RISE UP IN ARMS

RISE UP IN ARMS! Now in Nigeria, as more or less in the larger world, the plight of the common man alarmingly assumes the dimensions of extinction. Everyday, in and around our societies, in every nook and cranny, in our homes and streets, our schools and markets, our hospitals and religious centres; we stare in horror as this morbid development stares us back in the face; evoking our reaction; prodding the dying humanity in us; nudging us with the conviction that we are part and parcel of the sordid spectacle, even though we would wish to believe otherwise. It pervades the purlieus of our communities: from the exploding melting pots of our urban centres to the forgotten carcasses of our remotest villages. Sometimes, its putrid stench threatens to obtrude upon the exclusive fragrance of our palaces but quickly encounters an impenetrable shield. Gallivanting, however, within the cosy atmosphere of these Palaces, the spivs and opportunists who have become our compulsory leaders, often look on with shattering indifference as their fellow citizens struggle and drown in the mire of excrement voided by the self-acclaimed leaders, themselves. Within the sumptuous confines of their havens, built with our collective wealth, these criminals in power watch unperturbed as the helpless masses squirm, flounder and gasp for the final breath. Because this bunch of pretenders do not rely on pensions, they turn the pension scheme into a mirage which our senior citizens only observe from afar, but never live to enjoy. Because they gad about in airplanes, they turn our roads into the river Styx, and a voyage through them, the voyage of death. Because they are above the law, they turn our courts into private properties, where the common man alone is cowed and 1

intimidated without the slightest regard to their human rights. Because their health is ensured at the most expensive hospitals overseas, they turn our hospitals into mortuaries, and our dispensaries, store houses of poisons. Because their children are in all the Oxfords and Harvards of the world, they turn our education into a fruitless venture, or at worse, a Sisyphean ordeal. And because they have expropriated our huge common wealth for their own personal splurge, they turn our markets into auction theatres, where the ordinary Nigerian goes only to observe articles from a distance, without even a smidgen of purchasing power in his pocket. What more can we suffer at the hands of these fellow citizens, turned juggernauts, than what the masses of Germany had suffered at the hands of Adolf Hitler: ANNIHILATION. It must be recalled that Adolf Hitler, on September 1, 1939 issued a letter to the German Reichskommissar for health, ordering the brutal extermination of bona fide and law abiding citizens of Germany, whom he had perceived as useless, because they were commoners, far away from the corridors of power: far away from the cosy Palaces. By the diabolical power of this executive order, about 100,000 members of the German masses were, between the period of October, 1939 and August, 1941, annihilated by the crudest and grimmest methods known to man; their only crime being that they were sick. And because the German masses were docile; totally bereaved of the will and stoicism to fight, or even speak out for their rights, Hitler had assumed the title: Oberster Gerichtsherr (The Supreme Law Lord), and unleashed himself on them like a monster. But from Munster, a single, courageous voice had sounded. It was the voice of the Catholic Bishop, Count von Galen, who unilaterally and heroically spoke out against Hitler on August 3, 1941; thereby bringing this very madness finally to a halt. The question then is, 2

couldn’t the entire bloodletting had been prevented if the masses of Germany had united in one voice and action against Hitler and his power – drunk cohorts? Judging by the suppression and apathy which it has demonstrated over a long period of time against the masses of this country, it should scarcely be doubted that the clique of irresponsible and ruthless leadership, which this nation has long been cursed with, has already launched a battle of attrition and annihilation against the law-abiding masses of this country. The onus is therefore now on all the ravished and beguiled masses of this nation to come together and say no to further exploitation by all those in whose hands chance and intrigue happened to place the golden spoon; whose profiteering from the present deprivation, decimation and emasculation of the masses has so much blinkered that they would do anything but see a break in this terrible cycle of dehumanization. The situation now must indeed be seen as what it is, and that is war. The country is now at a time of siege. But in every war situation, one must be able to take full cognizance of who his enemy is. That makes the battle focused and easier. It is imperative for us to note at this point - and this is true, not only in Nigeria but the world over – that the battle is not and has never been between political parties and ideologies, it is never between economic systems and methodologies, it is never between religious and theological dogmas and persuasions, it has never been between races, colours and tribes. In reality, the war has always been between the people and the corrupt, counterfeit leaderships. It has always been between the ordinary citizens and those tyrants who pretend to lead them, but who indeed are spivs and self-seekers, serving 3

