REVOLUTION IN NIGERIA

REVOLUTION IS THE LAST HOPE NOT CHANGE

Revolution is that point in time when the governed in a particular organization/state get tired of the government or political system in power and forcibly overthrow the “power house” for the benefits of all in the society. The thesaurus dictionary defined revolution as the overthrow or repudiation of a regime or political system by the governed while Karl Max or the Marxists see revolution as the violent and historically necessary transition from one system of production in a society to the next, as from feudalism to capitalism. Revolution in essence means change from what is considered unacceptable to what is generally favorable to the majority. I will say that in a way, democracy has failed in Nigeria or rather Nigeria practice what I refer to as theoretical democracy which in practical terms does not exist. Nigeria claims to practice democracy since the new beginning in 1999 when the government of Abdulsalami’s transition to civil rule program became a reality. Since 1999 till date, Nigeria has been regarded as a democratic state. But the question remains, is Nigeria really a democratic state as they claimed?

Well the answer is NO! Nigeria as a democratic state is a constitutional article which in practice is deceptive and unreliable. If at all we must regard Nigeria as a democratic state, we should not also forget to address it as a dictatorial democracy.

It is true that Nigeria does not have a sit-tight autocrat. But “Does the absence of a sit-tight leader mean that Nigeria has no dictatorship?” The Merriam Webster dictionary defines dictatorship as “autocratic rule, control or leadership” or as “a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique”. In the definition above, it can be deduced that you need not be a military personnel to rule by autocracy.  In other words, dictatorship varies dependent on how and when an action is taken and cause of the action. Nigeria autocracy is been covered under the name of democracy which makes people believe that the law is prevalent in all actions and that every action is taken by the majority.

Let us not be fooled by our bogus democracy where the people (party faithful) have no say in the determination of delegates to their party convention and by extension, their party’s flag bearers, who usually are the candidates that dish out the largest amount of foreign currency. In Nigeria, the state is equivalent to the ruling party and the ruling party is synonymous with the Nigerian state. There is no clear distinction. The cohort have absolute control over all arms of government, including the judiciary, all state apparatus, institutions  and parastatals including INEC, EFCC, the Federal Police and the NNPC. They can effectively deploy the resources of the EFCC for example to intimidate political opponents while simultaneously milking the resources of the NNPC to procure political patronage. Typical Examples of such can be traced to when the federal government dragged the likes of Ike Ekweremmadu and some judges who we know judged a case against APC or the party affiliated personnel to court accusing them of being corrupt and some other uncalled for sort of accusations.

THE NEED FOR REVOLUTION IN NIGERIA

Nigerians have lingered too long in vain in the hope that the leopard will change her spots. Going back to memory lane, the most dispassionate observer must be moved to read of the condition of the first generations who worked in the mines and mills of England, America, France and Germany. Living in surroundings of intense squalor and ugliness, these men, women and children were called upon to work up to and in many cases beyond the capacity of human endurance. Nigerian workers have not fared better in terms of equitable reward.

Revolution is a concept that has been used and practiced in so many states. This concept had always produced a positive result. The reason for revolution is to bring in a new state that is less corrupt, a new state that will give the majority equal participation in the running of the state and for some other reasons but the utmost aim of every revolutionists is to achieve a greater result than what is in existence already. The republic of Cuba some years ago experienced a great revolution carried out by Fidel Castro and his colleagues, his ultimate aim was to overthrow the then military and autocratic leadership of Batista and to restore the fundamental rights of Cuban citizens and actualize a  new state where everyone will live well, he wanted a classless society where everyone is seen as being equal, where the rule of law is effective and efficient, where some people don’t have to live in luxury while others has nothing to eat. Where the law is made for everybody. The revolution of Fidel Castro created a new state, Cuban therefore went from being a capitalist state to being a socialist state thereby creating rooms for “a world for all” in Cuba.

Nigeria is faced with a nonviolent change in the social and political structure of our society. The new Nigeria should embark on a systematic departure from an insolent Status Quo whose difficult disastrous control on the society at large seems unbeatable. When discontented groups in the society have been unable to improve their circumstances by peaceful and legal means, they have sometimes been driven to the extremity

of revolting against the deaf and dumb society.
The desire to establish a new society in terms of political, economic and social structures represent a radical break from the previous system and a break from the past. There are instances of non-violent revolutions such as the English Revolution of 1688 which brought William III to the English throne and changed the character of the English political system. Violence generally occurs however because those in power are not willing to abdicate their rule or share their rule with the revolutionaries for a new social order. Some revolutions are characterized by warfare and violence such as the American Revolution 1775-83, the French Revolution 1789 and the Russian revolution of 1917.

What kind of REVOLUTION do Nigeria really need?

Non-violent Revolution is not an option in the Nigerian state. In a state that is corrupt in every aspect of its endeavors such as Nigeria, non-violent Revolution don’t have a chance of success.  It was out of this soil that socialism grew. Nigerians have inherited a colonial legacy where man’s inhumanity to man has become the order of the day. As socialism emerged from under the spell of Karl Marx and as it became increasingly involved in the political and social processes of various countries, it tended to take a wide variety of forms. Certain beliefs, attitudes and objectives do tend however to be shared by socialist everywhere. Foremost among these is the belief that society acting through its political institution, should undertake to regulate the economic processes of production and distribution. All socialist to a greater or lesser extent advocate public ownership of the means of production and public utilities. Generally, socialists favour a more equal distribution of wealth within society. Many have argued that socialism presents a real threat to the values of a free society and that the kind of regulation and public ownership to which it is committed will destroy the moral fibre of free men. Socialists believe that Democracy and socialism are complementary rather than antithetical. Therefore a violent Revolution is required in the Nigerian state. A total new state is needed and this total new state can only be achieved through violent, unbiased and unethical Revolution. This means that some people’s blood has to serve as a sacrifice to achieving this. Bloodless revolutions stands a problem of counter-revolution which will take the state back to its normal/old state if successful. Counter Revolutions were often brought about when the class or group which has been overthrown by the revolution makes a concerted attempt to regain power even after the electorate withdrew their mandate as can be anticipated in Nigeria. They will eventually restore the past and may be obliged to retain some of the fundamental changes secured by the revolutionaries. This will spell political down for the country Nigeria where “lootocracy” will replace “Democracy” in a superlative manner.

The new state “socialism”

This moment of the emergence of a revolutionary situation occasioned by change is important as in the case with Nigeria where old habits die hard. The ability to catch the moment, to determine the direction

To be continued next week.