Revolution is the process where by a society not only sloughs its skin to display a fresher outlook, but also brings about a far-reaching social change and a fundamental reconstruction in its polity. It involves a complete reorientation of the thinking, attitudes and action of the people. A revolution makes a break with the past, and establishes a new order. It is a catalyzed bold plunge into a new consciousness in personal as well as in social context.
The word revolution sends a shrill down the spine of some people because it conjures up to them upheaval and bloodbath. All revolutions are not always of volcanic eruption. Some revolutions are well guided to the attainment of their goal. It is the amount of work needed to effect the change and the degree of resistance encountered that make the revolution being either tumultuous or peaceful.
It is well to note that revolution is an ineluctable process of life Evolution or development by which a continuous but steady (permanent but piecemeal) change is brought about in life is nature’s own way of revolution. Man cannot be circumspect and calculating enough as nature; therefore, the outcome of the action of man cannot always come out smooth and peaceful. Revolution as devised and executed by man is only a speeded-up process nature would have undertaken anyway.
At one time or the other every community will need to shed its old self and be revitalized and renewed to keep up with or survive changing times. All developed nations have had a taste of revolution, a time of reappraisal that effected a change in the people’s mentality and orientation. This change redirected the communities to the path of progress, and development that lifted them to a higher civilization. In these nations revolution also welded the diffused and self-serving medley of people together and evolved a civic community with a national consciousness and Lure. Even when the masses of the people are not yet ready for a change (and there is never a time when the generality of the people would be ready or willing for a revolution) it is the civic responsibility of the avant-gardes to jolt them into action.
A revolution may not be actuated by an organized body could be precipitated as a result of devastation by natural cat or a war. This prompts a spontaneous turning point consciousness of the people.
A revolution is a period of transition involving a great change from one type of system -social, economic, Political or cultural to another form of system and in the process there may bet disruption of normality. Invariably, political revolution comes with a tremor and leaves in its trail traumatic experience for the people, psychologically and physically. After the quake, tumbling upheaval the dust, however, will settle, and usher in stabilization polity and a real revival.
The revolution I urge is the one that will remould the people and the society. This remoulding is not a day’s job. It is immense struggle. It may take a long time or a short time to attain but it requires commitment and vigilance to sustain so as not to slip back into the former state or even degenerate to a worse state than before (Matthew 12:43-45). It takes a very long time, tens of years, hundreds of years or perhaps a millennium to deepen the success of a revolution. A revolution may be carried through in lightning speed but it surely needs time to consolidate. Life must not be looked at as the lifespan of man. After Moses there was Joshua to continue the work of deepening of the revolution.
Revolution is a potent force to inspire a positive attitude to life and the society and to provide the impetus to strive for the transformation of the community towards perfection. It will reshape and create a well-ordered community where people find the right occupation to engage in, become useful to themselves and to the society. It usually introduces innovations that radically launch the community into the comity of civilized nations.
There are different systems of government. Government can be one of theocracy, oligarchy, monarchy, republicanism, democracy, socialism, communism etc. Each system has an appeal to one community or the other, or to one section of the people or the other. The adherents of one system try to influence or force other people or communities to adopt their system.
The American, French and Russian Revolutions violently overthrew monarchy for republicanism. Most countries of the world today have gone republican. In England by the people’s choice monarchy remains but it is virtually effete; real power lies in the people’s elected Prime Minister and some extent, the Parliament. In Japan the monarchy was emasculated at the end of the second World War by the victorious American government. Communism in Russia has given way to liberal democracy. Communism came to power in China, Cuba, and North Korea through violence and it is still the government in power.