only their individual stomachs. The war has always been between the masses and all those whom intrigues and absolute bereavement of scruples happened to position favourably, and who must then confer on themselves the added title of ‘blue bloods’ or ‘sacred cows’. However, the most unfortunate aspect of this war is that, while the Blue Bloods have long understood the situation and their position in it, the masses, on the other side of the lists, are yet to do just that. By employing all manner of grievous intrigues, the former hoodwink the latter into shadowboxing. By appealing to all kinds of sophistry, they begin to indoctrinate them to fight against imaginary enemies. Enemies such as the several unrealistic standards that have been employed to encumber us and engender in us a factitious sense of inadequacy. Why for instance must formal education, as it were, be idolized? Why must we be made to feel that we cannot function without formal education? In as much as formal education in its most basic form (and this, in my own definition, is that education which is just enough to empower one with the necessary tools for effective communication) is advantageous, it, however, needs be pointed out that anything further than that ought not to be a sine qua non except for a few disciplines such as medicine, engineering and the sciences. There is no reason whatsoever why, for instance, a child who is talented in fine arts should be made to begin to sit for entrance examinations into a university. Usually, the procedures leading to, and the actual mode of these entrance examinations would be made so expensive, onerous and recondite that after several attempts fraught expectedly with failures, the child loses the will to continue. But most importantly, he loses focus and may be tempted, or rather pressured in latter life to try some other 4

endeavours such as trading. Of course, he has little or no talent in this, and his self-esteem has become so depleted that he is likely to be a failure in those areas too. Moreover, he is expected to be a failure after all, for once one misses his innate talent; he is bound to be a failure, or at best a mediocrity. Later, this child, now a man becomes highly frustrated, and his self-esteem ebbs to such an extent that he begins to consider suicide. But if on the other hand the child succeeds in gaining an admission into the university, what is he going there to be taught than the vain history of his precursors who attained greatness, not by studying arts in the university, but by apprenticing themselves to masters who had the same calling as they, imbibing the direct and practical rudiments and etiquettes of that calling, and most importantly, listening to their own hearts. Again we are all aware of the prevalent situation, especially in Third World countries, where one delves headlong into formal education with the hope of gaining a good and befitting employment at the end, only to discover to his chagrin on graduation that the mile-stone of standards have just been shifted a little higher. He has to plunge his pitiful self back into the vortex of formal education. Here in Nigeria, for instance, it was an elementary six certificate that we were asked to acquire before we could be given a job. We hopefully took the plunge into formal education for that. When we got the certificate, the authorities were sorry: the standard had changed. We now needed an O’level Schools’ Certificate. We swallowed hard, took a deep breath and plunged back into school. After much hardship and dehumanization in the hands of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and all 5

their likes and cohorts, we smiled joyfully and ran to our masters for the job they promised. But alas, the standard had changed once again. We now needed a Baccalaureate. We needed to see the four walls of a university we needed to swim a bigger ocean. We stood there not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Then a little word of encouragement, and we plunged back into the deep blue sea. This time, the battle was fierce. The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) and all their cohorts were determined to slaughter us without mercy. The sadistic university dons on one hand and the flying arrows of a bastardized economy on the other went altogether for our jugulars. But at the end, we triumphed and ran bleeding and naked to our beatific masters. We could not believe our eyes and ears. The standard had again moved a little higher. We had to obtain a Masters Degree to gain employment. But our will had been broken. We no longer had the where- withal to sustain another plunge and onslaught. We sat there on the floor smiling wryly to ourselves. However, some of us where more stoic. They braced themselves once again and took the plunge. Time will not spare us to say what they saw in the battlefield this time. At the end, they made it and staggered with their last breath into the presence of the Master. The Master was sorry. They now needed a Doctorate Degree. They went away and hanged themselves. This same analogy explicates the reason why there is so much scramble for certificates in our society today. The emphasis is now on the paper value of the certificate rather than the knowledge and savvy, which it is supposed to convey. Formal education is on a natural path to a situation where people, especially the masses, are stampeded to struggle for certificates without the commensurate know-how that is purported to go with it. It also underlines the reason why formal education is ending up 6

