With over 70 percent of the continent’s population under 30, there is a dilemma regarding the sociopolitical values being passed on to a very young population. Sociopolitical values go beyond voting; that is just the tip of a much larger iceberg.
When it comes to sociopolitical affairs, the question of values can be both debatable and delicate. Why? Because no one has a full grasp of how the sociopolitical system works. In political spaces, values can also be politicised, bent, manipulated, or even silenced.
The best indicator, however, insofar as the life and welfare of the people are involved, is the quality of life, and this does not deceive. A system that works for the good of the people will have evidence that is tangible in the holistic and integral life experience of the people, beyond the eloquence and manipulation in most political speeches, and equally beyond the ‘data’ and ‘statistics’ recorded on paper.
When it comes to the African state of affairs, any global conversation regarding young people evokes an urgent need for deep thought and strategic engagement ahead of losing it all. This is because the continent already situates itself on a very positive future, should there be a strategic framework to genuinely mobilise young people right from the grassroots, and maximise their potential in the holistic growth prospects.
But people alone, and specifically young people, are not sufficient as a resource. They need values that will guide them through the holistic sociopolitical process of growth. These values are not merely philosophical; they are practical, actionable, and realised at a deeply personal level. As primary acquired values, they create space for the relevance and fruitfulness of secondary values such as education and skills within a society whose social ties are grounded in those values.
For example, while our society needs good political servants, it also needs them as equally persons with a high sense of responsibility, genuineness, honesty, and respect for the life and dignity of others. Though we need learned teachers, we also need them as teachers with empathy and a good disposition to help students learn.
In most African countries, politics has been an unrealistic do-or-die affair, which on the ground is extremely barbaric, unjust, dishonest, brutal, and bloody, and with time, producing worse and extremely undesirable leaders. It almost appears as a repetitive cinema upon every other election, where outgoing leaders claim power by all means possible and indiscriminately at the detriment of whomever and whatever. What matters to them is power.
With over 70 percent of the continent’s population aged below 30, there is a dilemma here regarding the sociopolitical values that are being passed on to a highly young population. Sociopolitical values go beyond the voting process; it is a mere tip of a huge iceberg.
Will young people who have grown up all their lives experiencing politics as corruption change overnight to think it is not? What are the possibilities of them changing the course of action from the direction of an already diversified and complicated corrupt system? What are the chances of them surviving, standing out against a brutal system that totally blocks dissent and demands adulation and sycophancy? Here we see that a mere choice to participate in a corrupt sociopolitical process goes a long way to enable corrupt systems to grow deeper roots. These are systems that have made most countries poor.
The key to all sociopolitical values is integrity, which is manifested in a lifestyle of sincerity, honesty, and consistent good conduct even when no one is watching. Integrity makes leaders prioritise the needs and concerns of the people. Where it sits on the top, it flows through the whole ladder of engagement up to the grassroots levels. Where the opposite is true, corruption becomes a norm, and values disappear.
Inheriting the sociopolitical values “as given” is a risky move, but as the socialisation process cannot be fully controlled, effort can be made to the accessible limits. Values are of ultimate importance in the sociopolitical space because the lives and dignity of people, which are highly vulnerable, are involved. It is not about winning or losing, or dominating; it is rather about justice, accountability, and practically delivering the best care and services all across. Leaders without integrity cannot inspire integrity, as they have nothing with which to prove it is a value worth having.
Young people have the productive energy and, more than ever, a significant sense of patriotism, evident in the public refusal of corrupt leadership and dynastic politics all across the continent. It is a generation that desires that the sociopolitical affairs are guided by principles of truth and accountability, and not by the loyalty or popularity of politicians. The bargain to buy most young people into corrupt political affairs is their dire states of need due to joblessness and poverty, such that many drop their guard and accept to cooperate for little vain prizes.
In the long run, corruption will not be a legacy to treasure, but it will evolve into its most unmanageable forms as it is left to mature. While developed countries are providing the best for their young people in terms of opportunities and skills, our young people are and will be marginally left behind by the rest of the world because of the selfish interests of those in political offices, whose duty is to animate sociopolitical and socioeconomic affairs.
Shimbo Pastory is a Tanzanian advocate for social transformation and a student of the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines.
