Nigeria’s press,
consistent with their practice, lambasted him for his repressive
activities in Zimbabwe. He was so incensed that he made a report to
Obasanjo who promptly showed him an uncomplimentary report published about
him in that day’s Nigerian Tribune. Mugabe told General Obasanjo
that he (Mugabe), would not tolerate such thing in his own country. He has
since lived up to his word.
Pauperization of Zimbabwe
by Tunde Adenodi.
My generation got inspiration from the likes of
Robert Mugabe, Abel Muzorewa and Joshua Nkomo, the Zimbabwe trio that
fought Ian Smith to a standstill. Before these was Nigeria’s trio:
Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello. Not to talk of
Nelson Mandela, the greatest of them all! There was the dare-devil
Wole Soyinka who would confront a sub-machine gun with a mere pen. He
dared the usurpers in an adventurous confrontation at the WNBS studios
in Ibadan in 1965.
Robert Mugabe dared Ian Smith, the rebel Prime
Minister of Rhodesia who made a unilateral declaration of independence
from Britain. Ian Smith was averse to the fact that the Africans of
Rhodesia had demanded for universal adult suffrage and had boasted
that the black man would not rule Rhodesia in his lifetime. Well, the
black man has ruled Zimbabwe for more than two decades and Ian Smith
has seen it all! He has seen even more than he can bear!
Mugabe was a fire brand guerilla freedom fighter.
He was also a firebrand in rhetoric. And if rhetoric were to be an
effective instrument of governance, Zimbabwe would be a paradise
today! The problem is that Mugabe still believes that the guerilla war
with Ian Smith has not ended 25 years after independence! In his
senile mind, Ian Smith is still a Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, and he,
still guerilla freedom fighter in the Rhodesian wilderness. He edged
out Nkomo with his ZANU-PF and became the President of independent
Zimbabwe. He has since ruined the country he fought so hard for and
loved so much so, that he was willing to die for. Yes, Mugabe was a
good fighter for Zimbabwean independence, but he is surely a bad
governor of his country. He has failed to bring happiness to his
people. He has brought to his country men and women socio-economic
hardship of catastrophic proportions.
Ian Smith handed over to Robert Mugabe a nation
rich in agricultural produce. Fresh vegetables were pruned from
Harare’s neighborhood farms and sold in farmers markets in Liverpool
by 8:00 am the following day. Such was the precision of economic
activity in Smith’s Rhodesia. Not any more! President Mugabe chased
out the white farmers, the back-bone of the economy and allocated
their lands to black Africans who knew next to nothing about
mechanized farming. Thus, large scale farming gave way to subsistence
farming as practiced by our fore-fathers for thousands of years! The
result is diminished farm yields that brought economic collapse,
hunger and deprivation that we see in Zimbabwe today!
Zimbabwe is now a carcass of its old self. A
teacher’s monthly salary is barely enough to buy a loaf of bread
enough for a meal for two! And queues for such commodities are most
times miles long! A banker’s salary is only enough to take him to work
and back once! Inflation is the highest in the world at 2000 percent
per annum! In other words, merchandise bought today at N1.00 will be
sold this time next year at N2000.00! Traders are faced with the
nightmare of the calculation of replacement cost of sold goods.
Planning is only good enough for a day at a time. All trade with
Zimbabwe is at unofficial level. Source of foreign exchange is money
brought into Zimbabwe by those in the Diaspora. The middle class is
extinct. Zimbabwean whites have fled and the blacks are not far
behind. Soon enough, the whole of Zimbabwe will be in South Africa and
surrounding countries.
Meanwhile, the king is dancing naked in the market
place. He is delusional. He surrounds himself with sycophants who tell
him only what he wants to hear. He is completely out of touch with
realities. To him, the west, led by Tony Blair, now Gordon Brown, the
British Prime Minister, is reason why his country is going down the
drains. He has no hands in his country’s misfortunes! And, I almost
forgot, the United States, led by George Bush is also responsible!