producing educated fools and mediocrities, especially among the masses, who must perpetually look unto the Blue Bloods for their livelihood. Of course, the Blue Bloods do not rely on the embellishments of formal education for their continual hold on the greater chunk of the means of production. This, by no means, is to say that education in itself is a phenomenon to be contradicted or inveighed against. We only wish to elucidate the view that education is an integral and inveterate part of life. It evolves in nature. Nature itself embodies it and teaches us everyday. All we need is to take a cognitive stance. Make a conscious effort to organize, assimilate and build upon what nature proffers to us. Formal education, the way we understand it today, is just one aspect of that, which should be intended for some few specified disciplines. There is no justification of the hoopla and generalization that tends to enthrone it as a sine qua non for every discipline under the sun. May it therefore suffice to state at this juncture that the ubiquitous and labyrinthine effort over ages to indoctrinate the masses into drudgery and a straight jacket of formal education is heinous in its entirety, as well as all the other obnoxious and inimical standards that have been raised by the aristocracy. Again let us, for instance, take a critical look at the religious system as another weapon of the Blue Bloods. It is true that religion, just like education, politics and economics, is engrained in human nature, but man has, over eons, thwarted and utilised this vital grain of human nature to control and hypnotise his fellow man all to his own advantage. Sometimes, it appears that the Achilles’ heel of every human consists in 7

those vital grains that constitute his or her very nature. So, all those on whom chance bestowed the preponderance of this intelligence must besiege these grains and lead their fellow humans about, manacled in their mentalities to serve them forever. No wonder Karl Marx, in his utter dismay at the efficacy of this particular weapon, blazoned forth that religion is the opium of the masses. On many occasions, in different countries and among diverse milieus, we get reports of individuals who succeed in indoctrinating enormous crowds of people into relinquishing their senses of individuality and independence, all in the name of religion. Who, through mental rape and hypnotic suggestions, imbue their followers with a gruesome awareness of personal inadequacy and a sense of unbridled humility and loyalty while, at the same time, elevating themselves to an awesome status of gurus. Gurus that must continue to wallow in abundance brought about by the peasant and ignorant devotees who lay their meagre provision at the feet of the gurus while they, themselves remain in an ever-worsening deprivation. Gurus who must live in unapproachable castles while the peasants waste their days and nights in stuffy houses of prayer hoping on hope. Gurus who must fly to holy lands in private, state-of-the-art jets and come back richer and healthier while their peasant followers who, after unspeakable acts of derring-do, succeed in getting there, only get there to be crushed in a stampede. Gurus who, in the name of tithes, collect the remaining mite from a hunger-stricken widow so as to ride in customized jets and splurge their booty around. Gurus who must not lead like John the Baptist who ate locust and wild honey alone, or like Jesus Christ who sought on a fig tree something to assuage his hunger, 8

or like Paul who lived by making tents and endured hunger throughout his ministry, or even like Peter who testified that he had given everything up for the sake of the ministry. Gurus who teach us to hope on heaven while they make the earth a heaven for themselves and their families. Gurus who must not be challenged. These god-men and self-proclaimed avatars have gone a step further to employ religious loyalty as a tool for witch hunts. They never hesitate to deploy their zombies to quell and diffuse any inkling of a political or economic opposition, leaving destruction and lots of blood in their wake. But on all such occasions, a close observation always reveals that much of the blood shed is that of fellow zombies and never that of the Blue Bloods. However, we understand that there is absolutely no reason why religion should not become a personal thing. Why it should not become a thing of the individual’s mind and spirit, where it is meant to be in the first place. As we have already pointed out, religion is part and parcel of the human nature and originates from the heart of man. It should therefore serve man and not man it. If we understand this, it then becomes clear that religion can, and should, be practiced in an atmosphere of peace irrespective of conviction, persuasion, or bias. Any dogma that teaches the decimation of the masses by their fellow masses must be viewed as invasive and aristocratic irrespective of its source. So also is any doctrine which condones the infringement of any individual on the human rights of another individual. One can only become a weapon to be used by another if one yields his faculties to that fellow, who is but a fellow human with flesh and blood, and not a god. 9

