How to Start a Revolution

The roving demonstration by Nigerians around the world is a good thing. It is proof that there is still a juncture where Nigerians will rise up to reject abysmal failure, absurd whims and voracious greed. While we celebrate this return to activism, after years of complicit acquiescence, we must not confuse it for what it is not. Soon after the Abuja demonstration, some Nigerians declared that the revolution had begun. Others claimed that in our own eyes, the New Nigeria had been born. The reaction of most Nigerians falls in line with that affliction that has been killing us all – low expectations.

It is low expectations that make us clap for a governor who pays workers’ salaries on time. It is low expectations that make us name a governor who repaired roads as the governor of the year. It is low expectations that make us include the Nigerian factor whenever we make plans, programs and projections. Low expectations make us celebrate mediocrity.

Nigerians are interesting people. We get excited very easily. We get tickled by trifles. We get bemused by buffoons. We get pillaged by priests. We are tormented by the thugs in our midst.

A demonstration does not make a revolution. While it may lead to one, it does not on its own make a revolution.

Nigeria and its hijackers

Nigeria is in danger of entering an unprecedented stage as a hijacked entity. In fact, the polity is in the throes of what ought to be called its proper name, a coup-in-progress. A small but desperate cabal is surreptitiously consolidating its illegitimate power grab. Nigeria has been reduced to Umaru Yar’Adua’s private toy, a plaything reserved for the sole pleasure of the man and his cronies.
As I write, Mr. Yar’Adua (whose self-appellation as servant-leader has become the cruel joke it was designed to be) has been away from Nigeria for more than forty days. Apart from his wife, and a tiny circle of associates, few Nigerians can swear that they know for certain where Yar’Adua is. All we know for sure is that he’s not in Aso Rock, the official residence of the Nigerian president. Most Nigerians imagine, of course, that the man is in a hospital in Saudi Arabia – not because it’s proven fact, but it’s simply the official line. It’s impossible to vouch for any information that comes from a government that’s raised duplicity and deception to the level of art.Forget, for a moment, that Yar’Adua’s “presidency” still reeks – despite the shameful verdict of the Supreme Court – of illegality. Worse, before our very eyes, a cabal hitched to Yar’Adua is usurping the sovereign will of Nigerians. That group is acting in the name of an enfeebled man who (at this writing) has absconded from his post.Michael Aondoakaa, Yar’Adua’s Attorney General, may not be at the center of this usurpation, but he strikes me as chief coordinator of this orchestrated conquest of Nigeria. Yar’Adua’s wife, Turai – who’s perhaps the most ambitious “presidential” spouse in Nigeria’s history – appears to be the chief engineer.It no longer startles Nigerians to hear it said that Aondoakaa is the worst attorney general in his country’s history. Nigeria has had some pretty unimpressive attorney generals, but Aondoakaa stands in a class all his own for mediocrity and crassness. Now he’s adding something even more dangerous and troubling to his resume: a facility for defending the degradation of the Nigerian constitution.