Diferencia entre las NIIF completas y NIIF para las PYMES

Chukwuma Ibezute’s Hamarian People’s Revolution

U.I. Nwachukwu PhD

Chukwuma Ibezute’s Hamarian People’s Revolution is a novel of 20 chapters and 173 pages. It was published in 1994 by Cel-Bez & Co. Publishers. The novel is preoccupied with the problem of political instability in Africa. It is its view that military coups can never be the solution to African problem; rather, it is the masses themselves that can bring about a true revolution.

Story Line

In an imaginary African country named Hamaria, some ambitious young army officers decided to carry out a coup against the corrupt civilian government in order to correct several anomalies in the body politic of the country. Their desires, according to them, was to introduce a revolution which would eliminate ‘regionalism, sectionalism, tribalism, nepotism, bribery and corruption, and bigotry’ in the country (11).

The civilian government of Hamaria was headed by Chief Dr. Prince Abel Peters who emerged president after a rigged general election. He quickly eliminated his political rivals and became a full-fledged dictator who ruled the country with iron hands and brought hardship to the people, thereby fuelling the clamour for a military takeover of the government of Hamaria.

In order to avert an impending army coup, the president summoned the army chiefs and charged them with the responsibility of checking the activities of their officers and men. Ironically, however, the army chief, sensing that their own lives were at stake because of the imminent coup being planned by the junior officers, decided to strike fast.

They toppled the government of President Peters and installed General Maja as the new head of state of Hamaria.

General Maja’s rule was marked by high-handedness, graft, flamboyance and economic recklessness. The country under him witnessed a high rate of crime and abject

137

poverty while a few soldiers were living in great affluence. Meanwhile, the young army officers did not give up their ambition to stage a coup. They later ousted the government of Field Marshal Maja and appointed Lt. Col. Dabbo as their leader assisted by Lt. Col Hibram. Just after a hundred days in office, President Dabbo promoted himself and his fellow coupplotters. He gave himself the rank of Field Marshal.

Field Marshal Dabbo’s government set aside all the revolutionary ideals it had announced to the Hamarian people on the day of its inception and became intolerant of opposition. His Minister of information, Mr. Martins, resigned his appointment because of his disenchantment with the government of Dabbo. He returned to his original profession of journalism but because he was critical of the government, his paper, The Truth was closed down and he himself was detained for security reasons. In order to consolidate his position as President of Hamaria, Dabbo fabricated charges against some of his fellow coupplotters (Rampa and Chekwas) and had them executed by a firing squad. His reign of terror proved to be the worst that Hamaria had ever experienced.

After a failed coup attempt by a disgruntled ex-minister of the government, Col Coleman, the people of Hamarian took up the challenge and decided to bring down the government of the country; the people revolted and staged demonstrations across the country for the restoration of democracy. Hamarian University students joined the demonstrating public; civil servants stopped work, and markets closed down. Hamarians came out enmasse to protest against the government, not deterred by the tanks and machine guns of the army which mowed many of them down.

In the end, President Dabbo and his cohorts were captured and jailed. A committee known as the Hamarian People’s Revolution Committee was set up under the chairmanship of Mr. Martins. The committee soon put in place a new order in Hamaria in which justice, fair-play and equal opportunities for all her citizens reigned supreme.

Hamarian People’s Revolution As a Sad Commentary on African Political Leadership

138

The novel is clearly a commentary on contemporary African political experience. It is the view of the author that the greatest problem of African countries is political instability caused by lack of honest and dedicated leadership. According to him:

The leaders behave like prodigals who lacked vision and foresight in investing for a better tomorrow but rather went on extravagant living, and lavishing their father’s wealth. The leaders went a-borrowing regularly, and squandered what was usually borrowed and multiplied the country’s foreign debt. (24)

The novel goes on to identify corruption as the bane of African political leaders. Every political leader sees his position as an opportunity to grab and amass wealth and wield power over other citizens. That is why civilians and military personnel alike crave for political power at all costs. For civilians who manage to get to power, they attempt to turn their countries into one-party states in order to remain in power forever. They use various means to cling to power, including the murder of their political opponents. For the military, they think that they have an advantage over the civilians because they are armed and can capture power by staging coup d’etats. It is the novel’s position, however, that the military are not suitable to govern a country because, according to it:

[…] history has shown that they have never succeeded in introducing any good revolution or meaningful change politically, economically, socially or otherwise in African politics. (154)

The novel proffers a blueprint that will usher in a truly democratic system of government where the interest of the masses should reign supreme in the minds of the leaders. According to it:

[…] a democratic government sees power as belonging to the people […] in a democratic set-up, all adult citizens participate in installing the government by electing their own representatives or leaders. This type government allows such rights of citizenship as freedom of speech, religion, opinion, and association. It accepts all citizens as equals. (163)

Conclusion

Hamarian People’s Revolution is an engaging novel written in flowing language. It reveals the author’s commitment to true democratic system of government for African countries as well as his rich, fertile, creative literary powess.

139