Every system or ideology serves its own interest and rotates power within itself. Whether they be Labour Party or Conservative party (Britain) Democratic party or Republican Party (USA) or whatever parties they represent the same ideology — republicanism and capitalist economy. it should not be expected and it will never happen that democracy will tolerate the existence of any other ideology or allow it to vie with it in an election, much less voluntarily cede power to it. if democracy is holding power it will, by whatever means, suppress any opposing ideology to retain it. it will call the opposing ideology an evil name to hang it. This was exactly what McCarthyism stood for in the USA. The cold war between liberal democracy and communism for supremacy is still very fresh in our mind. Even then the onslaught on the surviving bastion of communism China, Cuba and North Korea to break down their bulwark is relenting. If the communist termed their seizure of power as dictatorship of the proletariat I regard the self-righteousness of liberal republicanism as dictatorship of the democrats. Democracy will retain power unless it is seized from it. Democracy did support or in some cases did encourage military take-over of elected governments it suspected of flirting with rival ideology. Now it is openly denouncing military coups d’etats and has declared to violently resist any military incursion into government. In places where military dictatorship has been entrenched let no body be deceived that the military will willingly hand over power to liberal democracy. It may only transform itself into a compromised democracy whereby it will organize a sham general election in which it is, itself, the contestant and arbiter. A military once it seizes power will only relinquish it when it faces a disgrace out of office by a popular and well rising with the connivance of an active element of the military itself. In most other cases it is dislodged from office by a counter even if subtle, but always of a stronger force.
Democracy is the vogue today. So the revolution should come to power through a democratic process to have legitimacy.
Still, this proposed revolution is of a class of it own in that it is on a divine mission to cleanse the community it is not merely a power shift. It is coming to power of God’s people to establish good governance and declare war on evil and vanquish it. The opponents of the revolution are the forces of evil. This is not a religious sentiment. Once the party comes to government it should power and not let it slip out of its hand. Retention of power by the party does not imply autocracy. The party must foster democracy within itself to make room for self-revitalization and auto- regeneration. Power should never be hereditary. The ethics guiding power shift should be well enunciated in the revolution constitution of the party and the state the party comes to epitomize Power should swap only among members of the groups of the same conviction for the definite object of victory of good over evil. But we know that the members of the party are human beings. How can we ensure unity of opinion within the cadre of leadership, that given free and exhaustive debate of issues will not result in dissention and degenerate into factionalism? I favour strong rule, even if it is one man rule, because of the pragmatism of an able on the one hand, and the diversion from governance by the mischief of petty elements of the party when given one inch of unrestricted freedom, on the other hand. None-the-less, I also know the potential danger that can result when unlimited power falls into the hand of a mean man. Which intelligent man with self-esteem can allow himself to be reduced to such a subservient level without an opinion of his own?
Inertia Of Power
Power is subject to the law of inertia. Power remains in the hand of any person or interest group that has grasped it, and it is only by pressure either of the constitution or putsch that whoever holds power relinquishes it. Let there be no delusion about it. No interest group willingly gives up power. Power is snatched from it. There is a struggle for supremacy between individuals or interest groups, and between philosophies or ideologies. From the beginning power has been in the hand of the strong. Ii the wild state the strong man held sway. With the establishment of organized societies pockets of strong men who wielded authority agreed to band themselves together to hold power and lord it over others. The groups that know how best to use power have retained it longer. The groups that have abused power or have become derelict have haspower snatched from them. Sometime a group make a
grievous error by electing into the supreme power one who comes to betray the interest of the group and who through ineptitude, indolence or sheer spite let power slip into the hands of an opposition interest group. This has happened in our own time (1985-1991 in the now defunct Soviet union under Mikhail Gorbachev.
Goal Of Revolution
The driving force of a political revolution is participation in government to steer the state to the goal of fostering an advanced vilitati0n in culture and technology and a society where there is t for all to actualize their aspirations without let.
The true success of a revolution is marked by how much it has imparted the mind of the people and transformed their mental outlook to shed the mouldy life for an enlightened way of life. Revolution should not be imposed superficially or be paid a lip service; it needs to be deeply ingrained in the mentality of the people and lived out. Some people may resist it and it may take some time to impress them to change them. 0 the people to the new idea may need to be by force.
