AWE-INSPIRINIG REMINISCENCES
OF THE GOOD OLD BRITANIA
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| MAP OFTHE BRITISH IMPERIAL POWER |
I was just pondering over
myriads of crises dogging our glorious world today. You know, the Putin expansionist drive into
Ukraine, and wondering as to what the hell exactly does this stoic man of
Russia want to do with independent country Ukraine, to absorb Ukraine into the
present day Russia, then what next, and so on and so forth? And he is so consume by this queer ambition
that is unfortunately only likeable to the hitlerian pursuit to conquer the
whole world, taking the countries one after the other until Hitler’s dream of
establishing his dream Homo sapiens
race, which he is now doing single-mindedly regardless of global
opposition. The world is still fathoming
out the ways and means to effectively defuse and eventually resolve permanently
this latest threat to world peace.
Then we have this hydra headed
monster that calls itself ISIS, but which the Western world chooses to call
Islamist militants. Whatever name they
are called is neither here nor there.
But the reality is that this movement that sprouted taking advantage of
the vacuum created by the conspicuous absence or inaction on the part of the
West under the leadership of the United State of American when it mattered most
in the Syrian crisis that has ended up bringing that historic country into
ruins, the mangled territories that are now being fiercely contested mainly
between the handicapped Bashar al-Assad Government and the ISIS. But as if the horror evoked by its blood
soaked campaign is not enough, the ISIS has become audacious, threatening to
take over the whole of Syria, a development that compelled President Bashar
al-Assad to call out openly for help, even from the West!
In addition, it has fanned out into
Iraq, also threatening the Government there, which in turn has called for help from
the United State of America. And the
Americans have responded, and are making a difference. But it is beginning to dawn on world leaders
that the ISIS question is not an ad-hoc problem that you tackle as and when it
begins to be worrisome. It is beginning
to forge a global structure that would incorporate Al-Qaeda elements in
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, North Africa and the Boko Haram in Nigeria; plus
the direct recruitment of citizens of Western Europe and America to receive
training and radicalization with the aim of being sent back to their respective
countries to form cells of the organization, so as to accomplish total global
penetration and effectiveness.
As these worrisome events are taking
place leaders of the West continue to luxuriate in vein rationalization of
these alarming developments. Even
President Putin of Russia plays indifference, apparently forgetting the
organizations under reference have their comrades in Russia’s Chechnya region. Then I was just wondering as to how suddenly
have things come this way, forcing me to engage in the unforgettable
reminiscences of the days of yore about the good old Britannia, the once
colonial masters of my beloved country, Nigeria. This reminds me that once in a while during
the second republic of Nigeria, not a few politicians of very pius intension
wished it openly that perhaps the country was better recolonized by the
British.
In fact one State Governor made it a
huge issue to press for. The reason for
this thinking is simply because it seemed the life in independence was not
getting better than the colonial era, and everybody likes to belong to a great
country, may not necessarily be like the G8 countries, but a country that stand
up in protection of her people no matter what.
Something that would make you feel secure and that you can be proud of,
and the description of which instantly makes me recall my unforgettable
encounter at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London during summer of 1984.
I was among a team of students of
the International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva, Switzerland, on country
visit to Great Britain and the first port of call was the Commonwealth
Secretariat. Upon our arrival the
appointed tourist guide, a bulky self-confident Briton, was already waiting,
who immediately proceeded to lead us into the massive hall and gallery of fame
in the Secretariat. On the wall facing
you as if welcoming you to the gallery is a huge map, covering the whole wing
of the hall, showing the global territories that characterized the British
Empire. In front of this jumbo size map
he gazed at it briefly, as though he was ready to initialize a ceremony, and
pointing with relish at it, began his trade this way: “Ladies and Gentlemen, you’re
welcome to the Commonwealth Secretariat”, he said “you see, most people in this
our glorious world are proud of their history, but we British are very proud of
our geography”! Yes, there it was, the
Union Jack covering more than three-quarters of the land mass of the earth,
which earned the country the fitting appellation “GREAT BRITAIN”.
The delivery was instantly electric,
just as the message conveyed by the historic map was as mesmerizing and
awe-inspiring. To just imagine the
position physically occupied by the British Isles on the map like a small
dot. Then to imagine in indomitable
spirit that fired the great early British adventurers that produced the
dumb-founding result called British Empire, to consider the audacious
determination and fearlessness on the part of the greatest heroes the world has
seen to date and that made it possible for men from this tiny Island, perching
like a fly on the face of Europe, to literally conquer the whole world in the
amazing way they did constitutes one of the wonders of our world. A tribute to the great true British men of
unsurpassable vision and unimaginable courage and valour. It is a beautiful story that confirms the
saying that “where there is a will there
is a way”.
