Revolutionary drumbeats

By Sun News Publishing
Sunday, December 11, 2011   the link

These are really strange times. It is strange to the extent that warnings of imminent revolution are emanating from unlikely quarters. Penultimate week, President Goodluck Jonathan warned of a possible revolution in the country if government does not provide jobs for the army of unemployed youths. And only last week, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, issued a similar warning.

He said a mass revolt might take place in Nigeria if the precarious socio-economic conditions of the people were not addressed. He hinted at the possibility of “Arab Spring”, the mass protests that recently rocked the Arab world, if the discontent that is afflicting the Nigerian citizenry is not addressed.

In the same vein, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Ahmed Hassan Al-Ghazali, had cause, last week, to warn Northern leaders of a possible mass revolt in the region if the youths are allowed to continue to wander hopelessly. These are, indeed, strange warnings. We are aware that revolutionary talks are not the pastime of the elite. It is reactionary elements, not conservatives, that toy with the idea. All over the world, revolutions have remained the handiwork of the disappointed, the dissatisfied, the disgruntled and the deprived. This hapless breed usually resort to such mass revolt as a way of getting back at the elite and the rich that are oppressing them.

For them, revolution is a revenge tool and a means of cleansing the mess in the land. The target of every revolution are the privileged few who have exploited the system to their advantage. Revolutions seek to right these wrongs.
But what we are being treated to in the present circumstance is the opposite of all of this. The President who has all it takes to stem the tide of conditions that can nourish revolution is talking about it glibly as if he is helpless. As president, Jonathan should be scared of revolutionary talks. He should not be the one to amplify it. But if he is worried about the possibility of this as he would have us believe, then he has an ample opportunity to redress the conditions that are making revolution imminent in Nigeria.

Former President Obasanjo’s interjection in this matter is equally strange. We recall that he spent eight unbroken years in the saddle. Regrettably, however, he did not do much to improve the lot of the people of Nigeria. The unemployment he alluded to did not start today. It was as rife during his era as it is today. If he had addressed the issues he is quipping about today, we will not have in our hands the type of socio-economic emergency that is threatening the peace of the land.

It is, indeed, disturbing that these leaders are talking about mass revolt. Their interest in this matter is suggestive of something sinister. As beneficiaries of the system they are jibing at, we cannot but wonder about what they are up to. Is there something they know which the rest of us do not know? How can people who have all it takes to improve the material condition of the people be the ones predicting doom?

This is, indeed, very strange.
However, since these leaders have chosen to broach an issue that hardly fits their status, we urge them to take advantage of their position and make amends. Obasanjo as a former president can do this by making restitution for the wrong actions that he took while in office. He can own up to his failings as president and use same to point the way for the new president.

On his part, President Jonathan should go beyond lamentation and expression of regrets. He should, instead, engage in positive action. He should learn from the mistakes of his predecessors, especially Obasanjo and work towards making a positive difference. Rather than imagine revolution, he should envision a new Nigeria where the welfare of the citizenry should become an article of faith for governments, beginning with his. If they do this, the conditions for revolution in Nigeria will become far-fetched.