MARGARET THATCHER: lesson for our leaders

MARGARET THATCHER

At the announcement of the death of Margaret Thatcher, thousands of Britons gathered at Trafalgar square, London for a celebration. “This party had been planned many years ago” one man said when interviewed. These types of celebrations are common when a dictator leaves the seat of power with notable examples in the cases of Abacha, Mubarak and Gadaffi in Nigeria, Egypt and Libya respectively. But the question looms: Was Thatcher a tyrant or a victim of strong leadership? To answer this question, we must understand the
fact that in leadership, decision must be made which regardless of the intent affects people’s lives in good or bad ways and a leader cannot always explain the intent these lines of action.

Born Margaret Hilda Roberts, she was always known to have a combative personality and this was highlighted by her job application being rejected by a company that labeled her “a headstrong and dangerously self-opinionated individual”. The later would rear its head later in her political career when by the year 1990, the last minister still in her cabinet since she had become prime minister in 1979 resigned following many others before him who had done the same thing after disagreements regarding policies with Baroness Thatcher.

She first became involved in politics-with the conservation party-while still
a student at Oxford University. Rising slowly through the ranks, she became leader of the opposition and the conversation party in 1975. After launching a verbal attach on the Soviet Union, the soviet press gave her the title “Iron lady” which she gladly accepted. In 1979, the conservation party won the general elections by a landslide and Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Her domestic policies which included privatization of government-owned businesses were able to transform Britain from an industrial dependent state. Though there was a stable economy highlighted by low inflation, the were still concerns about the high unemployment in Britain (3 million at the time). She was also quick to bring down ‘enemies’ of her government, most notably the miners’ association that was instrumental in bringing down the government of former Britain prime minister Edward Health under whom she served as  minister of education. Her most controversial decision which lead to 70,000 – 200,000 people protesting at Trafalgar square was the imposition of poll tax (where every adult resident in a building). This was one of the major rationales why the same venue hosted the mass celebration at the news of her death. Though she was able to put an end to hooliganism in footballing stadia in the United Kingdom, she is still regarded as an  enemy in footballing circles for putting the blame of the loss of lives of some Liverpool supporters on their fellow supporters in the match involving Liverpool football club and Nottingham forest football club at Hillsborough stadium. Later, investigations and reports by the independent Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG) found these reports to be untrue blaming the incident on the South Yorkshire policae and hinted at a serious police cover up.

She lived up to her iron lady sobriquet when Britain went to war with Anrgentina to regain control of the Falkland Islands and South.

Georgia in the South American coast. She was prime minister during the darkest days of The Troubles and was instrumental in the management of the crisis. This commitment to effective management of the crisis would come at a very steep price as she narrowly escaped as assassination attempt on her like by the provisional Irish republican army.

Margaret Thatcher was also seen as anti-African by some Africans notably Ayo Faleti (Punch newspaper: Thursday April 11, 2013 page 24) for taking sides with the apartheid governments of presidents Botha, Verwoerd and De Klerk of South Africa while calling Nelson “a terrorist” and classifying the African National Congress (ANC) “a terrorist organization”. She however officially condemned the abominable regimes and led calls for the end of racial segregation.

Margaret Thatcher never stopped at crushing those who opposed her interests but she was also equally effective in bettering the lives of her fellow Britons even in the most ruthless manner possible. I will leave you to reach your conclusion as well as to whom Baroness. Thatcher really was as the popular saying goes thus “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”.

adapted by ygist from pharmedia with permission from the editorial unit.