Libya: The Triumph of Gaddafi’s Cockroaches

By Msonter Anzaa

“There is no force however impregnable, however formidable that the people can not overcome. Real power – the power that stands the test of time – belongs to the people”| Kwamme Nkrummah

Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has died. His death was reported Thursday by officials of the Libyan Transitional Ruling Council. Even little school boys playing football in the streets know the events leading to his shameful exit from power after forty-two years. Dead people learn no lessons, but Mr Gaddafi must have learnt long before his death that true power belongs to the people. The chapter has closed for him, but what lessons can African leaders learn from the Arab uprising?

When the Arab uprising began in Tunisia, few people estimated they could achieve much especially in a society notorious for its repressive and oppressive regimes. The uprising in Tunisia went on for weeks until President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali escaped into Saudi Arabia. His Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarrak also had to step down following weeks of massive anti-government protests in his home country. It was an uprising of angry and frustrated individuals. It was an explosion of hatred against injustice, poverty and corruption bottled up in people’s minds over the years. In Egypt for instance where Mubarrak had imposed an emergency rule for years, political expression was prohibited and the press was thoroughly censored. Poor governance and corruption continued on one side while dissatisfaction built on the other.

Unlike Presidents Ben Ali and Mubarrak, Colonel Gaddafi refused giving up power and instead vowed to fight on. His regime attempted to violently suppress the protests through his security forces who were directed to fire live ammunition into the protesters resulting to abominable levels of casualties. His desperation to hold unto power was total; his defiance, absolute, and his comments, incurably provocative. Perhaps his most defiant and provocative speeches ever was on February 22. Mr Gaddafi in a rambling tone called the protesters traitors who were sponsored by al-Qaeda. He advised his supporters to take up arms and defend Libya. Calling the protesters cockroaches and rats, Colonel Gaddafi vowed to defend his country against foreign agents whom he claimed were after Libya’s oil. He continued his defiant resistance until international bodies like NATO and the UN got involved imposing sanctions and air restrictions on the country.

While his other two Arab counterparts have done no better, Gaddafi could have taken a cue from them and allowed the people of Libya take control over the affairs of their country. Instead, he used state security apparatus supposed to be protective of the people to turn against them. But bad as his case is, Mr Gaddafi is not the first of his kind in history or even in present-day Africa. All over the continent, we have pockets of individuals from Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Youweri Mutseveni of Uganda to Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast who hijacked state power and turned against their own people. In Zimbabwe for instance, 87-year-old Mugabe still conducts and contests in controversial elections. Kibaki’s Kenya has also witnessed lots of post election violence. In Cameroon, Paul Biya who has been ruling for more than 27 years has effected plans to remain in power indefinitely by tinkering with the Cameroonian Constitution. In Niger, Mahmadu Tanja dismissed Parliament, suspended the Constitution and held an illegal “referendum” to extend his tenure until the Military took over. Laurent Gbagbo nearly pushed Ivory Coast into war when he lost to Al-Hassan Ouattarra but refused handing over until foreign forces arrested him in State House. So the African mentality of remaining in power indefinitely will not end just because Gaddafi has died.

Colonel Gaddafi ceased to be a leader long before he died. He was uncultured, unguarded and provocative. He never really understood the power of the people he insultingly called cockroaches and rats. He said removing him from power was impossible, impossible, and impossible! African leaders and leaders of the world generally may do well to take lessons from Gaddafi’s experience. It demonstrates the will power of an angry people. It confirms the long-held notion that real power belongs to the people. The experience teaches that there is a limit to which individuals can endure bad governance, political repression and corruption. The triumph of Gaddafi’s cockroaches shows that no matter how insignificant the people may look, the state and its institutions exist because of them.

The people of Libya have paid and expensive price for their freedom. It is a price paid by little men and women who neglected their private businesses to speak out against Gaddafi at a time it was suicidal to do so. It is a sacrifice made by teenage boys and girls who abandoned their education and risked their lives trying their hands on locally made pistols under Gaddafi’s heavy artillery. It cost a lot of lives and anxiety all over the world, but it has paid the people of Libya handsomely.

Finally, the people of Libya have demonstrated their ability to work together against their common enemies; they have set themselves free from Gaddafi and have taught repressive regimes a valuable lesson; and as the Gaddafi era comes to an end, they must breathe in an air of freedom and begin the process of building a strong and free Libya.