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A Matter Of Figures

Feature Article A Matter Of Figures
JUL 1, 2020 LISTEN

Some people believe and even openly express their feelings that members of the older generations are no longer capable of ruling our world of today. They should be eased off public offices and the younger generation should now be mentored to control of the affairs of nations. Others think that younger people should first key into the system and grow gradually through the hierarchy, acquire experience before authority can be handed over to them. The idea of the aging generation handing over to the upcoming generation has indeed been a topical issue in recent times. In some countries like Nigeria during the last election in 2015, several political parties primarily made up of young-adults sprang up overnight, intent on ousting power from the aging generation. But it just didn’t work because they didn’t have the financial muscle to do so. But that idea kept me wondering.

It was obvious that many among the younger generation did not exactly know the demands of political offices. For all that can be said, it is one scenario to stay comfortably in your four-bedroom apartment overseas and enjoy the benefits of a well-organized society and quite a different thing to cuddle up in a place like Aso Rock, with trillions at your beck and call to share, appoint top-ranking public officers, surrounded by loads of yesmen whose duty is to tell you all you want to hear, even if they are lies.

But as I was saying, this entire thing brought me to think what could possibly be a good age to be encouraged to take on public offices despite what the constitution specifies. I then did a little research on the various ages of the current political leaders, taking a sample from 58 countries. Then, I took the average and found that it was 65 years as follows: President Ashraf Ahmadzai of Afghanistan is 71 years old this year. President Ilir Meta of Albania is 51. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria is 74. President Joao Lorenco of Angola is 66. President Alberto Fernandez of Argentina is 61. Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison is 52. Dr. Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria is 76. President Abdul Hamid of Bangladesh is 76. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley is 55. The Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel is 45. President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic is 62. President Marinko Cavara of Bosnia is 53. President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil is 65. President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso is 63. President Sebastian Pinera of Chile is 71. President Xi Jiping of China is 67. President Ivan Marques of Colombia is 44. President Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of the Congo is 57. President Alassane Quattra of Cote D’ Ivoire is 78. President Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba is 60. The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen is 43.

Others are: President Lenin Moreno of Ecuador who is 67. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt is 66. President Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia is 51. President Sahie-Work Zewde of Ethiopia is 70. President Emmanuel Macron of France is 43. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana is 76. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou is 64. President Jovenel Moise of Haiti is 52. President Ram Nath Kovind of India is 75. President Joko Widodo of Indonesia is 59. President Barham Salih of Iraq is 60. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran is 72. Italy’s President Segio Mattarella is 79. Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness is 48. The Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe is 66. King Abdullah II of Jordan is 58. President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya is 59. President George Weah of Liberia is 54. President Mohammed Magariaf of Libya is 80. American President Donald Trump is 74. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson is 56. President Mohammed Buhari of Nigeria is 78. President Arif Alvi of Pakistan is 71.

Others are: President Klaus Iohannis of Romania who is 61. Russian President Vladimir Putin is 68. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is 63. The President of Senegal, Machy Sall is 59. The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa is 68. The current head of Sudan is Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, is 60. The Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Lofven is 63. The President of Tanzania, John Magufuli is 61. The President of Tunisia, Caid Saied is 62. The President of Yemen, Abdrabbur Mansur Hadi is 75. Zambian President Edgar Lungu is 64. Morocco’s King Mohammed VI is 57. Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong is 76. And Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwu is 78. Put together they have in common 3,683 years and an average age of 63 years and six months. So we could comfortable adjust to this age as the most appropriate to handle the top job in any country.

A friend of mine who had never married wanted to marry at the age of 54. I recommended another friend to him who would make a good wife. And when I told the lady the man proposing was 54 years old, she said age is only a figure. 54 is a figure. And I am beginning to think that she was right. Age is just a matter of figures.

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