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REFOCUSING THE AFRICA SOCIETAL VALUES AND LEADERSHIP The Africa society is growing more and more in size and economy and is probably among the fastest growing economy in the world. Over the years the African society had been over ridden with no definite values thereby throwing the Nation into one that does not know where it is heading. One dictionary defines values as a principle or belief that influences your decision. That is probably one of the best definition we can give to value. There are some essential in fact Values that are fundamental. I think there are only three values that are truly fundamental - that truly determine the kind of society we must have and the kind of lives we should live as individuals, and that are permanent matters of permanent relevance. The three values I speak of are honesty, competence, and unselfishness. And of the three, honesty is the most important because, without it, competence is not attainable and concern for others is less likely by far because one is not likely to know, understand or sympathize with the position of others. Honesty is foundational. Without it disasters occur, and without it there can be no competence. For competent thought and action depend on knowledge of the truth of a situation, knowledge of its actual facts. Conversely, ignorance or distortion of the truth and the facts lead only to mistakes and disasters. Yet, for all the lip service paid to honesty - and lip service is usually all it is - it is relatively rare that one runs across a philosophy which holds that honesty is foundational and therefore is the single most important value of any. If one looks back over the years, it seems inevitable to conclude that much, even most or all, of our public problems stem from some level of dishonesty. Sometimes the dishonesty takes the form of outright lies. Sometimes its form is lack of disclosure of the truth. Sometimes it comes as spin. Sometimes it comes as a standardized words or phrases that sound good but are false and are used to cover up the truth. There was some level, of dishonesty with regard to our Independence, the civil war, political assassinations in the 80's, the gulf war, revenues from the Oil booms, marginalisations, the ethnic and religious crises, the 2005 air crashes, the African politics and our civic life in general. Had full-bore truth been the ruling desideratum in these matters, events like these would never have occurred. It was some form or level of dishonesty that

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