The journey to Col. Muammar Gaddafis disastrous fall remotely started in the Tunisian city of Bouzid on December 17, 2010, where the 26-year-old Mohammed Bouazizi, a street vendor, set himself on fire, over his frustration as per former President Azedine Ben-Alis failed leadership and dictatorship. The former President, who ruled his country for 23 years, since 1987, later fled the country on January 14, 2011 as a result of the Jasmine Revolution.The Jasmine Revolution later spread like a wild fire to Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Syria and Libya and swept away the dictatorial regime of former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, who ruled Egypt since 1981. The Libyan revolution started in Benghazi in February 2011, leading to the formation of the National Transitional Council by the armed opposition groups. Gaddafi ruled Libya for 42 years and 21 days, having come to power through his Arab Islamic Jamahiriya Socialist Revolution in September 1969, otherwise called the September Revolution.The Gaddafi Revolution was very disastrous to humanity by any standard. His ascendance to the Libyan political throne marked a turning point in international peace and security. He was instrumental to the formation of the leftist and radical Organisation of Islamic Conference formed in the late 70s to neutralise the 21-member Arab League, formed in March 1945, because of the latters reconciliatory approach towards the Arab-Israeli age-long conflicts, especially that between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. In November 1978, Gaddafi spearheaded the setting up of a $3.5bn fund under the aegis of the Arab League for the destruction of the State of Israel. Within the same period, he personally voted $3bn for the propagation of fundamentalist Islamism and overthrowing of the Western puppet governments especially in the Middle East and Africa by the radical Islamic elements.This partly led to the emergence of Ruhollah Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran in 1979; Mohammed Zia ul-Haq in Pakistan on September 16, 1978; Omar Hassan el-Bashir in Sudan in 1989; Mullah Mohammed Omar in Afghanistan in the late 1980s as the leader of Islamic Taliban movement and countrys de facto head of State between 1996 and 2001.He recruited, trained, funded and exported thousands of mercenaries to Spain, Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia, the Americas, etc, in furtherance of his anti-west crusade. In 1997, he donated a whopping sum of $1bn to the leadership of the Nation of Islam in the US for the advancement of Islam in USA. In Africa, he was believed to be the brain behind the civil wars, insurrections and military take-overs in Chad(1990),Burkina Faso(1987), The Gambia (1994), Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, to name but few. He was also accused of being the main mastermind in the bombing of the Pan American Airlines over Niger and Canada in 1988 and 1989 respectively, which killed over 400 passengers, though he was exonerated over that of Niger for want of concrete evidence. He spearheaded to its logical conclusion the open campaign for the death of the late President Anwar El- Sadat of Egypt because of the latters favourable disposition towards the Camp David Accord of 1979, between Israel and Egypt. Even in the attempts made on the life of former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in 1995 during the Organisation of Africa Unity Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Gaddafi was suspected of being involved.Gaddafis capture, not his death, would have gladdened our heart, because his international trial would have been an eye-opener to the six billion-plus global population over his innumerable crimes against humanity. Gaddafis atrocious era quickly reminds us of the inglorious epoch of the late Comrade Pol Pot of the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea( Cambodia), whose bloody rule between 1975 and 1979 led to the death of more than three million people. Through his infamous profound socio-economic changes, the countrys economy and cultural institutes were destroyed. The prevailing Buddhist religion was banned and the clergy massacred with utter impunity.The shameful death of Gaddafi and other members of his household, though reprehensible, means an express issuance of red cards to the worlds remaining and emerging dictators to quit their long held political powers before it becomes too late. In Africa, many dictators still dot the continents political landscape. Some of these dictators include Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Angola (1979)-32 years; Obiang Nguema Mbasago, Equatorial Guinea (1979)-32 years; Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Zimbabwe (1980)-31 years; Paul Biya, Cameroon( 1982)-29 years; Denis Sassou Ngueso, Congo Libreville ( first came in 1979, left in 1992 and returned in 1997)-27 years; Yoweri Museveni, Uganda(1986)-25 years; Blaise Compaore, Burkina Faso(1987)-24 years; Omar Hassan el-Bashir, Sudan(1989)-22 years; Idris Derby, Chad(1990)-21 years; Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia(1991)-20 years; Issaias Afwerki, Eritrea(1993)-18 years; and Yahya Jammeh, Gambia(1994)-17 years.The leaders of Djibouti, Rwanda, Senegal, Algeria, Congo DRC, Kenya, Morocco, Swaziland and Lesotho are emerging African dictators, having stayed in power for over ten years or transformed into absolute monarchies. Internationally, the Castro political hegemony in Cuba remains the worlds longest serving political power having come to office in 1959-52 years. Others are (absolute) King Haji Hassan al-Borkiah Muizzadin Waddaulah, Brunei (1968)-43 years; (absolute)King Qaboos bin Said Al-Said, Oman(1970)-41 years; Mr. Ali Abdullah Salih, Yemen(1978)-33 years; Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan(1990)-21 years; Nursaltan Nazarbaev, Kazakhstan(1990)-21 years; Emomali Rahman, Tajikistan(1994)-17 years; Alexsandr Lukashenko, Belarus( 1994)-17 years; Kim Jong-iL, North Korea(1994)-17 years. The leaders of Jordan, Syria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Venezuela are also emerging dictators in their countries having stayed in power for over ten years or transformed into absolute monarchies. The post-Gaddafi Libya must be credibly democratic and a respecter of the peoples rights and fundamental freedoms. The International Criminal Court and relevant UN bodies must also not rest on their oars until the killers of the thousands of the Libyas innocent citizens are brought to justice to account for their heinous misdeeds or crimes against humanity.-Umeagbalasi is Chairman, Board of Trustees, International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law. He can be reached on info@intersociety-ng.org or 234(0)33601078
Click here to read full news..
