I had wanted to write this note long before now but i wanted to get all my facts right befrore coming out.i did much research.it may look weird dat i am writing part 1 last.yes, i had wanted it so right from the start as i wrote in part 2,i intented writing only parts 1 and 2 but events dat were unexpected and swiftly occurred soon afterwards made me write parts 3 to 5.even as things are going if need be i may add to the part 5 i have written a part 6 or more,but i said only if need be.
I may look out of place but i aint out of tune.rmr d multi Academy Award Winning film Star Wars.it was parts 1 to 7.Part 7 was shot 1977.then part 6,later part 5,till part 1 in 2005/2006,about 30 yrs later.so i aint out of place.now dis isnt abt Lord Vader,or Dark Lord,dark side nor Anakin nor the Jedi.
Lets get to real business.Lets ready to Rumble
Those who make peaceful change impossible,make violent change inevitable – Franz Fanon.
You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness.In this case,it comes from nonconformity,the courage to turn your back on the old formulas,the courage to invent the future. it took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity – Capt Thomas Sankara
A revolution in the very near future is,therefore not only inevitable,but also imminient! The revolution may have no leader ( but will be led by a movement). It will be the product of a spontenous reaction of people frustrated by dictatorial (and often selfish) leadership that does not reflect their best interests —- Gore Vidal
There are no new truths, but only truths that have not been recognized by those who have perceived them without noticing” – Mary McCarthy, US writer (1912-1989)
Eccentric Libyan leader Moammer Ghadaffi would never have believed if told this time last year dat by this time,his famed palace would be looted and overrun by ordinary civilians,his govt would have been overrun by same civillians and he would have died.yes died a wretched death,with his body on public display for 4days in a common cold room,for all civilians to laugh and gloat at and he wont have a beffitting grave but would be buried in a obcure desert dat no one knows d location,dat his tomb wont be a mecca of some sort.he wouldnt have believed or ever imagined dat.
When stiff-necked dictators like Muammar Gaddafi die the way he did, the world gets a sense of moral relief, a catharsis of righteous triumph. To many, the quiet resentment had grown to indignation on the streets. The indignation became vindication as the tyrant fell like a swallow.
Like his fellow despot, Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi did not die in a posh bedroom, with a parting family oration. No halo of a goodbye kiss. No last gasp of joys.The late Gaddafi
Rather he died like a common criminal, like a thief many years ago in Lagos burnt to death after serial beating from a crowd of angry youths. When Gaddafi died, his maker Allah was mentioned, but not to thank him for a life well spent. Those who shouted Allah thanked him because they eventually had the tyrant in their hands. His face, strewn with blood, was confused. Was this Gaddafi? He probably asked himself, is this I, the potentate of this land, being turned around like a worm, derided, slapped, punched, dragged on the ground, my blood tainted with the desert sand?
They dragged him out of a sewage pit, in a trouser and T-shirt, his contorted face almost seemed he wanted to cry. He might have. Bullets had pockmarked his body, and one shot into his head probably finished him. Muammar Gaddafi, the dictator and one-time hero of Libya, the author of the Green Book, the leader with female guards, who presided over mammoth oil wealth and acted like a cowboy in an Arab land, died like a rat he called his enemies.
Deaths like this embolden us to believe that the wicked get their punishment before they die. Some can wax Biblical and quote the proverbs: “though hands join in hands, the wicked shall not go unpunished…”
So we saw that with Saddam Hussein, and we said yes, any evil man who rules the people in cowardly tyranny ends like this. But I am not too sure. Herod was believed to have died in misery, and the Bible account said he was eaten by worms. In his masterful novel, I, Claudius, Robert Graves tells the story of the diseases Herod contracted before his death, some in his “private member.” Saddam Hussein was caught in a rat hole, and dragged out, shorn of all the majesty of his peacock years.
Ghadaffi for year had been a global force whose utterances attracted diverse comments.Love him or hate him,u can never ignore him.Wen protest started in several libyan cities on Feb 15 2011,many intl observers had feared dat those involved had set up themselves to be roasted by d iron fisted leader.That would not be d first time of protests in dat country but each had been put down with brutality.Ghadaffi appeared to underestimate d power of d people.When wat is now popularly known as d ARAB SPRING broke out late december 2010,he dismissed d protests with a wave of the hand.in fact he condemned d uprising in neighbouring Tunisia with a wave of the hand in a speech on Jan 15,2011,being unhappy with d way d tunisian govt fell.Little did he know d little chickens were coming to roost in his own country too
THE ARAB SPRING: HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The Arab Spring was first sparked by d first protests that occured in Tunisia on December 18,2010,following the self-immolation of a fruits and vegetable seller , MOHAMMED BOAZIZI ,in Sidi Bouzid in protest at police corruption and ill-treatment.Local police had been harassing Boazizi since he was a child.Tunisia is a country where citizens’ rights are often trampled upon,this was no big deal in d harrassment of a mere fruit seller.