Objective Of The Revolution
1. Good Governance: The very first objective of the revolution is to ascend to executive power hold it in firm grip, and exercise full and absolute control over the community. It will then have to establish a responsible government and an effective bureaucracy to ensure good governance at every tier of government. It will need to bring about first politics in even facet of life from guilds unions, schools and the larger society. The experience in the past ye has witnessed the nation perform abysmally and woefully so much so that government has lost all credibility. The mere mention of government invokes snub. People’s opinion of government must be reversed. The revolution will lead a moral crusade to restore edibility of government and faith of the people
2. Social Reform: To raise the community from the level of beast to the divine purpose for man with creative power and to live in heavenly bliss. There will be a massive and intensive propaganda to bring about a change in the social consciousness of the people. The revolution will restructure the psyche of the people to come to hold the interest of the community above selfish interest.
3. Economy: The objective is one of high growth rate of the economy by a policy of raising the productivity of the people, gainful employment for all, and increased production output. The government will guarantee an enabling business environment both for public and private investments. The government will need to practise fiscal prudence to manage the resources of the community with utmost efficiency, not only to meet present needs and avoid deficit and the need for either internal or external borrowing, but to have surplus funds for reserve. The government will adopt export- push strategy to encourage and promote export of both raw materials and manufactured or processed goods, as well as services. The revolution will create wealth both for the people and the community. The policy of the government will be guided by the need to alleviate poverty and make the people better off and able to acquire the needs of life, both necessities and luxuries. The community must become an industrialized nation within the shortest possible time.
4. Agriculture: The revolution will launch agriculture from peasant, subsistence level to commercial, large-scale production. The community will aim at not only being self-sufficient in food needs but also at contributing to feeding the rest of the world.
5. Education: As the means of reaching the minds of people education will be a valuable instrument in the hands of the party. Good learning environment will be provided. The kind of schooling and the level reached will be solely determined by aptitude. Facilities will be provided for effective teaching and learning to open the senses of the people to the limitless possibilities of the mind. The kind of education is the one to strengthen in the people the spirit of courage and optimism, and confident expectation of the future. Intellectualism must flourish.
6. Technology: The world is ruled by technology. To be in the mainstream of world affairs a community must acquire modem technology. The revolution will give a pre-eminent attention to the acquisition of technology, and work assiduously to achieve a rapid breakthrough in technology as Japan, China, India, etc have done. Creativity and inventiveness must come up.
7. Politics: The new politics will be the type that can bring the community, by its military, economic, scientific and technological attainment, to a pre-eminent position in world affairs and to contribute to the upliftment of humanity.
Need Of Revolution
A community may have the misfortune to be mired in rigid tradition that resists the changing times. Unless that community born again it cannot enter the orbit of modernity characterize science, technology and industrialization. A community in this state of crudity and decrepitude is like an ore. It needs to be extracted and refined to bring out its essence. Revolution is the purifying fire necessary to bring the community to a high civilization. All the developed societies have experienced this phenomenon, and a traditional community, if it is to develop, being no exception must drink of the chalice. Revolution is not a malicious rising against society or system; it is adapting the society to the needs of the times.
Traditionalism necessitates a change to move from being in the backward position to becoming a front-runner in the scheme of modern human affairs. Backward position is not an enviable position. Every community should strive to station itself in a position of strength and pride. This change calls for a conscious orientation of the prevailing spirit or genius loci of the community. The thought atmosphere of the community is the aggregation of the predominant thoughts or the attitudes of the people as individuals. To change the community it is really the people’s attitudes that have to change. There is the need for a new, vigorous system that will forge a new consensus, arouse a fervent spirit in the people, stimulate their thinking and creativity and elicit their devotion, commitment, and extra effort to give the community a new leverage for forward and upward mobility.
With passage of time creative individuals who have insight into life fashion out new ideas that come to have fascination for people of nerve, who somehow have been victims of oppression by the government. Incensed by their newfound knowledge they seethe to grab the reins of power and implement these ideas to change the society. It could also be that in some situations the old way turns so bad that a change in the system becomes inexorable, though biding its time. With continuing prevalence of inequalities and injustice people of conscience come together to seek a more just and egalitarian society. They initially propound and preach new philosophies. Finally, they encourage, support, organize and participate in the overthrow of the old system and regime that represents it either through the ballot box where accessible or through a coup d’etat. Moreover there is the ineluctable change of nature that unfolds spontaneously necessitating a change in the way of life and an adaptation to fit into the new scheme of life. There ca also be the influence due to exposure to another civilization of a higher potential. These two are subtle revolutions and they take place smoothly.
