"We now need to look beyond our immediate future and aim higher and farther"
About this Quote
The line urges a shift from survival mode to stewardship. Thinking only about the immediate future traps a society in short electoral cycles, crisis responses, and incremental fixes. Looking beyond it demands the patience to build institutions and the imagination to picture decades, not months. The pairing of higher and farther matters: higher evokes standards and values, farther evokes time and reach. Together they call for ambition that is both ethical and strategic.
Coming from Paul Biya, the long-serving president of Cameroon, the appeal fits a familiar register of leadership rhetoric in which stability and development are framed as long journeys. Cameroon, often called Africa in miniature for its diversity, faces the classic tensions of a young population, uneven growth, and regional strains. A long horizon invites a reordering of priorities toward investments that compound: education that equips the next generation, health systems that withstand shocks, infrastructure that unifies markets, and institutions that outlast personalities. It also invites a broader regional view, aligning national plans with continental goals like the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and positioning the country in emerging value chains, from digital services to green energy.
Yet aiming farther can ring hollow if it becomes a way to postpone hard choices. Long-term vision has to be translated into near-term milestones, transparent budgeting, and measurable outcomes. Without accountability, ambition drifts into slogans. The most credible long-range planning builds cross-party and cross-regional consensus, so that policies survive leadership changes and social divisions. It treats the grievances of today not as distractions from the future but as prerequisites for reaching it.
The inclusive we signals that aspiration is not the property of a single office but a civic project. To aim higher is to set norms for public integrity and excellence; to aim farther is to accept responsibility to generations not yet born. The challenge is to tie hope to a calendar and a ledger, so that each year extends the horizon while raising the bar.
Coming from Paul Biya, the long-serving president of Cameroon, the appeal fits a familiar register of leadership rhetoric in which stability and development are framed as long journeys. Cameroon, often called Africa in miniature for its diversity, faces the classic tensions of a young population, uneven growth, and regional strains. A long horizon invites a reordering of priorities toward investments that compound: education that equips the next generation, health systems that withstand shocks, infrastructure that unifies markets, and institutions that outlast personalities. It also invites a broader regional view, aligning national plans with continental goals like the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and positioning the country in emerging value chains, from digital services to green energy.
Yet aiming farther can ring hollow if it becomes a way to postpone hard choices. Long-term vision has to be translated into near-term milestones, transparent budgeting, and measurable outcomes. Without accountability, ambition drifts into slogans. The most credible long-range planning builds cross-party and cross-regional consensus, so that policies survive leadership changes and social divisions. It treats the grievances of today not as distractions from the future but as prerequisites for reaching it.
The inclusive we signals that aspiration is not the property of a single office but a civic project. To aim higher is to set norms for public integrity and excellence; to aim farther is to accept responsibility to generations not yet born. The challenge is to tie hope to a calendar and a ledger, so that each year extends the horizon while raising the bar.
Quote Details
| Topic | Vision & Strategy |
|---|
More Quotes by Paul
Add to List
