As 2011 leaves its footprints in the sands of time, EZRA IJIOMA examines some of the events that shaped the world last year and may consequently impact on 2012.
From the unthinkable Arab Spring to the crushing financial crisis in Europe to the death of the most wanted man on earth, Osama bin Laden, 2011 has been filled with events few could have predicted. On December 17, 2010, a Tunisian fruit seller, Mohammed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in protest, but he did not die until January 4, by which time protests had already spread through the country and to the capital, Tunis. On January 14, life-long “president” Zine el Abidine ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia.
That was the thawing of the dictatorial winter in the Arab world as the Tunisian success pushed out Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (February 11), killed Muammar Gaddafi of Libya (October 20), forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen to sign away power and Bashar al- Assad of Syria is hanging on for dear life. Across North Africa and the Middle East, a long-dormant people did rise up against some of the world’s most brutal and corrupt dictators, often enduring terrible violence in the process. Today, Morocco is freer than ever before, Saudi women are standing up for their rights in a society that considers them as sub-human, Egypt’s Mubarak was ousted and the regimes of other Arab rulers face a greater challenge than ever before.
Arabs are sacrificing everything for democracy and its attendant benefits. Little wonder TIME magazine named the Arab protester as its Person Of The Year. Whichever prism used and however tumultuous it may have been, 2011 belongs to the Arab protesters. Also, protests across the United States and Europe over poor governance were patterned after the Arab Spring. ‘The Occupiers’ in Wall Street and Madrid, Athens, Toronto were all inspired by the success of the Cairo’s Tahrir Square protests that tumbled Mubarak and others.
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EURO-ZONE CRISIS
The financial crisis in Europe also dominated 2011 as the viability of the European Union was questioned. The debt crises that began last year in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain revealed a fundamental flaw in the European project: everybody suffers when a member state behaves irresponsibly, but there was no mechanism to enforce good behaviour. On February 26, Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, became the first political victim of the EU financial crisis after his ruling Fianna Fail party is crushed by voters angry over the economy.
Jose Socrates of Portugal was next victim of the EU crisis as he submitted his resignation to the president on March 23 after parliament rejected his government’s austerity measures in a vote, leading to the Portuguese legislative election of 2011. After losing the election, held on June 5, 2011, he resigned from Secretary-General of the Socialist Party. However, EU leaders reached a trillion-dollar deal on October 27 to save the Euro and rescue Greece. Yet, Greek Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou (November 6) and Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi (November 12) resigned because of the Euro crisis.?
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NORWEGIAN MASS KILLER, LONDON RIOTS
Apart from protests over austerity measures, two other shocking events that dominated headlines were the killing of 77 people in massive twin bombing and shooting spree by a right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik in Norway (July 22) and the three-day riots across England in August which left five persons dead and hundreds of shops looted and some burned. The riots, which caught British police unaware, began on August 6 after the shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in Tottenham, north London two days earlier. Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread and unprecedented rioting, looting and arson.
Consequently, British Prime Minister David Cameron cancelled his holiday in Italy and other government and opposition leaders also ended their holidays to attend to the matter.
Every police officer’s leaves cancelled and Parliament was recalled on August 11 to debate the situation. The riots shook Britain to its very roots and demanded an extensive and intensive soul searching of what went wrong. However, the world is yet to forget another UK event, the royal marriage of Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29.
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OSAMA BIN LADEN KILLED
In the US, the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden in faraway Abbottabad, Pakistan, ended a chapter in America’s ten-year-long ‘War on Terror’ but began a fresh one with Pakistan. The Pakistani government is furious that the US raided its territory without permission while the US argues that Pakistan cannot be trusted with intelligence information. That and subsequent events have strained relationship between the two allies. Another chapter of the ‘War on Terror’ ended on December 15, when the last American soldier left Iraqi soil after nine years. The mission cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and an estimated one trillion dollars.
The question of whether it was worth it all is yet unanswered. “I would describe our troops as having succeeded in the mission of giving to the Iraqis their country in a way that gives them a chance for a successful future,” Barack Obama said will celebrating the end of the war.
