The former Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos (Unilag), Prof. Lai Olurode, has said that the death of Libya’s former President, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, is a lesson to sit-tight African leaders.
Olurode told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos that African leaders who did not have respect for the rule of law and democracy would end like Gaddafi.
Olurode said that what mattered most for any leader was his or her final policy output and outcome analysis.
He said whatever the late Muammar Gaddafi had put in place during his reign was meaningless since the people did not experience political freedom under him.
“Gaddafi started well but ended as a dictator and it is because the people wanted to be politically free that his death was plotted.” ?
Olurode, however, said the early period of Gaddafi’s reign portended better good human living indicators than most African countries.
“The Libyan people enjoyed good health care system, education, food security, employment, good roads and industrial growth, but the issue is that they were afraid to express themselves under Gaddafi and this was a fundamental flaw for his government.
“The people of Libya wanted to be carried along in their governance which they had been deprived of in over 40 years.
“Because all over the world, material benefits are usually not enough for human needs if freedom of expression was absent.” ?
The don noted that human beings were not like animals that required only physiological needs to continue to live within their community.
He said there was an urgent need for the Libyan people to brace up for the challenges of rebuilding their war torn country.
He urged the people to eschew ethnic bigotry in the national rehabilitation process.
Prof. Yomi Akinyeyi of Unilag’s Department of History and Strategic Studies said that Gaddafi’s death was a landmark achievement for the Libyan people.
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He, however, expressed regret over the absence of a political succession plan in place.
Akinyeyi said Libyans must be cautious and exhibit maturity to ensure that the country did not fall into chaos.
“Libya, before Gaddafi was under the rule of a monarch. And their political history does not include experience in a democratically elected government.
“This historical background may pose critical nation building challenges if not well managed,”
Dr Kabir Akinyemi, a Lecturer, Department of Micro Biology, Lagos State University, said that the warring factions in Libya should rest their differences and forge a common front.? ?
“We want a Libya that will be democratically governed and a state that respects the will of the people.
?“If Gaddafi had in February, respected the wish of the people for him to step down after over 40 years of iron rule, he would not have found himself where he is now.”
He urged African leaders with sit-tight mentality to take a cue from Libya’s experience.