Self-immolation has always been some bizarre way of ending one’s life or as a means of self-purification in certain climes, but Mohammed Bouazizi’s will remain with us for generations. In case you don’t know, Bouazizi is the young Tunisian whose self-immolation (suicide by fire) ignited the popular revolution that is ravaging the Mediterranean coast of Africa. President Obama said “Egypt will never be the same again,” but in truth, which Obama himself knows, the world itself will never be the same again. Dissatisfied with his hopelessness after he was stopped from selling groceries on the streets of the Tunisian town of Sid Bouzid, he chose the most horrifying way to protest and rumblings of that protest are still with us, reverberating even up to the White House. Jubilations and messages of solidarity have followed the toppling of both Presidents Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali and Mohammed Hosni Mubarak of Tunisia and Egypt respectively. Elsewhere, political, economic and diplomatic alignments and re-alignments are being carried out to accommodate the changes in both countries. Bouazizi may have never imagined his ‘martyrdom’ will have these far-reaching effects.
The middle-east is known to be the bastion of corrupt and repressive regimes that have always found allies in western governments that look the other way while the citizens of these countries suffer. International commentators have always been baffled at the double standards of countries like America, Britain and France who usually campaign against regimes that practice such autocratic forms of government, not for once condemning these Arab governments, at least, until the chicken came home to roost, courtesy of Mohammed Bouazizi. Probably as one commentator once wrote, the blood of oil is thicker than that of coca cola and exotic wines. The question to ponder is must governments humiliate their followers with socio-political yokes to the extent of self-immolation before they listen? The repercussions of Bouazizi’s act are many, ranging from the vacuum created by the resignation of heads of governments in both Tunisia and Egypt to Arab-Israeli relations. Already, there are copycats re-enacting the Bouazizi effect setting themselves alight to spark up revolutions in their countries. That has resulted in adjustments by governments in Jordan, Algeria and a renunciation not to contest future elections from the veteran leader of Yemen, Ali Abdallah Saleh. And so the hurricane continues: there are widespread concerns in the west those Muslim extremists represented by The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will seize upon the opportunity of Mubarak’s resignation to launch an Iran-like, conservative theocracy. Mubarak has always capitalized on America and its allies’ fears to warn of instability in the event of his being forced to leave too soon. The same kind of fear that President Suharto of Indonesia capitalized on to held on to power in the face of popular revolt, before eventually vacating office in 1998. Indonesia, to this day, in spite of its being the most populated Islamic country on the planet, has not been taken over by the Islamists that Suharto warned of. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, though categorized by the U.S as a terrorist organization, has declared times without number, that it had renounced violence decades ago. But its rhetoric on certain issues, like the Palestinian/Israeli conflict says otherwise and, regularly keeps potential allies from western democracies from changing their minds. What is remaining for the brave people of both Egypt and Tunisia is to show the whole world that they can take their own destinies into their hands and make something of them. Anything other than that and the sacrifices of people like Mohammed Bouazizi will then be in vain. It has already set up a chain reaction that may have wide reaching consequences for global politics and diplomacy. The toppling of unpopular regimes should not be the excuse for the ascendancy of other dictators waiting in the wings. Mubarak’s only vice-president in history, Omar Suleiman may have seen a possibility of this happening when he ended the speech announcing his boss’ resignation with the words: ‘’ may God help everyone.”
Talking about divine help brings me back home to Nigeria where people are oppressed by leaders who sometimes hide under the garb of religion, or pretending to be religious. The people’s wishes are not heard even when they are audibly saying “No!” via the ballot box. Like President Ben Ali, his wife Lela and her family who bask in untold wealth while their fellow countrymen were being denied their legal means of livelihood on the streets, Nigerian leaders are only serious when issues concerning their pay cheques are on the table. Numerous comparisons can be drawn from the happenings in North Africa to what Nigerians are experiencing in the hands of those who claim to care about them. The lessons from these sisters African countries are glaring to the discerning leader: power rests with the people, though it is with you now, it is transient. They can take it back when they are determined to. True of all hurricanes, they begin from a different country at tremendous speeds, destroying anything on their way, not recognizing boundaries until they are done. Untypical of this hurricane coming from the North is that it is named after a man.