Soon, Mugabe will have no one to harass since all his opponents would
have fled Zimbabwe leaving him with only his cronies.
He whom the gods want to destroy, they first make
mad! Mugabe attended a conference in Lagos when Obasanjo was the
military Head of State in Nigeria. Nigeria’s press, consistent with
their practice, lambasted him for his repressive activities in
Zimbabwe. He was so incensed that he made a report to Obasanjo who
promptly showed him an uncomplimentary report published about him in
that day’s Nigerian Tribune. Mugabe told General Obasanjo that
he (Mugabe), would not tolerate such thing in his own country. He has
since lived up to his word. Mugabe is now Zimbabwe. And Zimbabwe is
Mugabe. His word is law. His solution to inflation is to print more
money! The higher the inflation, the more money he puts into
circulation! At 81 years of age, he is determined to take Zimbabwe to
the grave with him! The problem is that he appears not to be in a
hurry to die soon. The longer he lives, the longer it is that Zimbabwe
has to suffer! He wants to follow the footsteps of Nnasemgbe Eyadema
of Togo and Mobutu Sese Seko of former Zaire who killed their
countries on their death!
How much more harm will Zimbabwe endure before the
world stands up to Mugabe’s tyranny? How much damage is acceptable to
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa? Or to the Venerable Nelson Mandela?
Watching him give a speech at the last session of the United Nations
General Assembly, he appeared as if he was drunk. At 81, he cannot go
to that kind of forum drunk with alcohol. But he was high on
something: Power! Yes! Power corrupts. But, it’s only when fools are
in control of power that they corrupt it absolutely!
In Nigeria, and in other parts of Africa, we have
had our share of the lunatic in power! Or the ludicrous. We have even
had some buffoons in power! But Mugabe has outshone them all! He has
led his country into a cul-de-sac. Going forward is as tough as going
backward. But the people are crying for help. Need there be another
Liberia at the door-step of Mandela?
Ian Smith will be smirking with derision wherever
he is. Or is he dead? The only change in Zimbabwe is the color of the
predatory class. The yoke of the people is even much heavier. Their
situation in life not any less hopeless. Yes, contrary to Ian Smith’s
wish, a black man has ruled his Rhodesia in his life time! And yes,
his fears are true! Everything the black rulers touched has decayed in
their hands. The expectation of the white of black people is now
confirmed! And we have merely proved to them that they may be right.
No! In my soul, I know that they are not right! Some of the great
inventors are black. High intellect is not the exclusive preserve of
white people.
But why is Africa so backward fifty years after
independence? India got their independence in 1948(?) and Pakistan a
little later. These are now nuclear powers in Asia. Korea is emerging
as an economic giant in the Asian continent. And Indonesia, which
imported palm produce from Nigeria in the 60’s exports the same
commodity back to Nigeria in 2007! Where did we go wrong?
The problem is that the British handed power to the
wrong people in most of Africa. Let me put that sentence in another
way: the wrong people took over power in Africa at independence. While
Mahatma Gandhi, the father of modern India was the natural and logical
successor to the British at independence, he conceded power to Jaw
Aral Nehru, who was no less a patriot. Both of them established an
enduring legacy of secular democracy in the largest and very complex
society in the world!
Not so in Zimbabwe! And not so in most of Africa!
Those who took over in Nigeria did not know what self-governing meant.
They did not know what to do with power. They had no experience in
democratic governance and did not have the patriotism needed in
managing complex societies of conflicting interests. Ditto in
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe knew how to fight a guerilla war but has
failed miserably in the governance of his people. He, along with
leaders of Nigeria and most of Africa, has brought shame to black
people of the world. Let Mandela rise from retirement. Let Nyerere and
Kaunda rise up. There is work to do in Zimbabwe. Nyerere did it in
Uganda by chasing out Idi Amin and restoring Milton Obote to power.
Let Mandela motivate Mbeki to lead a South African contingent to
Zimbabwe to dislodge the tyrannical ruler in Zimbabwe. Let them
restore some sense of dignity to black people of the world!
