“You cannot insult your way to power and neither can you govern by protests or anger.”
I extracted the statement above from one of Olatunji Abdulkabir Olajide’s posts.
I have traveled to many states in Nigeria educating myself about our history at any given opportunity. I have read books on our independence, the quest for freedom and the coup that followed.
Walter Rodney’s, “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” is one of my favorite books. I busied myself with Rudolph R. Windsor’s, “From Babylon to Timbuktu”. After my tour of the North gathering information about the advent and fall of the Caliphate, I came back home, sat with elders, discussed our history, traced my roots and at the moment, I am reading, “The History of the Yorubas”, by Samuel Johnson.
As a Pan-African, I have developed great interest in Nigeria and Africa. I keep digging resources on the success and failure of African countries, that explains why I so much appreciate Olasupo Shasore’s, “The Journey of an African Colony”. If you want to help, you must learn, that is my own conviction.
I was intrigued by the George Weah’s (Current President of Liberia) success in the world of football; the first and only African to win the Ballon d’Or. Studying about his life led me deepen my research on Liberia and its many dark stories of political terror.
Back to the quote. One major challenge Africa seems to be facing is that those who claim to bring change end up changing nothing, those who chant violent revolution do not do so in the interest of the people. Sadly, Africans are easily manipulated and conditioned.
Samuel Doe who established the People’s Redemption Council in Liberia cannot be said to have redeemed the Liberians. If there was any redemption, then, he redeemed them into misery. Samuel who overthrew and murdered William R. Tolbert Jr. was killed by Prince Johnson who himself was on a killing spree.
It did not start today that people chant revolution and end up becoming unsatisfied with the result. It becomes worse when the revolution was achieved with violence and bloodshed, the aftermath is usually followed by much more killings.
Shall we talk of Libya, Sudan, Egypt?
Many revolutionary groups in Africa tend to buy the trust of the people against the existing regime and end up being worse simply because it was more of anger than thought, more emotions than intellect.
Nelson Mandela is a perfect representation of a revolution where intellect and emotions were combined. You can feel it!
The one who wants to take advantage of the ongoing #ENDSARS protests to pursue his #revolutionnow course may be worse compared to past regimes if he gets to power.
Those with whom we share common pain and grief over police brutality but call us names simple because we anger may blur one’s sense of reasoning and judgement should ‘calm down’
We are all Nigerians and we stand up for #EndPoliceBrutality yet we need to think as much as we feel. Intellect needs to be combined with emotions.
Olajide Abdulkabir said it all, “You cannot insult your way to power and neither can you govern by protests or anger.”
For #revolutionnow, people should remember Hitler, who gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-semitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. Were the Germans themselves not tired of him?
When patriotism is based solely on emotions, you get Hitler, Shekau or Samuel doe.
When patriotism is based on the emotions and intellects, you have Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi or Malcom X.
Wrote a bit on some of my studies on Africa simply because the one who is privileged to tweet #endsars thinks Nigeria is dearer to him than it is to you.
Emotion is needed to feel that there is a need to get out of dystopia while intellect is needed to think of the right path to utopia.
Bashir Lucas Samson Lukman
English 
