Since the start of the People’s revolutions in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, two long-term dictators have been toppled. Many regimes are on the verge of being replaced altogether by the sheer weight of the demands of ordinary citizens. Many governments are hurriedly putting together whole series of reforms aimed at placating the demands of citizens for far-reaching political reforms and an end of abuse to office and endemic corruption in many countries. Almost by the day, new uprisings are reported in countries long assumed to be immune to changes, except those desired by dictators or their Western supporters. Many changes are taking place without much bloodshed, as dictators have learned from Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen that they cannot resist the clamor for real change by the people.
But in Libya, Muammar Ghaddafi appears to assume that he can fight his way into staying in power beyond the 42 years he has ruled the country as dictator. While other leaders, governments or regimes have given way to the legitimate demands for real political change, Ghaddafi is digging in, and although he has lost control of much of the country’s territory to a popular militia, he appears bent on taking a final stand in Tripoli, Libyan capital. So far, anywhere between 800 and 2000 Libyans have lost their lives in the popular uprising against Col. Muammar Ghaddafi and his sons, and many more are likely to die before he is finally removed. It appears that the Colonel who came to power through a coup d’etat in 1969 and has ruled Libya for 42 years with almost unparalleled ruthlessness will sacrifice the lives of many more Libyans in his bid to defy his people. It also appears that the Libyan people will not retreat from this historic uprising and many keen observers believe that the removal of Col. Ghaddafi, though inevitable and now an absolute necessity, shed more blood and cost more lives in the course of the current wave of demands for change in the region.
Western powers and the United Nations are calling for sanctions against Col. Ghaddafi to hasten his fall, and minimize the damage he will cause while he is still holed up in Tripoli. These are the same powers and institutions which turned a blind eye to the ruthless dictatorship of Ghaddafi and his sons, and which reacted only when he threatened their interests directly, such as when he was suspected of shooting down a PAN-AM airliner over Lockerbie in Scotland. Once he made his peace with the West, the US and European countries hurried to resume normal relations with him, while the Libyan people who paid a terrible price for the many sanctions and years of isolation which the West imposed on Ghaddafi’s Libya continued to suffer from his misrule. When he claimed to have renounced and destroyed his weapons of mass destruction, the West welcomed him with open arms, but asked no questions about the political rights and economic situation of ordinary Libyans. So long as Ghaddafi could guarantee uninterrupted supply of oil and gas to the West, and sustain the huge imports of almost everything his country needed from the West, he was courted and tolerated as a necessary evil by the West.
Africa’s silence since the start of these uprisings in January are unforgivable, and embarrassing, and represents a major setback for the policy of non-indifference adopted by the African Union. The people of Tunisia and Egypt fought and won their battles without a word of support or encouragement from African countries or the African Union, which is committed to upholding the values of political freedom and rule of law. Even where the sheer weight of numbers and courage of ordinary citizens toppled dictators, or triggered major reforms, African countries or the African Union did not offer words of support or commendation. Instead, it is countries such as the US and those in Europe, who were largely responsible for propping up these dictators, which capitalized on the monumental courage and sacrifices of ordinary citizens to gain political advantages by mouthing words of sympathy and support. They kept these same dictators in power because they guaranteed political stability without freedom for their people; because they guaranteed continuous supply of oil and gas to the West without effective internal wealth distribution mechanisms; because they guaranteed peace and security for Israel without justice for its Arab neighbors. And today, the West wants to reap where it did not sow, by being seen as a champion of the people’s victory.
Perhaps most African leaders, either on their own or through regional bodies and the African Union failed to openly support the legitimate struggle of ordinary African citizens in Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt because they are themselves not innocent of the sins of the dictators in North Africa and the Middle East. Perhaps many of them see their image and fate in Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, and Ghaddafi, and many more leaders who will definitely follow their path.
If Africa as a whole will not raise a hand in support of the Libyan people’s struggle, Nigerians should demand that their government and country does so. There is no better opportunity to re-assert Nigeria’s claim to leadership in Africa than now and over the Libyan situation. The loud silence of Africa should be brought to an end by a direct and immediate demand by Nigeria that Muammar Ghaddafi should yield to his people’s legitimate demand to leave. Nigeria should also work with the ECOWAS and the African Union to limit Ghaddafi’s capacity to inflict more pain on the Libyan people. Every sanction and measure which should bring the crisis in Libya to an end must be adopted. Nigeria must spearhead a genuine African response, even if belated, to the monumental events taking place in North Africa and the Middle East. By all means, the West which benefited from Ghaddafi’s 42 years of misrule over the Libyan people, should not be allowed to reap the benefits of his removal.
Any African leader who resists the demand to lend his weight behind the popular uprisings in Africa and the Middle East must be seriously nursing a fear that he could be next. These types of leaders have no place in today’s Africa. One of the most important reasons why President Goodluck Jonathan should be visible and effective in supporting the Libyan people is that he has promised to allow the conduct of free and fair elections in April. Nigerians will believe him even more if he is seen as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other Africans who are fighting to exercise their basic rights to elect their leaders freely and without intimidation.
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