Boazizi,who became d icon of the Arab Spring,was 10yrs old when he became d breadwinner for his family,selling fruits and vegetables in the local market.He stayed long enough in High School(Secondary sch) long enough to sit for his baccalaureate(SSCE) exam,but he did not graduate.
According to Arab News Network Al-Jazeera,he never attented a University,despite what many news organisations have reported.Bouazizi’s father died when he was 3yrs old.At d age of 19,he halted his studies to work fulltime so as to earn enough money to see his 5 younger siblings thru sch.”my sister was the one in d university,and he would pay for her.i am still a student and he would still spend money on me” Samya Bouazizi,one of his sisters said.His attempt to join the army was turned down,while several job applications failed.So the 26yr old man had to fend for his family by taking his woodcart(wheel barrow) to d supermarket daily and load it with fruits and vegetables.He would then put the cart over 2km to go and sell.
On many occassions the police would seize all items on his cart or fine him for running a mobile cart without permit.It got to a point the police fined him 400 dinars($280)(abt 45,000 naira) which was equivalent of 2mths pay.It got to a head on December 17,2010 when a policewoman Feyda Hamdi,who confronted him on the way to the market.She returned to take his scales from him,but he refused to hand them over.They swore at each other and d policewoman slapped him,and with d help of her colleagues forced him to d ground.The police took away his produce and scales.
Having been publicly humiliated,bouazizi tried to seek justice by going to the local municipality building(local govt) and tried meeting with an official whom he was told was unavailable bcos he was in a meeting and doing other official assignments.The HUMILIATION HAD GOT TO HIS INNER BEING AND HE FELT HE HAD TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.With no other official willing to listen to his grievances,the young man bought paintfuel,returned to d street outside the building and set himself on fire.
For Mohammed’s mother,her son’s suicide was motivated by humiliation and not poverty.
It took d former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali almost two weeks for him to visit the severely injured fruit seller.By that time,it was too late to save bouazizi or Ben Ali’s 23 year old rule.Bouazizi died Jan 4th 2011.Ben Ali even set d stage for his exit by failing to fulfil his promise of sendin Bouazizi’s family to france.By d time d fruitseller died,d whole of Tunisis had been engulfed in massive protests.
As the protests spread,Ben Ali fled to for Saudi Arabia on Jan 14,2011.The fall of his govt inspired a similar protest in nearby Egypt.This forced president Hosni Mubarak to resign on 11th feb 2011,ending his 30 year rule after abt 18days of massive protests.The egyptian variant was helped by d use of the internet,twitter,facebook etc despite govt attempt to ban it.Protests also started in Libya on feb 15 2011 and many other Arab nations.Bouazizi’s matyrdom was imitated by some others in some other arab nations,setting themselves on fire too,to ignite more protests.
In summary,
Those who make peaceful change impossible,make violent change inevitable – Franz Fanon.
Now The Arab Spring with all violence has made change possible,but with violent means.Isnt it utter madness to rush at highly trained policemen and security agents that have sophisticated guns and tanks and other weaponry with ur bare hands or at best crude guns and home made bombs
You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness.In this case,it comes from nonconformity,the courage to turn your back on the old formulas,the courage to invent the future. it took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity – Capt Thomas Sankara
A revolution in the very near future is,therefore not only inevitable,but also imminient! The revolution may have no leader ( but will be led by a movement). It will be the product of a spontenous reaction of people frustrated by dictatorial (and often selfish) leadership that does not reflect their best interests —- Gore Vidal
The revolution had no clear cut leader but was led by a group of people.It has achieved most of the aims it sought to achieve
Three govts-Libya,Tunisis and Egypt were overrun by d protesters.A fourth,Yemen led by sit tight saleh was taught a bitter lesson with d June 4,2011 bombiin of a mosque when he,several family members and cabinet members were severely injured.He had 70% burns and spent 3mths in a Saudi Hospital.Now he has agreed to step down,so i regard his govt as being overrun by protesters too.Several other govts like Sudan,Bahrain,Algeria,Morocco,Kuwait,Saharawi rea(Western Sahara),Oman,Jordan,Iraq,and Ultra conservative Saudi Arabia have made far reaching reforms to satisfy d protesters.In fact a 5th govt Syria will soon fall.
Those are among the many gains of the reforms and protests.No wonder world acclaimed Time Magazine gave The Man of the Year Award of 2011 to THE PROTESTER in recognition of the enormous gains of The Arab Spring which is capable of occuring anywhere in the world.(bad leaders be warned).
Michael Adeyemi, a medical doctor, writer, author, blogger, social critic, political and social affairs analyst-cum-commentator, writes from Lagos, Nigeria
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