conversation I moderated with Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at a special screening of a powerful new documentary, The Decolonisation of Africa. President Obasanjo was an executive-producer of this film. The film invites us to reconsider African leadership not as a relic of post-independence optimism, but as an urgent, evolving frontier, shaped by past struggles and future opportunities. While Traore is providing a very powerful example of a leadership that commands loyalty and respect and promotes dignity, interestingly, Obasanjo considered the phenomenon of Traore’s popularity in the context of African unity. He expressed concern about how the undermining of African multilateral organisations such as ECOWAS could be dangerous and result in Africa becoming a new front for proxy wars between Western powers.

There is no doubt that Africa needs a leadership that mobilises hope, reminds us of our best selves and invites us to take ownership of our possibilities. Decolonising African leadership is a political, cultural, and generational imperative. For those who are intent on upholding the global status quo, I guess that would be very dangerous.

What do you think true African leadership should look like in this moment of global realignment?

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What I’m Reading: African Short Stories, edited by Ben Okri. We hosted the launch of this book earlier in the month, with an enthralling conversation between Ben Okri and the legendary Margaret Busby.

What I’m Listening To: ‘Jay Jay’ by Ruger.

African Proverb of the month: A wise elder sees sitting down what a young person cannot see from the treetop.

Olu Alake