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| Awesomeness Esuabana |
6 July 2019
The Arab spring began in December 17, 2010 when Tunisian Street Vendor Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest the arbitrary sizing of his vegetable stand by police over failure to obtain a permit.
Bouazizi, a graduate who had struggled to find work, had taken to selling fruit and vegetables as a way of feeding his family, and putting his sister through university.
Unfortunately, he had not acquired a licence to sell goods, and a policewoman confiscated his cart and produce. Feeling humiliated and infuriated, Bouazizi went to the provincial headquarters with the intent to lodge a complaint to local municipality officials.
However, he was not granted an audience. Few hours later, he doused himself in flammable liquid and set himself on fire.
One man’s self-immolation appeared to encapsulate a pent up sense of frustration which had been buried deep down inside many young Tunisians concerning a broad scope of social issues.
Thus, Bouazizi’s sacrificial act served as a catalyst for not just the Revolution in Tunisia but a revolution that cut through most of the Maghreb.
The street protest ensued in Tunis, the country’s capital, eventually prompted authoritarian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to abdicate his position and flee to Saudi Arabia. He had ruled the country for 23 years…
on the 22nd of July 2019, A street trader simply identified as Michael was crushed to death near Watt Market in Calabar, Cross River State, on Friday during an encounter with officials of the Department of Public Transportation.
The father of five was asked by the DOPT officials to remove the shoes he had displayed for sale on the walkway by the post office when the tragedy occurred.
According to an eyewitness identified as Lizzy, “As the man was removing his wares, the DOPT officials used their vehicle to knock him into the gutter.
“Before he came out of the gutter, they had taken his wares into their truck. As he prostrated and was pleading with them to release his goods, they used their vehicle to crush him to death.”
The mob later marched with the corpse strapped to the roof of a car from Old Calabar Road, where the incident happened, to the DOPT office, threatening to burn down the place, but they were stopped by some police men.
Another eye witness who spoke said the agency has killed not less than five traders in the last one month, regretting that an agency that was established to maintain discipline on the road had turned around to target traders in the state.
Aside the mob that was stopped by some police men as they approached the DOPT office, nothing else was done and has been done since the day of the incident.
Cross Riverians and Nigerians have been distracted by COZA, RUGA and BBN. Michael should have been our own Mohammed. Despite the fact that we all hid behind our phones to express our disgust about the event, our rant was not powerful enough to spark off a revolution. This same social media was what led to the spread of the Tunisian Revolution across North Africa and the Middle East.
The developments over time in Nigeria shows that Nigeria is ripe for a revolution. One wonders why this country is yet to undergo a revolution. Revolutionary situations such as poverty, unemployment, economic and political repression, crime, corruption are the themes in the Nigerian novel.
Why has Nigeria not undergone a revolution?
©Awesomeness Esuabana
Your Favorite SHOE MAKER GIRL.