DICTATORSHIP & COMMUNISM

PART II

Gaddafi, the dictator who fell

Hello and welcome to my blog, on my last entry I identified that dictatorship can be a key stimulant to progress in developing countries. I could just leave you with that statement and move on, however I feel it is always important to explore a belief.

When it comes to dictators, Gaddafi is a very famous one. Almost all of you would have heard his name and almost everyone has a strong opinion about him. I will ask you as a reader to part with your opinions on Gaddafi for a moment and look at what he achieved for his nation socially and economically.

Libya is a developing country situated on the continent of Africa. From 1977-2011 Muammar Gaddafi has been their leader (or dictator). I am not going to argue if Gaddafi was a good dictator, I am sure many of you would call me a lunatic if I did. Gaddafi’s dictatorship in Libya lasted 32 years; I simply believe he would be a good case study of what effects dictatorship can have on a population.

According to Wikipedia during Gaddafi’s dictatorship:

the country's literacy rate rose from 10% to 90%, life expectancy rose from 57 to 77 years, equal rights were established for women and black people, employment opportunities were established for migrant workers, and welfare systems were introduced that allowed access to free education, free healthcare, and financial assistance for housing

Now faced with these facts it is hard to argue that his dictatorship didn’t cause social and economic progress for the people of Libya. Yet even with all this his people still rebelled against him and they succeeded in ending his rule. What then does this mean? Some media observers and critics of Gaddafi and governing by dictatorship would have you believe that this proves that dictatorship is inefficient and evil. However such a statement would have no bearings on the facts.

Throughout history all over the developed world there have been revolutions and uprisings against leadership by dictatorship. This does not mean that the people did not benefit from the rule of the dictator, on the contrary. Once development has taken shape, and the people have been enlightened, they no longer need the guidance of a dictator. Once a country has advanced out of its infancy it will desire to walk on its own two feet.

Sceptics among you will dispel what I have to say and claim Libya’s development is due to its Oil. However Nigeria is a country which also has Oil and before we had Oil we were rich from cocoa. I went to a party recently in Ibadan, Nigeria and I saw this Hummer. It didn’t surprise me that someone was driving a Hummer in Nigeria, however if I walked into a government primary school I would be surprised if half the teachers could speak good grammar.

DICTATORSHIP & COMMUNISM

PART I

The Prerequisites for progress

Before I move onto the subject of my first blog posting let me introduce myself a bit. I am British and Nigerian, by my own declaration and also by my rightful ownership of both a red and a green passport.

Great Britain, contrary to its name is very small in size. However all that it lacks in landmass it has amassed in terms of economic and social stature. Nigeria on the other hand is in a very different position, it is very big in terms of size but is still an infant in terms of economic and social maturity. On that note let me go into this controversial truth I have chosen to unravel, please excuse the poor delivery of my argument as I am not well versed in prose.

The general school of thought in today’s world is that that democracy is right and dictatorship is wrong. Propaganda and social media from the western world has painted dictatorship as a great evil that is immoral to its very core. I do not agree with this school of thought, dictatorship and democracy are just two different ways to govern. Neither is inherently evil or immoral, both of them can produce injustice and both models are open to corruption.

So why then is the democratic mode of governance so popular, it is crucial that we explore this first. Democracy is promoted because it gives voice to a large proportion of the population, it allows citizens of a state/country to dictate their own futures and move towards progress. This is what the theologians will tell you, and I would agree with them. Dictatorship on the other hand will serve to remove the voice of the population, leaving the course of progress in the hands of the dictator. The western media preach that this is detrimental to growth, but I believe otherwise.

It is not that I am against democracy or that I believe dictatorship is better. What I believe is that both models of governance have their own advantages and thus should be applied in the appropriate environment:

• Developed Economies thrive under democracy. In a country such as England, years of infrastructural building and socio-economic development have already taken place. This has an effect on the general population. The average person in England has education up to at least GCSE level and there is a general understanding that it is to everyone’s benefits that the community as a whole progresses. Thus as democracy is a consensus of voices, the broad spectrum of decisions made will involve society as a whole 
• Developing Economies thrive under good dictatorship. In a country such as Nigeria which hasn't gone through these years of advancement however, the average person does not even have adequate primary school education. What this translates into is a majority of voices which although desire progress, are leading the country towards destruction. In the minds of most Nigerian’s progress is enriching oneself at the expense of the community at large. What a good dictator would serve to do would be to silence these voices. If s/he has the intellect and vision he can force progress upon the masses.

I do not want this post to be too long so I will end it now and go into more details next time. Let me leave you with this quote that describes my point of view:

“A wise person’s heart leads the right way. The heart of a fool leads the wrong way” Ecclesiastes 10:2 (The Bible)

Also here is a picture I found that will illustrate to you the lack of social development in Nigeria. It is a sign instructing higher educational graduates in Nigeria on how to act while at their National Service Orientation camp bases: