THE DEATH OF DICTATORS, A SOOTHING BALM

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Written by Emmanuella Nduonofit

Saturday, 29 May 2010

The death of dictators, a soothing balm

Life can now experience an ultimate calm

They’ll be judged accordingly in God’s palm

The above is an unprepared, rhythmic triplet poem. The death sentence on Saddam Hussein has instigated this talk of mine, even though Syria called the death sentence illegitimate, the Palestinian group Hamas said it was politically motivated and the European Union told Iraq not to execute that dictator. Information has it that Syria has coffin-like prisons. After a prisoner gets the electric chair, that person is kept in that prison. George W. Bush (Jnr.) called it one of the highest forms of torture in history. Would you blame Syria for kicking against Saddam’s death?

It is very natural to note that when a bad man dies, his can of worms is opened, smelly, disgusting and very unbearable to behold.

In bible history, Antiochus Epiphanes, who became a Syrian king in the year 137 (175 B.C.), viciously attacked the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem in the year 143 (169 B.C.). He forced the people of the land to abandon their traditions and customs and adopt the Greek culture. While many succumbed to this decree for the sake of cohabitation and peace, others painstakingly held on steadfast to their culture. Those who refused to adhere to Antiochus’ decree were tortured and put to death, every man, woman and child. Antiochus’ end was a simple one: a sharp intestinal pain for which there was no relief. As a result, he fell out of his chariot with such a thud that made every bone in his body ache. He fell down flat on the ground and had to be carried on a stretcher. The intestinal pain oozed out a stench so bad that no one was able to come close enough to carry him around. He made a deathbed repentance by writing a letter of relief to those who survived his numerous torments and died a miserable death in the mountains of a foreign land.

Roman Emperor Nero unleashed the same torture, anguish, torment and devastation on the Christians of the early church under his reign. He ordered the execution of two ardent forerunners of Christ on the same day, Peter by an upside-down crucifixion and Paul by beheading outside the city of Rome. Nero had John the Evangelist (author of the book of Revelations) thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, but the Lord displayed His ever awesome power by making him scale through completely unhurt.

Adolf Hitler, creator of the Nazi Gestapo, is known to have melted to a pulp the skins of 6.1 million Jews in a gas chamber at Nuremberg, their skins used as leather to make bags and shoes. The film Escape from Sobibor says it all. The numerous literatures of Hitler, both for and against him, gave detailed accounts of this man and his reign. Information has it that he killed himself and his body was never found.

Coming down to Africa, we know of Idi Amin Dada, who was bred and buttered in the barracks and a cannibal to the core. He illegitimately bagged himself a doctorate decree and he was solely responsible for the murders of over 300,000 Ugandans, rural and urban dwellers alike. Some were left to decay while others were turned to meat and kept in his popular fridge. Few were given proper burials. Yes, the deaths were overwhelming and devastating! He ordered the exodus, in less than ten hours, of every single Lebanese living in Uganda. Those who couldn’t go were slaughtered. That action caused a sudden, immediate collapse in the economic order of the country, and that was the beginning of Dada’s doom. He was exiled to Saudi Arabia and there, he was struck with an illness that made him comatose. He died in his sleep. He was never given a state’s burial. Professor Wole Soyinka chronicles this African dictator creatively in his comic play A Play of Giants

In Nigeria, Sani Abacha came into power and that ended the interim government existing then, courtesy of Babangida’s arrangements. Every Nigerian was silent under his brutal rule, and those who couldn’t remain silent were silenced. Very few survived the silencing. The day he died was a day of celebration nationwide, better than Christmas. Noise, noise, everywhere! He died in the arms of a woman (not any of his wives, o!).

Back to Saddam. He employed the use of chemical weapons to torture his prisoners. He did the same thing Hitler did concerning melting people in a gas chamber. Finally, George W. Bush, who obviously could not stand that everyday, every week, every month, every year and every century torture and torment, decided to come in with all his arsenal and put a stop to it, even though his intentions were highly questionable all over the globe. It was only when Saddam Hussein was completely ousted that President George was able to fish out the weapons of mass destruction buried deep in Iraq. Imagine! Every Iraqi town and village, except Saddam’s own hometown, vigorously jubilated his death sentence, including the whole of Iran and Kuwait. I guess that was expected. It happened here in Nigeria, remember?

One does not talk about a bad man until he has made his final trip to mother earth, unless it is absolutely safe to do so. Otherwise, one will never survive to tell that tale. The author of Dracula never survived it either, for after creating that effigy, he fell into a sad, abysmal madness and those who knew and loved him distanced themselves from him when his condition was irredeemable. That creature existed in the author’s subconscious mind, and it killed him

I wish to quote myself, though what I have written is yet to be published but in due time: My country Nigeria, where goodness and badness mix and live in a comfortably artificial peace, with an unstable economy and a dangling future. I may have specified Nigeria, but I could make reference to any country in Africa or in the world generally. In the Bible, it says that rain falls on good and bad alike. The Lord in His infinite mercy blesses both the wicked and upright. I may have sounded pessimistic in my quote, but I am a realist as well as an idealist.

Definitely, there is a Dracula in the entire psyche of all dictators such as Antiochus, Nero, Hitler, Dada and Abacha. Right now, Saddam Hussein is the present Dracula. He is all those dictators I’ve mentioned and those unmentioned put together. The dictators I’ve mentioned have one thing in common: They are all military men. This has led me to conclude that generally, military men are inhuman when enslaved by the power of a lethal weapon.

Hear the legendary Jim Reeves:

Across the bridge

There’s no more sorrow

Across the bridge

There’s no more pain

The sun will shine

Across the river

and you’ll never be unhappy again.

All of humanity will cross that “bridge” according to each individual’s destiny, but I guess some would cross it faster than others without ever knowing why. These dictators fit into that category. When they cross that “bridge”, according to Jim Reeves, they will have no more sorrow to inflict on people ever again. Their end presents a soothing balm for the living, joy unlimited, no more unhappiness … freedom! When Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death, it was as if the apparitions of every single mutilated and murdered victim of his arose and joined hands with the judge to deliver that verdict. There may be controversy surrounding his death sentence at present, but the fact remains that the sentence rests on his face for the rest of his life.

But how am I sure that any baby I cuddle close for me to enjoy the feel of its naturally erratic heartbeat won’t become a potential dictator in his community, country or the entire world? If that is the case, aluta continua ad infinitum.

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