Now let’s talk about politics as one of the most effective weapons by which the aristocracy distracts and subjugates the plebs. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, politics essentially means manoeuvring for power or advantage within a group or organization. Today politics has become synonymous with electoral democracy. However, we know that humans, while political by nature, are not necessarily democratic by nature. In more ways than one, it appears that humans are rather autocratic by nature. It begins from the home. The father demands absolute authority and obedience from all. At school, the strongest child turns out a bully and demands obedience from the weaker ones. Throughout history, we come across men and even women who, through hook or crook, learnt to subjugate their fellow humans to themselves under inhuman conditions. This trend has not changed. Like slavery, it only changes its cloak. One of the cloaks is electoral democracy. The aristocracy teaches us that electoral democracy is the best type of governance. The government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In it, everyone has a say in the structuring of the polity. It is to be preferred to autocracy in all its ramifications. Autocracy, though more natural, has become altogether provincial. Nature does not always offer the best. Most times, it has to be improved upon. Electoral democracy is therefore the exquisite fruit of man’s ingenuity and intelligence: an improvement on nature’s autocratic instinct. But is that all true? The truth remains that electoral democracy is only a change of cloak and not of the corporeal essence of what hides behind the cloak. Autocracy still holds sway, only this time, not by one individual, but by an oligarchic bunch of the same old Blue Bloods (oligarchy is only an adaptation of 10

autocracy) who are united, not essentially in name, political party or ideology, but in the same ghoulish goal of lording it over the plebs for their own ultimate advantage. They form political parties and ask us to join any of our choice. But the question is: who pulls the strings in all the political parties? Are they not the same Blue Bloods who are always either found among the highest hierarchy of the parties, or who remain faceless behind the scenes, funding the parties, endorsing campaigns and deciding who to bear the mantle of one office or the other? At the end, what do we have? A mosaic of the same ruling class, mixed with a few stooges, all from the aristocratic power bloc of the same old autocracy. So, nature and autocracy still prevails at the end of the day. However, the aristocracy gains an unquantifiable advantage in this new cloak of intrigue. In the first place, we must recall that it became expedient to seek for a cloak for autocracy because, in its natural form, it was observed to be inconvenient. Of course, there had always been that smouldering acrimony between the ruler and the ruled, the tyrant and the renegades, the autocrat and the plebs. So, as the ‘cold war’ raged on, it only had to come to a point where the aristocrats were no longer comfortable with the system. They became apprehensive that the masses might call their bluff; discover their emptiness, and hence run them over in a spell of stupendous anomy. Desperately, they sought for a way out. Hence, electoral democracy was born. What an ingenious scheme. The plebs, while being given the impression of contributing to the polity, are tricked into surrendering their wills - their only weapons - at the feet of their adversaries. 11

The plebs are not only cajoled to wilfully surrender their weapons. They are also made to lose their sense of who the real enemy is. The enemy plays himself to the top. He commandeers the state resources meant for the masses all to himself. He then tosses a few crumbs of the stolen resources into the laps of the electorate, who indeed are the masses. They scramble for the crumbs. In the scramble, they fight one another and end up decimating themselves. Those who survive gormandize the crumbs and then lionize and secure the enemy on his pedestal where he continues to loot the public resources. And the cycle goes on and on. The cycle goes on and on, for the aristocracy, like a leech, is totally unwilling to let go, having discovered the efficacy of this warped and evil strategy. Firstly, through the tool of systematic mass-impoverishment, they not only foster disaffection among the masses - thereby forestalling their forming a common front - but also set themselves on lofty pedestals off against the background of squalor, where the hungry and hopeless masses ogle and worship them as the quintessence of that state of existence which they and their children would hope for but will never attain. Secondly, the masses, by this stratagem, are denied the wherewithal to call to question the excesses and evils of the aristocracy. This is the very reason why our leaders do not steal money just enough for themselves and their children. They go all the way to steal, in one fell swoop, billions of dollars from the people’s coffers - money that should have been more than enough to guarantee a superb standard of living, not only for themselves and their families, but also for every single one of their fellow citizens and even for posterity. They operate by one simple code: “to guarantee your hold on power; impoverish the ‘bastards’ 12

