By Ahmad Sajoh
Suddenly Britain has become one of the most diverse countries in the world. And the world will soon start learning lessons in managing diversity from the British.
Great Britain is a Nation of four countries and if you doubt that ask FIFA and the world cup representation.
Recently when Charles became King, he had to visit the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. In Scotland he spoke Scottish in the Parliament. In Wales he spoke Welsh to them and in Northern Island he spoke Irish. It’s only in England that the English language is the only one in use.
But that is not the measure of British diversity. Today, the King of Britain is of mixed parentage. His father is Creek and his mother is German. As head of the Church of England or Anglican Church he is a Christian.
The Prime Minister is of Indian descent. His father was born in Kenya while his mother was born in Tanzania. He is a Hindu.
The Home Secretary is from Homeland Israel and she is Jewish. The Mayor of London is of Pakistani origin. He is a Muslim. What a diverse country?
What does all this mean? Simply put, in the search for good leadership and positive governance, societies open their doors to the best from everywhere. Any society that is fixated on the pedestrian and mundane base sentiments of “it must be me or my own” remains backwards and full of lamentations for self inflicted miseries and failures.
Perhaps we need to begin to learn from most of the diverse countries of the world.
Today our kids “Japa” to Europe, America, Asia and Canada because their diversity has created conditions for progress and development.
Europe realized that as individual homogeneous countries their progress was limited. They came together as diverse communities within a European entity, their progress became assured.
Perhaps Britain has realized it didn’t need to leverage on European diversity to progress, it was diverse enough on its own, hence the Brexit movement.
Back to the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He has so many firsts. The first Asian to be PM. The racists call him British-Indian. I wonder why the King is not called British-Greek or why former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was never called British-Turk since he was of Turkish origin.
Rishi Sunak is also considered the youngest PM in over 200 years. He is also the Richest British Prime Minister ever.
Rishi Sunak has also proved that not all adversities end up in sorrow. To immigrate from one’s country of origin or country of birth is indeed a traumatic experience. But out of the ashes of that unfortunate movement by his parents evolved a new beginning for Britain under the leadership of the son of an immigrant of Indian descent. That is the positive effect of resilience and perseverance in the face of tragic occurrences.
I have watched Rishi Sunak speak immediately after he took over as Prime Minister. He was sharp, straight and convincing. He admitted errors by the government he took over from but said it was not due to bad intentions.
He accepted responsibility for failures of his party, which he has been chosen to lead. Then he spoke of Trust. It is indeed essential for leadership to earn the trust of the led.
Rishi Sunak accepted this fact. He said trust is earned and he was prepared to earn that trust.
He did not gloss over the enormity of the economic crisis facing Britain. He admitted that tough times abound and tough decisions should be expected. That’s the first step to earning trust.
One more thing I noticed in Rishi Sunak. He walked to the lectern alone, stood alone while delivering his speech. No security guard behind him and no hangers on milling around.
Most world leaders stand alone to speak these days except in Nigeria. Even the American President stands alone on the lectern to speak.
But in Nigeria we started with ADCs standing behind our leaders. Then the Chief Details also started joining the ADCs. Now cabinet members, personal staff and even touts and sundry hangers-on crowd behind the lectern when our leaders speak.
Away from his role as Prime Minister or his inaugural address, Rishi Sunak also gave an insight into the secret of his success. First attribute of success for him is family values.
He spoke about his affinity to his family. He spoke of good parental care, parental love, and the families imbibing values such as discipline, hard work, and respect for each other.
He said he served as a salesboy in his mother’s chemist, became a waiter at an Indian Restaurant and did some other sundry jobs.
Today in Nigeria we have lost our family values. Our children find no joy or dignity in labour.
How many Nigerian youth will agree to serve as waiters after having gone to the best universities and acquired high premium degrees?
Rishi Sunak says the second most important ingredient for both personal and societal development is sound education.
He said any individual or society desirous to leapfrog its development process must pay greater premium to Education.
On the flip side is that the new Prime Minister of Great Britain is coming to power at a time of great turmoil. Three Prime Ministers in a period of less than four months is definitely not an indication of stability for any political system.
There are economic crisis not just in Britain but in the whole of Europe. This is exacerbated by the energy crisis occasioned by the Russian Ukraine war. In addition climate change has created storms, droughts and floods in most of the globe including Europe.
The British Economy is on a free fall. The pound sterling, which has always been the strongest currency in the world, is sliding downwards against the US Dollar.
As the winter draws near, the energy crisis will be a major worry for Britons who must stay warm in winter. But staying warm is energy demanding.
Rishi Sunak spoke about compassion and trust. Ordinary folk doubt his capacity for both. Being a rich upper class person, they feel he may not understand the real value of compassion. And for the British people, compassion will be the main measure of trust they expect.
Another sore thumb for any Prime Minister in Britain today is how to deliver to the lofty hopes of Brexit. How much of it can Rishi Sunak deliver?
What lessons do we have to learn from Rishi Sunak? First and foremost is the fact that we must understand the power of service delivery by all public servants.
Rishi Sunak delivered well during the Covid 19 pandemic and its aftermath as Chancellor. He was only five years in parliament at that time. But as the Chancellor of the Exchacker or Finance Minister he was not only visible but actively helpful to the most vulnerable citizens. He delivered on all expectations and even reenacted his days as a waiter by going to restaurants to serve British citizens food.
But when he had reason to disagree with his former boss Boris Johnson, he resigned his cabinet position. That’s a mark of diligence and a mark of honour as well.
Trust is built on those values. By the way I understand that apart from his African roots, his family has business in Nigeria as well.
The question on the lips of many people is that does the leadership of Rishi Sunak represent a reverse colonization of Britain by her former colonial fiefdom? Or is it an opportunity for Britain to have an excuse to blame an Indian person for all future failures to be recorded in the country? Only time will tell.
As always I come in peace