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Lessons from
the death of Kenule Saro-Wiwa
Tonye
David-West, Jr., Ph.D
Ibnaija@yahoo.com
On this
fourth anniversary [Nov. 10] of the execution of writer,
comedian and poet KENULE SARO-WIWA, its important we take a
moment to reflect on the horrors visited on our nation by the
late Gen. Sani Abacha and his mentor, IBB. Indeed, many would
agree that in just less than two years of the death of that
ruthless despot, we have achieved a lot as a nation anent
democratic issues. But we will be remiss if we forget the
sacrifices of men [and women] like Saro-Wiwa, Dele Giwa, MKO
Abiola, Pa Rewane, Kudirat Abiola, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and a
host of others known and unknown. These men [and woman] paid the
ultimate price for their refusal to sell their souls, their
beings.
The chilling words of
Kenule Saro-Wiwa on that fateful day of his hanging at the
Port-Harcourt prison is truly axiomatic in its entirety even
until this moment. Those words would remain edged in my mind.
"Those who perpertrate evil on their fellow men shall be
visited by evil." It did not take long for his words to
come true as Abacha himself soon became a victim of death and
was interred quite unceremoniously and in a manner utterly
unbefitting of a head of state. Many a leaders have thought of
their invincibility and occasioned mayhem on their subjects as
though they were God. The likes of Mobutu Sese Sekou, Siad
Barres of Somalia, Emperor Bokassa of Central Africa, Sekou
Tourre of Guinea, etc., all thought they would live on this
earth eternally and would forever rule their countries. But
today, they are dust, the "dust shall return to the
dust" and their legacies unfancied. Is this how our leaders
will like to be remembered?
Our leaders must learn
from these traumatic experiences and ensure the path of freedom
and respect for humanity. They must understand that they are
mortals as well and can be taken away by the creator at anytime.
Abacha thought he had it all, hydraulic gates, tanks,
armed-to-the-teeth foot soldiers patroling every nook and corner
of Aso Rock and its environs, fighter planes stationed at Aso
Rock rather than at airforce bases across the country, bunkers,
specially trained Republican Guards, security reports
everywhere, survillience camaras all over Abuja, taxi drivers
and market women as informats, plain cloth security men, more
than 5,000 security personnel on his payroll and an astonishing
yearly "security vote" of $1.5 billion, all to no
avail. He was taken in a flash and in less than twenty hours the
"dust returned to the dust". What happened to all that
security?
So there are many
lessons here to be drawn---our leaders should realize that their
ascension to power is not a right, but a privilege and as such
they must utilize every moment to better the lives of their
subjects. They must be self-less and harbor no disruptive
agendas as we saw in the case of Abacha who wasted billions of
dollars to wage a senseless campaign to succeed himself. They
must treat all humans with dignity, respect, equity and justice
no matter the opposition presented. They must lead a responsible
goverment.
And so on this fourth
anniversary of the death of KENULE SARO-WIWA, I urged all
Nigerians to support the current administration in its bid to
ensure human rights, accountability and justice for all. Kenule
Saro-Wiwa did not ask for much, just equity for his people and a
due reckoning and compensation for their plight. But Abacha had
a different agenda, he thought he must silence Saro-Wiwa who was
disrupting his agenda and the free flow of oil profits into his
pocket---and so he silenced him once and for all, or did he
really silence him? He did not realise that death [like
nation-states in politics] has no permanent friends but
permanent interests as it came for him only two and half years
later. There is surely a lesson for all here. A lesson indeed
for all. It is often said that "it is the fly who does not
have an adviser that follows the corpse to the grave." To
quote the first president of Nigeria, the late Dr. Nnamdi
Azikiwe---"no condition is permanent." He further
stated, "na condition make cray fish bend." Our
leaders better learn this, right their ways and listen to the
words of wisdom.
Truly, the deaths of
Saro-Wiwa, MKO, Giwa, Rawane, Kudirat, Yar'Adua, etc., shall
remain a constant reminder of our democratic struggles and our
resolve not to succuum to evil no matter the bait nor the
consequences---even death. We must do what is right before man
but most importantly before GOD.
Tonye David-West, Jr.,
Ph.D
Political Scientist
USA
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