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.