WHY NIGERIA'S WHITE REVOLUTION IS NOW
You cannot give to others what is not yours; neither can you take back what was not yours to give in the first instance. That has been a part of the Nigerian problem.
Ten years before independence a national census of Nigeria was conducted. It generated a lot of controversy and acrimony that carried over to the next census ten years later. The foundation of many of our problems was laid then and it remains till today.
When independence was handed over to us in 1960 without any bloodshed, we became a nation of sheep that did not know that one has to struggle for what one believes in. We missed the lesson of patriotism that was taught to the people of South, East, and Central Africa and Angola in particular, that had to win and water their freedom with the blood of their children. As a consequence of that easy passage, we did not lift a finger when our votes were stolen and the freedom that was handed over to us on a platter of gold was ruthlessly violated.
In spite of the rape of democracy over and over again at elections, Nigerians only barked but did not bite. Since the usurpers who ruled did not get anyone's consent they held the gun to the heads of Nigerians who consoled themselves that discretion was the better part of valor, and cowered like the goats they are as they went about their business wearing their collar of shame with glee. Of course a few smart ones ate and dined with the conquerors amassing a lot of wealth in the process
It is only on two occasions that Nigerians have generally accepted that their votes went to the person of their choice. One instance was aborted and the second one is now that it has been reasonable established that a majority of Nigerians actually gave the votes that brought Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan to the Presidency. It is my view that it is now proper to demand from him the return of our mandate if he does not perform as expected. Three years is too long for anyone to want to wait for reclaiming the mandate.
Nigerians should start somewhere to assert themselves. My view is that the time is now and the excuse is that this government has no sense of shame. Please let me expatiate on this since it is not often that governments are challenged for their lack of sense of shame.
What my mother taught me by way of advice and with many strokes of the cane when I did not heed her, was that I should not lie. Her thinking was that those who lie have no sense of shame and that that lack is the root of all evil. She illustrated her point by saying that you should not do anything you will not be ready to own up to in the market-place. Her logic was that once you don't have a sense of shame you will steal, prostitute yourself, and do many of the things we feel are wrong in Nigeria today like corruption, assassination, vote rigging, and lack of integrity to name a few. According to her, if you lie to someone, you should not be able to look him in the eye when you are found out, that is, if you have a sense of shame!
I have had a lot of time in life to think over this and what that woman said that long ago is not simplistic. In the communities in which I was brought up, you brought untold shame to your parents and family if you behaved incorrectly like say, stealing. No amount of wealth or gratification could remove that stain for generations. You and your family members could not hold any office in the community; you would find it very difficult indeed to get any families to agree to give their child to your family in marriage; in short, you and your family are silent outcasts in the community.
Almost all Nigerians believe that education can correct the ills of the country. They are wrong because no amount of preaching and pontification at school will do any good when the children get back from school to continue to share the greater part of their life in the debased communities they live in. To add a minor twist to a popular saying: schools build character; communities negate them (doctors care, God cures). But that is another story for another day.
The current shameless bickering of two men who in other societies would be regarded as elder statesmen by virtue of their antecedents is the issue that sparked this call for a revolution of guts and not of guns. Nigeria has been passive for too long but now that the world acknowledges that Ebele has our mandate, there is no reason why we cannot ask it to be returned since he is the leader of a shameless people. It is a seemingly little matter like this that we should use to call our leaders to order by showing that we mean business and that the lessons of peaceful revolts around the world in recent months are not lost on us.
The call should be for the president to do the following things within a month:
1. Dismiss the two retired generals (who have publicly declared with their own mouths that they are both fools) from the Nigerian Army with ignominy.
2. Cite as his reason that they have not behaved like officers and gentleman (omo l'uabi or cultured persons, or matured men)
3. Divest them of all national honors which they have glaringly shown the world they do not deserve.
4. Remove them from councils and related bodies of which they are members by virtue of their having been legally or illegally heads of state
5. Ensure that no money of this country is ever paid to them or their proxies ever again for whatever reason.
This is Ebele's first test of sincerity and intention to rule this country without fear or favor. It is if he passes this test that other issues will follow. If he does not regard the public show of shame of these two men as SHAMEFUL then he is not the right person to rule us. We can even go one step further to infer that having no sense of shame he may be capable of some other things that result from shamelessness. To me all the noise and volumes written about corruption in Nigeria are meaningless if we the common people cannot demand and get some reasonable response from our leaders on very clear and non-partisan issues like this. It is not sufficient to raise highbrows and make some threatening noises. Those two men disgrace us.
Nigerians should get ready for their own revolution that will demand guts and nothing more. Let it be white – arm band, handkerchief, scarf, head-tie, cap, or dress to show the purity of our hearts and the peaceful and non-violent nature of our demand. It might seem a futile call to the visionless but when we turn out from our hamlets in trickles and droves Ebele may be forced to face the new reality that Nigerians will no longer remain passive when their legitimate and sincere calls are ignored. At 85 I will be there no matter the odds!
ENOUGH I THINK IS ENOUGH.
Amiel M. Fagbulu
amiel.fagbulu@ymail.com
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
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