Against the backdrop of the
exemplary courage and valor shown by the leaders, men and women of the British
imperial power, however, what we see today about those at the helm of affairs
of England today is a different story. A
story that is best captured when you recall the drama at the British parliament
in the heat of the Syrian crises. David
Cameron, the Prime Minister pressed for immediate protective action. He marshaled the most forceful arguments in
favour but his unwilling colleagues turned his request down. A development that promptly damped the spirit
of President Barack Obama of the USA.
The Western Countries, China and Russia just adopted a non-committal
approach.
This catastrophic failing on the
part of the world leaders to get it right could only have happened because our
present day social scientists appear not to be getting right the perennial
issue of the behavioral science of humans on earth either. They forget that Man is grouped as part of
animal kingdom, and therefore tends to be affected by the primordial tendency
for the “survival of the fittest”. They
are easily misled by the plethora of developmental indices and technological
advancement in which man swims today.
But whether we like it or not, man
is still essentially an animal, may be a little bit higher than the other
members of the kingdom. And the first
proof of that is in the Holy Bible when Cain murdered his brother Abel in cold
blood due to envy. Even in the serenity
of the Garden of Eden, Cain exhibited the animal in him, and in fact showed no
remorse when he was asked of the whereabouts of his brother. He parried off the enquiry by submitting that
he was not his brother’s keeper!
Man is possessive and is still
governed by the urge for “the survival of the fittest”. In fact it is for the defeat of this
corrosive behaviour that the world religions are engaged in the perennial
battle: to inculcate in man that the world can be a better place if man were to
accentuate only the positive traits of life; to promote the feeling of love,
affection and empathy, and above all to be his brother’s keeper. Meanwhile, the ISIS has served the world an
ominous notice and the stakes are being raised higher and higher by the day,
its comrades in arm scattered at several corners of the world are becoming more
impudent daily. Those “laisez-faire”,
“allow sleeping dog lie” and “I don’t want any harm to come to my people”
politicians of our today world should remember that 9/11 happened without any
provocation, and adhere strictly to the wise counsel by Chairman Mao Zedong of
China in his ageless admonition in these words: “the best defense is a good
offence”. The Americans say this is
similar to their “Doctrine of Containment”.
If that is right, so be it. But
something has to be done today.
---------------------------------------- where facts are facts ----------------------------------------
AMERICAN MID-TERM ELECTION
RESULTS: A GAME CHANGER
RESULTS: A GAME CHANGER
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| PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA OF USA |
As the
Americans were trouping out to go vote in the mid-term election on Tuesday,
November 4, 2014, I posted a wish on my Facebook. I said “I do not know what you guys are going
to vote for, but for me, a Nigerian, I wish to see a “HE” America once again”. And when the following morning the winners
and the losers had been known, it turned out turned out that the event is now
on record as a historic game changer for the US of A. It was like the Americans and my humble self
just shared a sort of mental telepathy.
The Americans have just voiced out their
accumulated frustration with what has been characterized as a systematic
down-sizing of the image of their great country under the watch of the Obama
administration. In the aftermath,
leadership of the US Senate has been dramatically switched from the Democrats
to the Republicans, and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives
has almost doubled, thereby bequeathing to the Republicans the full control of
the two chambers of the United States Congress.
In his national broadcast to the American
occasioned by the result of the election, President Barack Obama said to his
fellow countrymen: “I HEAR YOU!” And he
added that by the result of the election he had come to understand that his
countrymen wanted him and the politicians in Washington DC to change the way
they have been doing things. And he
promised to adhere strictly to the yearnings of his people.
From the look on his face on the day he
made this historic pronouncement, there is no doubt that the President meant
every word that came out of his mouth.
But because he has waited until just after he had been jolted to the
reality that his people overwhelmingly think that the way he was going
supposedly in the interest of the American people, did not quite resonate with
them, then a few tips on the vexing issues bothering the American and lovers of
America the world over can help in this renewal drive.
But what really went amiss in the social
contract between the President and the American people, and how? You see, Barack Obama is a fine gentleman and
a very good person. What he says he
means and believes in deeply and specially.
So when he says that he detests doing anything that might lead to
exposing any American to harms way, he believes in it like one of the
commandments of God. And it showed in
all his actions all the way.
For example, during the Arab Spring
Revolution, America under the watch of the President, deterred. The Europeans swiftly stepped in and assumed
leadership to answer to the clarion call from the Arabs for a helping
hand. America contented herself with
just supportive role from the rear.
Fellow Americans described the show as “providing leadership from the
rear.”