the much you can, and by the same dint, lift yourself higher upon your kingly pedestal.” Another flaw of electoral democracy is that it purports to empower the majority. However, we realize that we can have different kinds of majority. We can have a foolish majority, an ignorant majority, a corrupt majority, and so on. A democracy that empowers a majority of the foolish ilk ends up with a foolish government. One that empowers a majority of the ignorant ilk ends up with an ignorant government. And another that empowers a majority of the corrupt ilk ends up with a corrupt government. And since electoral democracy tends to perpetually subjugate the minority to the whimsicality of the majority, how could the minority be salvaged when the majority is perverse? We have earlier drawn a schema of how the aristocracy, under the veneer of democracy, cajoles the plebs into destroying themselves in order to enthrone them for their own (the aristocracy) parochial aggrandisements. What if such a cajolery, in methodology, targets a foolish chunk of the plebs, exploits their ignorance and corrupts them into taking sides with them and taking up the gauntlet against their own kind, all for the sake of mere crumbs tossed their ways? Of course, the illicit collaboration of this chunk and the aristocracy may possibly produce a majority. Electoral democracy cannot, and has never, proffered sustained and effective solution to corruption and so many other ills arising from denatured human nature, which plague human societies the world over. Such evils can neither be stalled by vain bantering episodes in legislative forums nor by farcical brawls staged in our ever sprawling assemblies. What such maladies require is total deracination, and this, in our context, is tantamount to a total moral revolution. A severe whirlwind of change, 13

be it bloody or peaceful, which must blow across the nation in a flash, bringing to book all those evil roots that engendered the equally evil seed we now tag ‘corruption’. A fiery wind that must blow away anything that cannot stand the test of its refining cataclysm. A civil tornado that must blow away our old malignant and purulent mentality and endue us with another that is burdened with a vision that enthrones the state and its survival against parochial aggrandizements. Without such a revolution, we will only keep wasting our time and resources building on a rotten foundation that is bound to collapse, while also enriching the already gorged and besotted Blue Bloods. Electoral democracy undoubtedly lacks the sheer will and sense of purpose to achieve this sort of all-important revolution. This foundation anew can only be erected by a preliminary, strong and decisive autocracy which must be backed by the people, and which must be resolutely sworn to the common and unbiased survival, growth and development of the nation, which literally and unequivocally denotes the survival, growth and development of the citizenry, irrespective of tribe, class, colour, language, or philosophical persuasion. It is true that the masses have seldom championed or borne the pioneering burden of any strategic revolution. However, it is incontestable that no strategic revolution has been effectively realized without the total commitment of the masses. The apophthegm may even be consolidated and corroborated by the appreciation of the subtle pattern that exists when we observe that corruption and every other social ill always descend from the top to the bottom: from the head of the aristocracy or the upper class (the heads of governments, the parliamentarians, the ministers and commissioners) through the arteries and veins of the upper middle class (the heads of civil services and 14

permanent secretaries, the very high-classed contractors, the heads of parastatals and organizations, and all those who have direct links with the upper class) and down to the ‘contemptible’ squalor of the masses, that is the lower middle class and the lower class (including all ordinary workers or civil servants, all ordinary workers in companies, organizations, and parastatals, all lower-classed contractors, all artisans, all peasants; indeed, all those who have no direct links with the upper class, and who are forced to queue up at petrol filling stations in the event of a fuel scarcity). From the portrayed pattern, it is all too easy to deduce that our kind of revolution can only begin from the top, but its success will hopefully come to view when the masses have adequately ‘caught the fever of it’ and when the reality and willing acceptance of it has permeated their ranks invoking their active participation. This they are bound to do when they have equally observed the strength, sincerity and practical commitment of the new top. In the final analysis, in as much as we accept that nature may not be perfect and may sometimes need to be improved upon, there is no reason whatsoever to believe that electoral democracy offers that much awaited panacea for the governmental problems of humanity. It is just a diversionary technique: one more shadow created by the enemy to distract the attention of the masses from him. But the question remains: how long shall we continue in this woeful shadow–boxing? Something has to be done, if only for the sake of posterity, and it must begin now. This cry goes out, not only to the 15

