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Understanding African Rebellion: Fani Kayode Explores Root Causes
In a compelling post, Fani Kayode, a renowned Nigerian political commentator and writer, delved into the concerning surge of military coups unfolding across the African continent.
He disclosed this in a series of tweet titled “WHEN REBELLION IS A VIRTUE (PART 1)” via his X account on Sunday morning.
Fani Kayode expressed deep concern over the alarming trend of seven successful military coups in as many African nations within the past three years.
He highlighted the critical questions surrounding the legitimacy of these coups and the mandates of the leaders they unseated.
The post reads in part “Unfolding events in Africa continue to intrigue the world & the fact that no less than seven military coups have been successfully effected in no less than seven African countries in the last 3 years gives cause for concern.
“What is the cause of these violent acts of mutiny & rebellion and can there be any justification for such behaviour?
“How legitimate were the mandates of those that have been toppled & are the soldiers that have carried out these ostensibly illegal acts of insurrection, revolution & treason & taken power by the barrel of a gun criminals & rebels that should be shot at the stake or God-sent & divinely-inspired heroes, liberators & deliverers of their respective countries & people?
“Can their actions be justified in some cases or are they appropriate for all & can such a course of action ever be deemed appropriate for our country Nigeria? When is rebellion a virtue & when is it a curse? When is mutiny, revolution & a call to arms appropriate & when is it not?
“What does one do with civilian dictators & sit-tight Presidents who have sold and mortgaged the future & destiny of their nation to the Western imperialists & neo-colonial powers & who torment their people & refuse to leave office.
“These are just some of the questions that yours truly seeks to answer in this contribution. Enjoy the ride! On the 13th March 1962, in his address on the first anniversary of the Alliance For Progress, President John F. Kennedy of the United States of America, said the following:
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”.
“In the history of humanity few have enunciated such a profound yet obvious home truth as President Kennedy has done with these famous words.
“Sadly even fewer have learnt anything from them. Those that doubt this have much to learn. Consider the following.
“Pres. Paul Kagame of Rwanda & Pres. Paul Biya of Cameroon have ruled their African countries for 23 & 42 years respectively.
“Approximately 1 week ago they were both constrained to sack, retire, redeploy & replace much of their Military High Command, senior Army commanders & thousands of commissioned & non-commissioned officers in the light of the wave of military coups that have swept West & Central Africa & just one day after the one that took place in Gabon.
“This was clearly a panic measure on both their parts. They did it out of rabid fear & in a desperate attempt to thwart, pre-empt & prevent a military coup & stave off an anticipated mutiny in their respective Armed Forces.
“Unfortunately for them such peripheral & ineffectual remedies & desperate attempts to ward off all opposition & dissent in an attempt to hold on to power forever will not work because their so-called “mandates” lack legitimacy & they do not have the backing of the people.
“Worse still they are both oblivious of & totally blind to the rationale & ethos of mutiny & armed rebellion & are clearly ignorant of the essence & motivation for military coups.
“Simply put, no matter who your senior military commanders are, whether the old or the new & no matter how many times you sack, retire, redeploy or change them, when you are an illegitimate, depraved & evil leader who crushes, murders, persecutes & incarcerates members of the opposition & who rigs elections, refuses to leave power, torments the people & imposes a corrupt, bloodthirsty & blood-lusting dictatorship & dynasty of barbarism & tyranny on his nation, coups, mutiny, rebellion, revolution & insurrection become inevitable: it is only a question of time.”
“Is it any wonder that sit tight rulers and life-long dictators like Kagame, Biya and others are scared of their own shadow, are shivering under their beds and enjoy no peace?
“If you do not stand up, resist, fight back and “breed unnatural troubles” when confronted with wickedness, injustice and tyranny, you cannot expect to ever enjoy your God-given right of freedom and neither will you ever witness emancipation from subjugation and oppression.
How else would you remove and replace power-obsessed dictators like Ali ‘Make Some Noise’ Bongo of Gabon, Field Marshall Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, Papa Doc and his son Baby Doc Duvalier of Haiti and the mentally-ill Jean Bedie Bokassa of the Central African Republic (who declared himself the Black Napoleon and Emperor for life and who kept the freshly decapitated heads of his enemies in his fridge)?
“To move against such monsters and topple them by ANY means possible is surely a divine duty and obligation and one which every single one of the Holy Books not only encourages but also insists on. Can we be expected to do anything less?
“Is it not the injustice and tyranny that the French, the Russian, the American, the English, the Chinese and many others were subjected to hundreds of years ago that pushed them to the wall and inspired and provoked them to take up arms and unleash some of the most violent and bloodthirsty rebellions and revolutions in the history of humanity?
“Was this not the right and proper thing for them to do and had it not been for their resistance to such barbarous oppression and subjugation from their erstwhile oppressors and slave masters would they be the free, civilised, great and powerful nations that they are today?
“Had it not been for Flt. Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings’ revolution and coup d’etat in 1979 and 1983 respectively would Ghana be the great and stable nation and flourishing democracy that she is today?
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.
Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has inaugurated a 12-member committee tasked with recovering government vehicles reportedly in private hands.
The committee, led by Kelly Okungbowa, has been given a two-week mandate to retrieve the vehicles and ensure their return to the state government.
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Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Benin City, Governor Okpebholo emphasized the importance of accountability in the management of public resources.
He urged the committee to carry out its assignment thoroughly and within the bounds of the law.
In his response, Okungbowa expressed gratitude to the governor for entrusting the team with the assignment, vowing to deliver results within the stipulated timeframe.
“A lot of vehicles used by the past administration are missing, as those in custody of the vehicles have refused to return them,” Okungbowa said.
“The governor deemed it fit to inaugurate us today with a mandate to recover all government vehicles in private hands.”
The committee, which includes representatives from Edo’s three senatorial districts, is set to investigate and recover the vehicles based on credible intelligence already at their disposal.
“We already have vital information regarding some persons still holding government vehicles,” Okungbowa stated. “We will do the job according to the law, and both the government and the people will be satisfied with the outcome.”
He also called on members of the public to assist the committee by providing information about any government vehicles that may still be in private possession.
“We want to appeal to members of the public who might be aware of anyone still keeping government vehicles in their houses to please inform us to enable the committee to recover such for the Edo State Government,” Okungbowa said.
The committee’s vice chairman, Rt. Hon. Victor Edoror, a former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, will work alongside other members to ensure the success of the initiative. The public can reach the committee at 08110165121.
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