People, basically, are averse to change. They want stability. They advise tolerance. The lack of will of the ruling class to redress injustice, alleviate misery and bring about soothing reforms usually precipitates violent revolution. It comes to a time the abuses get to an intolerable level when the people no longer could be bothered about stability and the love of ease. After all years of abuse of office, flagrant display of wealth by the privileged few while the broad masses of the people are deprived, suffer crushing oppression, and groan under the yoke a little indiscretion on the part of government is enough to bring the people into the street and spark the fuse of revolution. All that is needed is an able organizer to take over the leadership of the revolution. The lack of it does not hold back the impetus. The people will rise spontaneously and impetuously and take over the streets. This should be guarded against because a mob action is chaotic. It leaves in its wake a field day for opportunists to reap where they did not sow, and the revolutionary spirit soon fizzles out or is betrayed outright.
When a revolution has been planned out and systematically executed as the October Revolution of 1917, in Russia, it is orderly. The leaden re real. They take full control. There is a direction.
The Basis Of The Revolution
That man can be taught.
That man can change.
The willingness of the people to serve the community.
It is commonly said that you cannot change a person or that man cannot change. This is a fallacy. Man can change. It is possible to change a person. All that is required is to touch the mind, impress on it what is desired hard and long enough. It is a known fact that one can influence others. Man can choose to become what he desires, and this will involve an unremittingly and assiduously pursued self-remoulding. In the same vein a society can change through the process of self-regeneration.
Blue print (Doctrinaire Set Of Opinions)
Before a revolution is carried out there should be a blueprint that will encompass the reforms that will take the place of the old 9 when the revolution would have been carried through. A revolution should not be a haphazard affairs or an impetuous rising. it should be thoroughly planned out and systematically executed. One does not have to come to power before thinking of what to do or be flitting from one idea to another like a kaleidoscope. There should be a set goal well planned out taking into consideration the cost, the materials, the personfl6l the pitfalls the time, the exertion, the opposition and resistance, etc.
Target Of The Revolution
Let no one think that the revolution will be directed only against the rich or the public office holders? The revolution purge will not be directed against a particular class but against evil of all shades of any class in the society. The rich or poor are not immune against it. Vultures, leeches, exploiters and jerry exist in every class. War must be declared against all forms of corruption, crimes, evil practices and backwardness of all kinds. This war is not a paper or microphone war but a real war, a shooting war.
Fraudsters, extortionists, confidence tricksters embezzlers, corrupt officials, profiteers adulteration syndicates cultists, etc. are enemies of the state. They must be purged and executed. Their properties have to be nationalized or destroyed altogether. The fight is not for egoism or vindictiveness It is a war for humanism and civilization. It will mark the entrenchment of a philosophy of probity incorruptibility transparent honest business deal, freedom from fear and superStiti0n etc. that safeguards the interest of the people and the state. The revolution is to clear the cloud to allow the sun to shine.
Appeal To The People
An appeal will have to be beamed to the people to cooperate with the party in its mission to rid the society of evil and to instill sanity and responsibleness in the body politic. The people gird up for the wind of change that is slowing, and appreciate d need for a change of attitude of self- centredness grabbing, craving for immediate and self-only gratification to one of mutual and social obligation. They must come to terms with the fact that what is good for oneself is not necessarily good for all but that what is good for all is good for oneself. This is the attitude necessary for social and economic resurgence and boom.
Probity
The saying which has gained currency in Nigeria, that where man de work he de chop” (a man gratifies himself by office.) denotes and condones misappropriation of public employers funds; it must be condemned in its entirety, completely erased from the consciousness and practice of people.
The Skeptics
Some people will be skeptical about the revolution. They have to be won over. Revolution is a state of war. The party must conquer or it will be conquered. It must not take chances. It should be a disciplined, conquering army but gentle to the people, avoiding looting and pillage, yet strong to maintain rule and order.
Revolutionary Techniques
1.Consistency in idea.