people of Nigeria, but also to all the inveigled, suppressed and oppressed peoples of the world. POWER BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE! But who are the people? The people are the masses; and the masses are the ordinary, working-class citizens of any nation, who do not enjoy any relationship of friendship or consanguinity with the leadership of that nation. They are the supposed recipients of the so called dividends of democracy and are the most vulnerable when these are not forth coming. Yes, they are the most vulnerable to the hopelessness of misrule in any nation, for they have little or nothing in terms of means of production, such as lands, houses and capital. It is time, once and for all, to shout “power to the people!” Not as any political organization had ever shouted in the past: in caricature and cajolery of the masses to whom truly belongs the power, but in truth and in deed. In truth and in deed, just as in 1991, when the masses of Russia had stormed out in solidarity and in one accord to oppose an aristocracy–sponsored military coup, thereby proving, albeit in an archetypal dimension, that power truly belongs to the people, if only they can begin to understand and take full responsibility of how to use it. This was a gallant move which had excited Mu’amma Gaddafy (the head of one of the world’s most popular and people-oriented autocracies) so much that he sang of the ultimate power of the Jamahiriya (state of the masses). Or in October 2000, when the gallant masses of Ivory Coast, staking their lives and blood, had braved the heavily garrisoned streets of Abidjan to unseat General Guei and thwart his self-succession bid against the wish of the people. 16

And if anyone should further doubt the veracity of the power of the people, let such a one be sure that, during world War II, the Germans had argued that they could not afford to give the Salo` government of Benito Mussolini a free hand until it could show that it was capable of influencing the masses (Mussolini: A study in power by Sir, Ivone Kirkpatrick, page 640). The Salo` Republic had actually failed because of the intransigence of the Italian masses. Power, indeed, belongs to the people. For it is the people who produce all the weapons of mass destruction. It is the people who operate them. It is the people who are hoodwinked into turning them against their own kinds. It is the people who fight the wars in all the battle fields. Let us discover to fight aright. Let us understand who our real enemies are, and then we can fight them better. Globalisation, which is the most recently conceived weapon of the aristocracy against the plebs, must be repudiated with all alacrity. Although globalisation, in itself, may not be a bad idea, the methodology of attaining it, as it is now, through the consolidation of all the several intrigues, some of which we have enumerated, would only ensure that it ends up constituting the final nail on the coffin of the masses, hammered in by the aristocracy. Globalisation will eventually produce an autocracy which will be biased to the oligarchic aristocracy while stinting the masses of the world in a perpetual and unprecedented servitude. We must always have it at the back of our minds that tribalism, religion, unrealistic plunges into formal education, politics and other sentiments of human nature have never placed bread on the tables of the masses 17

unless by intrigues which ensure that they remain fenced-in as perpetual slaves and vassals. Irrespective of tribe religion, education and politics, the masses remain same and under the same plight in every state of the nation, and in every nation of the world. Whatever senses of security, hope and safety that they may nurse are but sentiments and chimera programmed and infused into their mentalities by the Blue Bloods through the processes of brain-washing and attrition, and for the singular purpose of keeping them as obedient tools for the realization of their (the Blue Bloods) ulterior and selfish motives. Furthermore, let it be known that we do not wish to plunge headlong into wars, for war rather affects the masses more adversely than it does the aristocracy. The helpless masses are always more vulnerable in war situations. But this should not give the impression that we are cowards for we will be ready to assert our willpower and even sacrifice our lives whenever it becomes necessary, especially for the sake of our posterity. On the other hand, we repose little or no confidence in negotiations, bearing in mind that negotiations have never worked, to a reasonable extent, in favour of the poor masses. However, for records purposes and especially for the sake of conscience, we should be ready to begin in peace and end in imbroglio. We should be ready to use whatever means possible to extricate ourselves from the strangle-hold of slavery in the hands of our fellow humans and in our own land. We should be ready to give whatever it takes to deracinate the rotten and corrupt foundation that exists, so as to establish another, which will be wholesome and strong enough to sustain the new and enviable structure that must be built, not only by us and for us, but also by our posterity and for our posterity. 18

Therefore, the battle must continue. Its end can only come to view when the Blue Bloods decide to put a stop to their present stance of exploitation and intrigue. When they put their own selfish gains just behind the common good of all. When they have come to grasp the fact that they are mere men and not gods. The end of siege can only come when the Blue Bloods have surrendered by signifying their intention to operate along the same agenda as the masses. However, for these agenda to stand the test of time and conscience, they need to be impeccable. They need to be as close as can be to nature. They need to be a modification on nature, better than electoral democracy and all the rest of the lies that the aristocracy has spurn since time immemorial. We perfectly understand that it would seem simplistic and utopian to prescribe an egalitarian society, since humans, by nature, are animals besotted with wild-running ambitions. Yes, it is inherent in humans to be ambitious without necessarily being exploitative. The trait of exploitation derives not from nature but from the environment. This means that exploitation, like most other dastardly traits in the human character, is not congenital but a pro rata response to the living environment, which, in most cases, has been defiled by the unnatural glut of the aristocracy. For instance, in a country, a group of individuals are elected into positions of governance for a particular tenure. The superior officers are corrupt while their deputies are not. During this tenure, the superior officers embezzle public funds and leave their offices men and women of great wealth, while their deputies have little or nothing to show in terms 19

