SOCIAL ORDER
Africa was first a nation of communities it would take a thousand years to make the transition to a community of nations. In the beginning the intricate web of race, relatives & respect made up the core of social order and organization. Strong community bonds ensured that interaction (between communities) was minimal, as kingdoms remained essentially ethnic.
Culture and tradition formed and formulated government. Values such as respect and honesty moderated and regulated social interaction. Though tradition (possibly) did not dominate social order it may have certainly controlled it. The social fabric, structures, conditions and circumstances that supported the practice of social values have since degenerated or changed to a point that has left the practice of some remnant traditions without supporting social contexts or currency. Should we retain everything from culture or carry forward the ageless values that formulate healthy social order?
Though leaders in each community were chosen by different systems, leadership remained a social function synonymous with age and experience. In a closed cultural system it is very easy to see the relationship between age, experience and therefore wisdom. Leadership was a developmental function often marked by initiation or certification rites or graduation through social ranks.
FAMILY
The nuclear family of one-man-one-wife is not a sainted theme in much of Africa. Communal responsibility received more emphasis. Stepbrothers are just as much brothers as are (lateral) cousins or members of the same age group. The proffered assumption that the nuclear family was and is the basis of social structure may not be entirely accurate. Much of African social framework is structured in bands, layers or strata and groupings rather than the nuclear arrangements reflected in modern contexts. A family includes the extension of relatives and may literally include a whole clan. Family relations cut across society. A child born into society took up their place immediately as a father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, grandfather or “in-law” to somebody in society and was treated (given respect) as such. Society was tightly woven together. In the band structure, at birth, a child was born with social obligations. In a nuclear set up the child has no social responsibility until leaving the family unit.
In the modern description of society, social frameworks are built around the nuclear family. Leadership is determined by competition among nuclear units. The fragmented nature of nuclear society means that leadership is established by competition between units. Leadership mobilizes (political) support from other units in the society.
The hierarchical structure of much of African society layered in Patriarch-order granted (assigned) leadership to Age-groups. Leadership was a social duty. A group (and not an individual) was charged with leadership responsibility. This translates into interesting dynamics in interpreting leadership today. Whatever the interpretation, leadership has always been a community concern and a social responsibility in Africa.
The switch in emphasis to nuclear family as the basis of social order has led to the breakdown of organization and order in community life. The conflict probably accounts for much of the confusion in society as traditional loyalists oppose (resist) modern developments. Although this line of thinking is interesting it is not our key interest. We shall leave it to social scientists to investigate. Suffice to appreciate that tensions exist in some places more strongly than others and that these issues sometimes present major challenges to leadership in Africa today.
CULTURE
Culture emphasizes rhythm; one has to look for reason. Culture thrives in isolation but once exposed is open to question. Lack of evidence of intermarriage probably shows that separation was promoted over cooperation and only entered into for political expedience rather than cultural integration. Politics therefore remained a marginal occupation with little or no impact on community development. Community independence was a weak point of entry for intruders into African affairs and remains a thorn in the flesh of nationalism today.