Leadership, Social Identity and the Politics of Underdevelopment in Africa

Several researches have been conducted on the nature, character and causes of underdevelop- ment in Africa. Some scholars have alluded to the imperativeness of leadership in fostering de- velopment in Africa while some pointed a robust accusing finger to the structures of the interna- tional political system. While this paper does not join issues with these scholars, it however fo- cuses on locating the dilemma of social identity as the missing factor in all inter personal rela- tionships in Africa with special bias for the relationship between the led and the leaders. This pa- per briefly engages the arguments and counterarguments of the paradox of development in Africa and then goes on to show how the absence of social identity or group identity has been the bane of development in Africa. While dwelling on available secondary data, this paper theorizes the inter- play among politics of underdevelopment, leadership and social identity in Africa. It concludes by arguing for the necessity of class suicide of the political class and also cognitive re-orientation of the led through education