of material wealth. Even if the deputies, as modest individuals of honour, would have been content with themselves after leaving office, the sheer sense of inadequacy aroused in them as a result of the invidious showmanship of their counterparts who begin to splurge and flaunt their stolen wealth all around them has now tarnished them in their own eyes and those of their families, as well as in the eyes of the public. In the next election, another set of candidates are elected to replace the first. The same thing happens. This trend continues for a period and, in time, the distinction between the terribly affluent past superiors and their gaunt, slinky past deputies become obtrusively clear. Then in the subsequent tenures, the elected deputies avow themselves never to play the ‘fool’ any more. They go all out and collaborate with their superiors in the embezzlement of public funds. Sooner or latter, the past deputies join the ranks of the past superiors as they league up and begin to flaunt their intimidating opulence to all those further down the hierarchy, who are so blinkered that they cannot observe the sweet pie under their noses. It is only a question of time before this trend permeates the entire labyrinth of public service in this country. Even at the lowest rungs, a clerk in an office demands a tip before he can perform a statutory duty and no-body sees anything wrong in it. Indeed, anyone who does not partake in this maggoty dance is deemed a fool. Corruption and exploitation have become ‘natural’ in the environment of this nation, and in the mis-en-scene of everyday life, as far as this country is concerned. 20

Ambition is made of a different stuff. It is the fuel that fires the wheels of achievement. Ambition and achievement feed on each other. How we appraise, censure and acknowledge achievement bears on the sorts of ambition we brew in the society - whether they be salubrious or vitiated by incorporating an admixture of exploitation. A true achievement is that which is not hamstrung by the pin-pricks of conscience and which, at every point in the ascent to its own summit, puts selfish interests only behind the interest of the people. We do not subscribe to the Machiavellian notion that eggs of exploitation have to be broken to make the omelettes of achievement. Also, we fully realize that individuals’ ambitions differ, both in ambit and direction, and therefore refrain from prescribing an egalitarian society, which, at best, can only be chimerical. With all these safely in mind, we the people hence declare that what we want - whether in democracy or autocracy - are true leaders. We do not want rulers who live in Ivory Towers, away from our ordeals. What we want are leaders who cry when we cry, hunger when we hunger, feel pain when we feel pain, laugh when we laugh, eat when we eat, drink when we drink and rejoice when we rejoice. In other words, we need leaders who are capable of empathising with us because they are motivated by an immanent love for, and a sense of duty and service to the people and masses of Nigeria, and not by the glamour of power and the common wealth that flows through its conduits. What we want are leaders who are not lop-sided: leaders who are mid-way between the extreme left and right. Who would accommodate and carry all along as essential elements and comrades in the same struggle for the survival of the State. The State cannot be divulged from the citizens who make up the State. They are one and the same thing. The survival of the state therefore refers to the survival of its citizens and a total commitment to their common good; including security of their lives and property, and 21

their access to all the amenities that make life worth living, without forgetting posterity – our children and our future generations – which indeed should be of primary concern to us. To all such leaders, we shall reciprocate with, and owe our complete allegiance, love, respect and dedication, bearing in mind that these are not misplaced. We shall also hope that they (the leaders) would receive them with gratitude and content as the lofty reward of their service to the nation, more so, since this requital is the necessary source of legitimate power and its concomitant authority. Finally, may we sound it loud and clear that the Nigerian masses have borne the maddening brunt of misrule long enough in this country. The time to jettison this burden has come; and this is the time. Fear and inactivity, whether they be procrastination or outright disinclination to act, are the hallmark of every debacle. Let us unite for empowerment now! Let us unite and enthrone leaders who will serve us and not the other way round. Izu Nnaji, Writer, Scientist, Philosopher. March, 2001. 22