Visionary Leadership in Africa: The Example of Julius Nyerere of Tanzania 1922 to 1999

Abstract

This article recaptures the philosophy of Nyerere and the idea of Ujamaa (familyhood) in modern African socialism. Nyerere’s political idea for Tanzania centred on the creation of an egalitarian socialist society based on cooperative agriculture, racial and tribal harmony, as well as moralistic self-sacrifice. The study argues that contemporary challenges in Africa caused by colonialism, misrule, and corruption have called for backwards-looking and integration to prevent political and economic chaos on the continent. Presently, the Corona Virus-19 Pandemic (COVID-19) like its twin disease, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, had triggered unemployment, food shortages, inflation, price instability, the balance of payment disequilibrium, and social vices. Drawing on primary and secondary sources to substantiate its claim, this study found that the present state of affairs in the world has introduced the new normal and new methods of doing things; hence the need for indigenous solutions to Africa’s problems. This article recommends that African leaders need re-invent indigenous political philosophy such as the Nyerere’s African socialism to save its citizens from poverty rather than the present dependency on colonial masters and donor countries.