As WikiLeaks draws closer to home, one wonders what measures determine the level of democracy any democratic society can allow; one also wonders if democracy, after all, is truly democratic. As this whistle-blower releases more and more of America’s diplomatic cables around the world, especially as it concerns Nigeria, the questions that pop out of my mind are:
As WikiLeaks draws closer to home, one wonders what measures determine the level of democracy any democratic society can allow; one also wonders if democracy, after all, is truly democratic. As this whistle-blower releases more and more of America’s diplomatic cables around the world, especially as it concerns Nigeria, the questions that pop out of my mind are:
“Do these now mean to prove that the United states government, after all, knew exactly those people who killed Nigeria; did the US government, all along, know those cankerworms that ate up Nigeria, and where they are?” Does it also mean that the American government directly or indirectly brought about the failure of successive governments in Nigeria, and has, all along, been biting Nigerians while blowing on us the false breeze of being genuinely concerned for Africa? Until now, such claims had remained mere assumptions and conspiracy theories. From these leaks, it has become clear, beyond every doubt, that Nigeria has more than enough for its citizens and that the White House officially helps few Nigerian leaders to steal most of it as long as they allow them to steal the rest. Some actions, as have been proven severally, may not entirely be acceptable or commendable in themselves, but considering the evils such actions uncover and the injustices that have gone on unnoticed for decades before these revelations started coming in, many tend to let go of casting any blames at the means through which such revelations came about, especially when lives are saved in the end. In this piece, my intention is neither to justify nor to condemn Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks, rather it is to ascertain the level of damage America-Nigeria so-called diplomacy has caused Nigerians; and possibly how to get out of this.
Up to this moment, the American society has been to me the best democratic and its government the one to emulate. But, as it stands today, I can’t help wondering what democracy America claims to export to other nations, especially when it comes to Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular. Democracy is all about the people-a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, said, “...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” If this ideology and force is what drives the American democracy, and which America seeks to establish in all parts of the world, then I sincerely question if today’s America’s leaders still uphold the core values upon which America was founded. In president Lincoln’s speech on 19 November, 1863, where he clearly stated that “our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” America gained its ground and grace, not to enjoy the dividends of that divine truth alone but to take it along with them before every door they knock at and into every house they enter, no matter where it may be.
Nigeria, like a factory error, had every indication of failure from the onset, and this democratic America knew this from the word go. But as they came into the country, they saw men to whom “all men are created equal” does not apply; and so, they focused on getting a few who they could tolerate while they plunder, along with Britain and other nations that claimed stakes in Nigeria, this stillborn called Nigeria. While they fight tooth and nail to uphold these truths from the founding fathers in their countries, they fight tooth and nail to achieve the opposite in Nigeria in particular, and Africa in general. They would rather protect the many evil leaders, which have come and gone in Nigeria, to their interest, rather than let all men live as equals since they are created equal. I believe, without blinking an eyelid, that it’s high time every Nigerian stood up fearlessly and proclaim this truth that Abraham Lincoln, a man who, though American in every original sense just as St. Paul was a Jew in every dot in its meaning, once proclaimed. In one of Lincoln’s letters to Joshua Fry Speed, his close friend from his days in Springfield, Illinois, on August 24, 1855, he wrote: “I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor or degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes" When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy." With every reason that this generation America has to protect its interests, the failure to adhere to the core principles which hold the pillars of the great Union is the foundation of all challenges which the great America is now contending with, day in, day out. I have love for America, the Arab world, all Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, etc because I have love for all mankind and I emphatically accept that “all men are equal.” But WikiLeaks has opened another chapter in the world, a chapter which, if well managed, will make a better world-both for the goose and the gander. When Wiki leaks, Nigeria, which never held together from inception, leaks all the more. In my concerns, both for America and my people in Nigeria, I hereby make these statements:
To the American Government: Governments have come and gone, powers have held and loosened, yet America still represents what is better for a democratic world. With this observation in mind, I call on the American government to revisit the tenets of the great union you have. I call on the White House to make amends in its foreign policies, especially where it concerns Africa. Where it concerns Nigeria in particular, I would that you speak openly the truth you know as to why we have remained the way we are. I would that you come to Nigeria, not just with your great ideas to relate with the government, but with the truth that there can be no good government without people. I would that, when you see and know the truths to the many ills in Nigeria, you do not just discourse them amongst you and laugh at us, but that you speak up and represent before us what America means to its people at home-true democracy. I would that you stand up, for once, and speak the truth which you know about Nigeria which is that “Nigeria is already a failed state, and for any remnants to be, at least a Sovereign National Conference should and must be called for.” And where that has become a terror in itself, that you call and openly support an immediate secession of the Republic of Biafra since, no matter what is decided, Nigeria has lost its hold to remaining one with its history. But where these remain difficult or near-impossible to you, please, do your best to retain some honor earned by your founding fathers by taking your hands off Nigeria. Democracy demands freedom, but if you won’t help us become free and truly democratic, then stop your systematic and joint making of modern slaves (which is now a crime against humanity-whether old or modern) out of Nigerians. Nigerians should not go extinct only so America would become more powerful;-there is room for everyone, both great and small, in this earth. And before condemning the actions of WikiLeaks, let’s condemn our failures which turned curiosity into a bed of mushrooms today.
To Nigerians: We are indeed living in a time; but it’s not a time to remain silent, fearful, nonchalant and hopeless. It’s a time to stand up en masse and demand justice, from the mountain to the valley. It’s not a time to discourse and laugh at your leaders, nor is it a time to just complain and curse; it’s a time to rise up from all quarters and oppose these demons who have hijacked the government. It’s not a time to wait for more revelations from Assange and his group, it’s a time to respond to those information already released and demand for justice. It’s no longer a question of “Oh! Look at how much these thieves siphon!” It’s time to tell them that they are humans and cannot treat us like animals any longer; even animals still enjoy man-made laws which protect them from injustice. Animals also deserve justice! No Nigerian loves violence, and that’s why it’s not a choice; but demonstrating we must demonstrate, agitating we must agitate, and revolting we must revolt. Only a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) will create any hopeful future for Nigerians, only the roundtable of our elders will lure the saving hand of God to us. Let the earth, the heavens, the seas, the air and everything that is hear my voice, rise up today and oppose all wickedness in Nigeria. Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered. To every leader in Nigeria who opposes a Sovereign National Conference: you oppose no one else but God; may He rise today in His majesty and bring justice against you so that justice will reign among His people. Amen; Amen, Lord.
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