I believe strongly that President Goodluck Jonathan was very right last Monday inLokoja when he warned that the ruling class in Nigeria risked a revolution unless jobs are urgently created for the millions of disillusioned youths in the country. I know some people may be querying the appropriateness of the warning coming from the President himself. I have no problem with the source of the message, the substance is the issue. Revolution is not a tea party. It is, all over history, an angry flood that knows no boundary. It carries, in its fury, all on its way. The best antidote is its avoidance. That is why the President's warning is very apt, timely and thought- provoking.All the signs appear to be here. The French revolution was a reaction to the political excesses of the rulers and the personal extravagance and conspicuous consumption flaunted before the hungry and the deprived citizenry. History tells us that a revolution does not just burst out. Like a dam, it bursts and comes cascading when the gates designed to contain the waters give way under socio-economic and political pressures. When leaders who are immensely loved by their people suddenly observe that the people's dog, instead of displaying the usual love and affectionate wagging of the tail, starts barking at the owner, then there is every cause for worry.The start of the French revolution is often blamed on the extravagance of the palace particularly of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre who married King Louis XV1 amidst great love from their people. Indeed, so much was the love the people had for her and her husband the king that in her greatness, she gloated over it in a June 14, 1773 letter to her mother: " On Tuesday, I had a fte which I shall never forget all my life. We made our entrance into Paris. As for honours, we received all that we could possibly imagine; but they, though very well in their way, were not what touched me most. What was really affecting was the tenderness and earnestness of the poor people, who, in spite of the taxes with which they are overwhelmed, were transported with joy at seeing us. When we went to walk in the Tuileries, there was so vast a crowd that we were three-quarters of an hour without being able to move either forward or backward. The dauphin and I gave repeated orders to the Guards not to beat any one, which had a very good effect. Such excellent order was kept the whole day that, in spite of the enormous crowd which followed us everywhere, not a person was hurt. When we returned from our walk we went up to an open terrace and stayed there half an hour. I cannot describe to you, my dear mamma, the transports of joy and affection which every one exhibited towards us. Before we withdrew we kissed our hands to the people, which gave them great pleasure. What a happy thing it is for persons in our rank to gain the love of a whole nation so cheaply. Yet, there is nothing so precious; I felt it thoroughly, and shall never forget it.'Yet, the enormous people's love celebrated by the queen in that letter did not last long. The taxes with which the people were overwhelmed were soon to be part of the undoings of the monarchy. By 1792, an overburdened people had Louis XV1 deposed and on 16 October, 1793, the Queen herself lost all, including her life, to the people's wrath. Why' The people were taken for granted, the system was no longer interested in the future of the people, the palace feasted while the people yawned and yearned for sustenance. And so it was not long for something to snap in the tenuous texture of the social fabric. All revolutions through history, are not caused by a single event. A plethora of events led to them. In most cases, injustice breeds the violence of revolutions. Karl Marx, in the Neue Rheinische, described the French revolution as terrorism of the plebeian unleashed on "absolutism, feudalism and philistinism." It took one mad man in Tunisia to ignite the desert fire that has burned off (and is still burning) centuries of reigns and dynasties across the Arab world, cremating their unfeeling rulers.Now, in Nigeria, are we not alarmed each time we drive along streets and we see countless young men and women aimlessly drifting about at midday' Our worries should double (and even multiply) when we discover that many of these street boys are well- read but ill-starred on account of their birth. Do we notice that while the system strangles them, their privileged-by-birth colleagues wave at them in their misfortune and cruise away on the highway of success. We need to start asking and answering questions before it is too late. Why are we so unconcerned that Nigeria has fallen so pitiably to this low point when the number of the unemployed far outstrips that of the gainfully engaged' UNICEF recently disclosed that 8.6million children in Nigeria are out of school, making the country the one with the highest figure in the whole world. When we chauffeur- drive our children to school,how many of us notice kids selling pure water at bad spots on our roads at periods when they are supposed to be on the way to school' Do we feel any pain when we see this and do we at any time put our children in their positions' What explanation can we offer our own children if they ask why these their age mates aren't in school and what they would become in future'Special thanks to Mr President for bringing this matter to the fore and let us hope we will all realise that in lifting up those who are down, we are protecting ourselves too. Already, how many of us have the guts to put on our power generating sets at night when everyone else around us is in darkness' Very soon, if we do not heed the President's call, we will all lack the courage to go to work or take our children to school because the unemployed, the poor and the hopeless are on the road demanding their lives back from the system.A READER'S ANGER ON WHO IS A LAGOSIANDear Mr (O)lagun(ju), I enjoyed your article (of last Monday), but you did not get it right in some aspects. None of the parties is a Lagosian or full blooded LAGOSIAN. Mrs. Remi Tinubu is not. Ganiu Solomon is not. Gbenga Ashafa is not. And Bode George is certainly not a full blooded Lagosian. Pa George, clearly had Egba tribal marks. So you need to get your facts right. If the governor of Lagos (State) recommends names as all other governors to Mr President he has a right so to do. It is up to Mr President to be fair and just or otherwise. I did not read in any of your articles that a full blooded Edo man claims to be a Lagosian and falsely represents Lagos (State) as a minister. Mr. (O)Lagunju is this a case of money journalism' Let's be fair. What I know for sure is no matter how much you all conspire to rape Lagos, Eko oni baje, Ori Eko a gbe Eko o.Abass Musbau(abassmusbau@yahoo.com)
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