2. Persistence in the struggle for power and domination.
3. Placement syndication — infiltrate every sector from the elementary school, secondary school, tertiary institutions, every work place and establishment, the communication sector, the security and defence machine, the judiciary, the trade unions and market union, etc.
4. Make a perfect organization of the party. Put in place an excellent communication outfit for the reception and dissemination of inform Establish or have control over mass media for effective propaganda. Employ the services of savvy communication experts.
5. Arouse an irresistible. mass movement and create hysteria to instil awe
6. Must capture the public opinion.
7. Exaggerate an atmosphere of insecurity.
8. Portray self as the only force that can put an end to terrorism.
9. Unlimited denunciation of the opponents.
10. Establish both print and electronic media
Procedure of Launch
Set up a machine that is willing and capable of taking up the struggle for the new idea to transform the community. This machine is the political party. It must be revolutionary with a new philosophy in content and outlook. It has to be registered and national based. It will go to the broad masses of the community to recruit members sitting across every class to establish the party as a great and irresistible moveme1 it must be infused, at its formation, with tremendous nervous energy to be strong enough to push through the stormy weather and remain intact.
The revolution is launched in stages. The first step is the introduction of the party to the public. The party must come out with a big bang — a great force with a colourful and impressive spectacle that will shake the community to its foundations and be etched for all times on the people’s consciousness, and hold them steadfast as with a spell.
The party will from there go into action with an attack by storm on the old system to tear it down completely. it must hammer on a theme that panders to the yearning of the people and never deviate from it. In a democracy where power is attained through an electoral process the party should work forcefully on the broad masses of the people to get their 0 support and votes to win the election onvindu1gIy.
It will then embark on a conversion move with an intensive drive to fill the people with the new and correct ideas. The party needs a strategy of a mixture of radicalism, revolution and fervency. This requires massive propaganda through .all available means of communication without inhibition in words, colours, and displays with a view to sawing attention to the movement and holding the people spellbound. Leaflets, handbills, and posters should be liberally distributed to teach every member of the society. Arouse a wave of public opinion. Arouse a mass movement. Attract the people, hold them fast, and carry them along. Inspire in them finest qualities that can turn the wheel of progress and advancement. The party must work well on the people to win the election.
It is not enough to come to power and have the will to do what is positively right. Coming to power is the veritable beginning of the real struggle. Tearing down the old system mean tearing down the agents that putrefied and wrecked the system. The people will be arrested, tried, and appropriate just meted out to them. In this regard the legislative body Will required to pass a bill of probe which will legitimize the Executive arm to probe all those who mismanaged the affairs community, misappropriated public funds or accused of other forms of social vices.
The revolution will be carried out with all force radicalization. But security should be guaranteed for all.
Legitimacy and the rule of law must be adhere to. There will be j execution without trial and evidence. The Revolution is set to build an all- powerful state and an egalitarian society. This is a 1ofty aspiration that cannot be accomplished by levity, but through application, exertion and the enforcement of strict discipline. The confidence of the people must be retained to carry them along. The party cadre must not alienate the masses of the people. The regime must not degenerate into an elitist club or a privileged class. The revolution must not get stagnated or be betrayed. The fire must be kept burning. A revolution has life, and so it has a time to come to existence, a time to flourish, and a time to fade away. Its fervour can wane. It needs to be quickly absorbed and become a way of life. It must never be allowed to fizzle out until it accomplishes that it sets out to do. When it has taken place it will have to be quickly consolidated so that there are no chances for reversal, and that only the new system prevails. This consolidation phase will take a long time, generation after generation, possibly spanning hundreds of years for the new system to be internalized and become flesh and blood of the people. The consolidated will be accomplished only by a smooth and easy succession in leadership.
Rate: The revolution must be implemented at fill throttle. Once it is launched there should be no stopping, or slowing down the wind of change and progress till the kingdom of high civilization and industrialization be established. In the first few years barring a civil crisis, which if it does rear up its head must be crushed, say two t three years the direction of advancement should be very clear to everyone, palpable even to the blind. In about five years spectacular results should be accomplished. The tempo needs to be sustained ad infinitum. Results will confirm the people in the new philosophy.
Late Libyan leader, Ghadaffi
