I was going to write about Ariel Sharon — the former Prime Minister of the State of Israel. He had a storied military career before entering politics as a member of the Likud Party. After several ministerial positions beginning in 1977, he became the leader of his party in 2000, and serving as the 11th Israel’s prime minister from 2001 until 2006 when he suffered a debilitating stroke. Whether in a negative or positive sense, or both, you cannot write about the history of modern Israel or indeed of the Middle East without a mention of Sharon. But when he died on January 11, 2014 at the age of 85, much of the world was silent. In fact, there was a profound indifference to the passing of a man who was considered a colossus in his heyday. It was telling that much of the world neither jubilated nor mourned his passing. Unlike the passing on of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez in the spring of 2013, or of Nelson Mandela in the winter of the same year, the world did not celebrate the life of Sharon. Nonetheless, his country and his people did not forget. He did everything he could to advance the cause of his nation and his people. What would the world and Nigerians say when Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, and Goodluck Jonathan pass on? What would history and posterity say about these men and others – men who betrayed and dehumanised their own people and exploited their own country for their selfish interest? Although all three men are alive today, I wonder if they ever think of their own mortality and obituaries. What a waste! And especially in terms of how they ruled the country, were they, in the words of John F. Kennedy, “truly men of courage—with the courage to stand up to one’s enemies—and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one’s associates—the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed…were they truly men of good judgment…were they truly men of integrity…and were truly men of dedication—with an honour mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest.”?
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:50:27 +0000
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