If Mohammed Bouzizi was a Nigerian

WHAT is today known as the “Arab spring” started with the singular action of one man – Mohammed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian fruit seller who set himself ablaze as a result of constant harassment from the authorities. If anyone had told Mohammed Bouazizi that morning before leaving his house for his daily activities that his impulsive action would ignite a revolution that would sweep away long term regimes not just in Tunisia, but Libya, Egypt, Algeria and some other countries in the middle east, perhaps he would have dismissed it with a smirk or snigger.  Fortunately and unfortunately, it happened and none saw it coming. Such is the nature of revolutions all over the world, it is not planned but when it happens, no force can stop it until it achieves its desired results. Revolutions are offshoots of long-suppressed or bottled-up anger accumulated over time. It gets to a point where people can no longer take it. For context, it is instructive to point out that Bouazizi’s self-immolation could not have ignited a revolution just by itself. His actions sparked widespread public anger because a vast majority of Tunisians were sick and tired of the regime of the then ruling family, Ben Ali, who had been in power for over two decades.

When the people rose in unison, not even the entire military apparatus of Tunisia could stop them. This reminds me of an Igbo adage which says that, “when one man cooks for the public, the public will consume it, but when the public cooks for one man, he cannot consume it.” Would the singular action of a Mohammed Bouazizi have ignited the same form of public outrage it did in Tunisia if it had happened in Nigeria? The answer is no! A lot of factors can be attributed to this. Firstly, Nigerians are largely divided along ethno-religious lines. This is one of the greatest advantage that political office holders enjoy in Nigeria, and they have learnt to put it to good effect. There is often this sense of communal ownership which makes particular sections of the country to protect their own.  To the average Nigerian political leadership is seen from the perspective of turn-by-turn. More often than not, a typical Nigerian has this notion that occupants of a political office is in position to serve the turn of his people. Therefore, they often form a mob to defend him to the last!

 To such people, It doesn’t matter if such a political office holder is living up to the demands of his office. There is a school of thought that believes that Nigerians love their oppressors so long as he is one of them!  What this simply means is that, Nigerians would have first considered the religious or ethnic background of a Mohammed Bouazizi to determine their reaction. And politicians would have reacted swiftly by giving it an ethnic or religious coloration. Tunisians were able to unite against a despotic regime of  Zine El Abidine Ben Ali because every Tunisian sees himself as a Tunisian.

None bothered about the ethnicity or religion of Mohammed Bouazizi. On the other hand, Nigerians owe their allegiance first to their ethnic nationality before anything else. Instead of public outrage, Nigerians would have analyzed the situation leading to his action while exonerating the government. In fact, any protest would have been met with a counter protest against the protest. This is how insanely peculiar Nigerians are. A nation where the people are divided against themselves cannot rise against any form of oppression.  Secondly, Nigerians are malleable. The average Nigerian can easily adapt to any situation no matter how difficult. To say that Nigerians are resilient to the point of docility would be putting it mildly.  When pushed to the wall, a Nigerian doesn’t fight back but easily finds a way to break the wall to negotiate an exit.  In the past and even recently, we have had cases of Nigerians jumping into the Lagos lagoon as a result of economic hardships but it has never caused any public outrage. Not many have yet recovered from the unfortunate incident of the shootings at the tollgate during the #EndSARS Protest. We have had many Mohammed Bouazizis’ whose death only ended as content for content creators. Naturally, Nigerians often don’t react seriously to matters of value. It’s typical of the average Nigerian to dwell on issues that don’t have any meaningful impact on their lives while neglecting real-life issues. Essentially, in Nigeria, it would be unthinkable that an individual’s act of self-immolation could lead to national outrage because it’s something that would be considered extraordinary, not mundane. Outcome of the #EndSARS Protest still comes to mind.

Another factor that can be alluded to this is ignorance. Nigerians are mostly ignorant of their rights as citizens. There is this willful ignorance among Nigerians that makes it possible for those in government to get away with anything. This ignorance is not only found among those without formal education but even among very educated folks! This lack awareness is another political capital that political office holders exploit to the disadvantage of the citizens. In Nigeria, there is always this belief that the people cannot fight the government and win. This is purely borne out ignorance because the reverse is true – no government can fight the people and win!  Those who don’t learn from history always repeat it. While it is true that a revolution cannot happen in Nigeria due to some of the factors mentioned above, it’s important to note that political office holders should learn from history. Nicolae Ceausescu was the strong man of Romania. He had a monstrous reign from 1967 to 1989 and he thought he had it all covered until there was a spark and the people spoke. His story, a clear testament to the fact that the power in the people is far greater than the people in power.  What is most important is that Nigeria doesn’t get to the point where violent change becomes justifiable. After all, Tunisians were docile and malleable for 23 years before a Mohammed Bouazizi happened. Political office holders must tread with caution and realize that power is transient.

Political leadership should be for the common good, not for personal aggrandisement. No singular individual should be carried away with the complacency of office. The people should remain the major crux of governance. As such, leaders must act responsibly at all times. It serves the interest of all for both the government and the governed to be on the same track. This is so because the task of building a nation is a collective responsibility.

• Okpara, a student of the International Institute of Journalism, writes from Abuja via [email protected]*

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