The last straw in this show of
incomprehensible was when the American Ambassador in Benghazi, Libya was
gruesomely murdered by some Libyan rebels inside the Embassy in Benghazi,
apparently after discovering that the Embassy was inadequately protected. Some people have alleged that the committal
of this atrocity could only have happened because the American authorities did
not commit themselves to the issues at hand, which obviously betrayed the
security breach at the Embassy.
Then the Syrian pro-democracy
demonstrations quickly escalated and boiled over into full scale one-sided
civil war in which President Assad deployed all sorts of unconventional weapons
against unarmed civilians and some poorly armed activists. Again America under the watch of Obama
administration deterred. Even after the
regime crossed red lines after red lines established by Obama himself, America
still deterred; while Russia was busy playing diplomatic ping pong at the
Security Council of the United Nations with America and the West.
Meanwhile, emboldened by the fact that
his game of lullaby on the Western politicians is paying off handsomely,
President Putin of Russia decided to take yet the most brazen and daring action
to date by swiftly annexing Crimea and has continued to sustain pressure on
Eastern Ukraine (a territory that is part of a sovereign nation), with the
intent of also annexing that geographical portion of the Republic of Ukraine.
Now, all these human right abuses and the
blatant violation of the territorial integrity of the independent sovereign
lands are going on with impunity without a meaningful check mate from anywhere
including the foremost world power. So
Americans and all lovers of America the world over want to be reassured that
their great country, their powerful protective shield can somehow still meet
her billing of invincibility, come rain come shine.
The truth is that the United States of
America, as a people did not just wake up one day and decide: “Now, let
us make ourselves a great nation. Let’s
build for ourselves the greatest of all nations – the greatest world power on
earth”. No, instead we learn
from history that America’s greatness resulted from several accidents of
history. We learn that before becoming a
nation, they faced challenges that they jointly and courageously engaged and overcame.
From every victory they gained mastery
over old skills and acquired new ones, which were further deployed to face yet
new challenges no matter what without fear.
A critical resource that was deployed to help them to have upper hand in
their Boston Tea Party conflict, centred on their protest against
taxation without representation,
and which became recorded as their first major international conflict
with the colonial powers of Great Britain that has come to be recognized as the
precursor to the American War of Independence
The United States of America deservedly
earned its “the foremost world power status beginning from her audacious
handling of the nerve racking Cuban Missile Crisis in a sweat soaked face to
face who blinks first show down between President Kennedy of America and
President Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union deep in the middle of the cold
war era, which eventually saw the Soviets back down. Then there is the fact that the decisive
entry by the United States of America into the WWI and WWII had the dramatic
effect of bringing the two successive wars to an end. In addition, since the end of the cold war
era, communism has died a natural death.
Even the so-called communist China (which is so only in name now) and
even Russia are now competing capitalism with America today. That is why it is right to state that America
has won the DEMOCRACY campaign war without making any further effort
whatsoever.
After the WWII, only the United State
America came up with the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Western Europe and
offered to the peoples new lease of life.
Several decades after this insightful large hearted philanthropy that
rebranded and launched into the orbit of knowledge the new philosophy of “Brothers’
Keeper”. It is this historical truth
that has earned for the USA the resounding confidence of the peoples of the
world that she has the will and capacity to re-enact these noble and virtuous
conducts of leading to stand up against injustice in the spirit of ‘Brothers’
Keeper’.
Now, that is why no well-meaning American
or a lover of America will bear seeing his or her country being denigrated,
demeaned or slighted, directly or indirectly, by word or by action. The development of this un welcome scenario
emerged when President Assad of Syria was engaging in human rights violation
and abuses with impunity against his own 'people, and America complained,
urging the UN to do something urgently, only for Russia to object to any such
step stating that such actions violates the territorial integrity of
Syria. But today what are we seeing in
Ukraine? Russia has effectively grabbed
Crimea from Ukraine by force and is right now conducting military campaign
inside Eastern Ukraine to grab even more territory; and nobody is doing
anything meaningful to redress the situation.
The unfolding development in Eastern
Ukraine is very disquieting, just as the issues at stake taxes the best of our
human mind. In the days, weeks and
months ahead the President of America will be assessing the enormous responsibility
thrust on his uneasy shoulders to ensure that Americans and the free world
generally do not come to harm’s way. In
this connection, military strategists the world over agree that “attack is the
best form of defence” or rather in the version made popular by Chairman Mao
Zedong, leader of Communist China (1893 – 1976) in his own words: “the best
defense is a good offense”.
For all intents and purposes, this is
similar to the Truman Doctrine of Containment, being the United State Policy at
which instance President Harry S. Truman pledged to contain communism in Europe
and elsewhere. But although the cold war
is no more today, the containment policy has remained the cornerstone of the
foreign policy focus of successive American administrations.