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APPLES’ STEVE JOBS DEAD, RANDY DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN ARRAIGNED
The death of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Incorporated, on Wednesday October 5 left many wondering if this is the end of gilt-edge innovations especially from Apple. Steve died of a rare form of pancreatic cancer aged 56. Also, the French political intrigues caught up with Dominique Strauss-Kahn in faraway US as a chamber maid accused him of sexual assault.
He was arrested same, indicted on the 18th, arraigned on June 6 but the case collapsed as the New York prosecutors dropped all charges on August 23. DSK wasn’t the only one who had moral and legal problems in 2011. Conrad Murray, the personal doctor to late Michael Jackson, was found guilty (November 7) of involuntary manslaughter in the death of his client. He was later sentenced to four years imprisonment. The question remains whether he had accomplices.?
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LAURENT GBAGBO OUSTED, SOUTH SUDAN BORN
Besides the Arab Spring, the violent ousting of Laurent Gbagbo (April 11) by a combined force of French and Ivorian militias were another highly remarkable event of 2011. Alassane Quattara took over and is struggling to repair a broken cote d’Ivoire while Gbagbo is standing trial in The Hague. Earlier, the independence of South Sudan (January 9) was celebrated across the world for the joy of a people who had fought for decades to be free. President Salva Kiir took the oath of office as the first president of South Sudan with its capital in Juba. Somalia stayed in the news as Kenya invaded (October 24) it in pursuit of Islamic militants disrupting its tourism industry. The Islamic militants have been chased out Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, but the still remain a destabilizing force in the country and still fighting strong.
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Natural Disasters
What would the world be without natural disasters? No idea, so 2011 had its share of natural disasters that killed thousands and displaced many more. Though not in the scale of the December 26, 2009 tsunami off the coast of Indonesia or the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January 2010, the March 11 massive earthquake and resultant tsunami that struck northeastern Japan, left over 20,000 people dead or missing and unleashed a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant, the worst since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The earthquake of 9.0 magnitude, had its epicenter approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of T?hoku.
Over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, “In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan.”
The World Bank estimated the worth of destruction at $235, making the most expensive natural disaster in history.
There were also earthquakes (February 22) in Christchurch, New Zealand that left over 200 dead and a series of earthquakes in Turkey in October with about 1000 dead. The famine that struck the Horn of Africa, with Somalia bearing the brunt, revealed a world in need of superior intelligence in solving problems. Pictures and tales of starving children and women compelled the world to act belatedly. It took African Union months to agree on a date to meet and raise funds for starving Somalis. Kenya hosted the largest refugee camps for Somalis fleeing war and hunger.
Thailand experienced its worst floods in its capital, Bangkok – dubbed Venice of the East. The November floods destroyed homes and livelihoods and left over 700 dead. Australia was also swamped by seasonal rain-triggered floods in January. Its eastern part, primarily Queensland, was submerged and it was declared a disaster zone. In Philippine, More than 1,000 others are known to have died since Hurricane Washi hit the island of Mindanao on Saturday, December 17. Entire neighbourhoods in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities were swept away. Some 338,000 people were affected and more than 10,000 homes damaged. The Philippine president, Benigno Aquino, declared a state of emergency and called for international help.
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KIM JONG-IL DEAD; SYRIA/YEMEN UPRISINGS CONTINUE
The isolated North Koreans couldn’t keep out the death of its leader, Kim Jong-il, who died of heart attack on December 17 at the age of 69. Born Yuri Irsenovich Kim he ruled from 1994 to 2011 and will be succeeded by his son Kim Jong-Un – who is in his early 20s. There have been fears of instability in the ‘nuclear-power’ North Korea but so far it has been a smooth transition. However, it is reported that North Korea will be ruled by collective leadership, including Kim Jong-un, his uncle and the military.
Life is a continuum and many events of 2011 will definitely shape 2012. The Arab Spring is yet to be summer as Egyptians battle the military from hijacking their freedom like the Ayatollahs stole the Iranian Revolution. Also, Syria and Yemen are still battling the dictators. With the world’s population dusting the seven billion mark on October 31, humans continue to search for answers to life’s many questions and hope 2012 will bring enlighten the issues better.
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