The Revolution we need

The Revolution we need

Folarin Samson

President Goodluck Jonathan may be described as one of the quiet presidents Nigeria has had in her 51 years of nationhood. His unassuming mien, childlike smile and melancholic frame belie the granite will and enormous strength of a leader. This of course could be good covers for a great president as renowned world leaders like America’s Lincoln, British Churchill and even India’s Ghandi equally had deceptive appearance until you hear them speak. They commanded attention and respect with their inspired speeches. What they lacked in appearance they abundantly made up for in utterance. Their words reflected the dignity of their office.

Conversely, Nigeria’s Jonathan appears always trapped whenever he speaks. Critical analysts must have been archiving his list of gaffe as they could make interesting study for aspiring leaders. It seems there is a gradient from the absurd to the ridiculous. Mr President in his early campaign days had taken a sweep at the South-western governors whom he derisively tagged rascals. When all hell was let loose on His Excellency by the affected governors, Mr President slyly re-tracked and said he was quoted out of context. Again, in his address at a programme organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria at the Abuja Chapel, Mr. President in reacting to his critics who faulted his approach to government was quoted as saying he was no commander or general. Dr Jonathan forgot that by virtue of his office, he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces which is no mean conferment. It is a title that requires action as well as caution in public. Recently, in the upsurge of reactions to the proposed fuel subsidy removal the President again goofed: “I am ready to face the people’s revolution over the removal of oil subsidy”.

As an informed Nigerian youth who has read historical books and watched the gory entails of a revolution in graphic documentaries, I think this statement is in bad taste, inciting and least expected of Mr. President who is supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the country. Since this statement was made, many have been embolden to mouth the word with reckless abandon. The State Security Service hands are tied this time around. They cannot make any arrest or level any seditious charges against anyone because a precedent has been laid by the president.  I am afraid for the security of this nation.

But don’t take my fear as a show of cowardice. It is my believe that Mr. President ought to have known better before making the statement. Havelock Ellis, a British social reformer could not have been wrong when he said “There is nothing war has ever achieved that we could not achieve without it.” Recent world events should have taught us timeless truths about revolutions. After a careful look at the Arab Spring and Maghreb uprising with their attendant spate of heavy casualties and economic devastation, I concluded that Nigerians don’t deserve to go through such horrors. Over 50,000 perished in Libya to topple a single man. Media reported over 35,000 dead in the Egyptian revolt, Tahrir Square is still boiling with violence and bloodbath. Bashar al-Assad’s heavy crackdown on protesters in Syria has not abated. Heads are still rolling and mortuaries are overflowing with corpses. Do we see justification for a revolution in our milieu from this carnage or the need for a reflection on the fatal cost of it? Supposing these have no relevance to us, have we quickly forgotten that Nigeria lost over two million of its able body youths, adults, women and children in the 1967 Civil War? Forty-four years after, the devastated areas still echo the agony of war. And who were the victims: commoners! They were slaughtered, sacrificed for “freedom”. Even the many military coups that were couched in adorable intentions and that made some gullible Nigerians look on the military interventionists as messiahs have rather festered our predicaments, notwithstanding the murder of “corrupt” politicians. And after the huge human sacrifices, how far has our war of attrition taken us?

Those calling for a revolution in Nigeria should be pitied rather than criticized. They do not understand the import of William Sherman’s thoughtful statement. The veteran of the American Civil War of 1861 had said “It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation” And even the Cuban warlord, Fidel Castro acknowledged that revolution is not a bed of roses. While it will not be wise to play the ostrich by ignoring the indices many revolution proponents have cited that portend an oncoming cataclysm, I strongly believe Nigeria needs a different kind of revolution.

We need revolution in leadership. Aside the corruption virus which has now assumed an intractable proportion in the corridors of power, our leaders have the penchant for ignoring public opinion. Italy former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Greece former Prime Minister George Papandreou both resigned recently when they discovered they were economic failures who no longer enjoy popularity. They took that honourable step in the interest of their countrymen and beloved nation. Nigerian leaders have not learnt to bow out even when the odds are against them. When there is flagrant dereliction of constitutional duties and gross violation of electoral promises and pledges, all we get are excuses, more promises and smiles. They disrespect public opinion and thread roughshod on the will of the majority. But how will such faulty leadership be enthroned if our collective values are not twisted?

Hence we are in dire need of revolution in our value orientation. I agree with Edmund Burke when he said “the most important of all revolutions is a revolution in sentiments, manners and moral opinions.” That is what we need. An average Nigerian only cares for his belly. He will vote along ethno- religious lines. We are easily fooled by opportunistic politicians who besiege our churches and mosques begging for votes under the pretext of prayers, and refusing to return to ask for wisdom and discretion from God after claiming the prize at the polls. We are a people who are victims of self-imposed affliction and worse still, we don’t learn from our mistakes. We make important decisions without due recourse to reason and history, then after the deed is done, we begin to cry for bloody revolution as if it were a tea party. Looking at the progressive debacle of the Nigerian story, the axiom that a country deserves the kind of leaders it gets cannot be wrong. We are a product of our many wrong choices.

The wave of revolution should also sweep through all our sectors. The educational sector for instance has been in a mess as mediocrity and academic poverty now holds sway in our ivory tower. Certificates are bought with “back-work”, no longer hard-work. Academics strike at will because government failed to comply with some clumsy arrangements. The agricultural sector is unexplored because of crude oil. China, US and Japan are countries that are major players in world economy today and agriculture is at the core of their operations. Prior to the 1950s, before the curse of crude oil came, agriculture was the mainstay of our economy. Oil mines came and instead of boosting our economy, it plunged us into untold misery. We earned the ignoble paradox of ‘rich but poor’ Health, banking, transportation, among others are all in shambles.

But how will our sectors work when government’s time and resources are dissipated in trying to quell civil unrest, inter-tribal wrangling, militancy, religious conflicts and senseless agitations, leaving no room for thorough and rigorous economic planning? This is why we need to sit together as a nation under God and lay to rest these subversive elements. We need the Sovereign National Conference. That is a great revolution in my reckoning. No Nigerian leader has shown enough courage to initiate the process that will give Nigeria lasting peace. Ralph Emerson was spot on when he said “Peace cannot be achieved through violence. It can only be attained through understanding.” We must discuss, not destroy Nigeria. Our checkered history has shown that we are heading for the precipice if we don’t sit to discuss our future. It was first Niger-Delta militants with their kidnapping tactics and systematic sabotage of our commonwealth, then came Boko-Haram with its ferocious sporadic attacks on innocent Nigerians. The Yorubas may also be brewing their deadly militia together with the science-defying, mystic weapons. It will be the end. Before things get out of hand, let us sit and re-evaluate our union, re-define our association, re-assess the appropriateness of our governing constitution and settle our scores. This sort of revolution may birth our needed transformation and social re-engineering.

The above revolutions don’t have to be bloody. Frederick Wilson says “Wars are not acts of God. They are caused by man-made institutions, by the way in which man has organized his society. What man has made, man can change” To avert uncontrollable political upheaval, Mr. President has to be wary of making inflammatory utterances in public that could provide the fodder for mischief workers.

Finally, Dr. Jonathan should know Nigerians cannot bear the unjustifiable removal of fuel subsidy. We are the 6^th largest producer of oil in the world for goodness sake. The year 2012 is now in view. And although we are waiting for the usual prophetic utterances of our prophets and soothsayers, some people have already foreseen an apocalypse by 2012. The world would suddenly come to an end, we’re told. Many of us are skeptical of the prediction, especially after several of such have proved to be the hallmark of excellent gin. But I do hope our President’s proposed new-year gift of removal of fuel subsidy does not make the prediction come true on our national existence. Mr. President, this error is avoidable.

By Folarin Samson

A serving corps member in Ebonyi State

childofdkingdom@gmail.com/ 08030572852