Tyranny and Human Development by Livy-Elcon Emereonye

Monsters grow when reasons sleep producing delusion and paranoid especially in someone promoted above his ability, and in government this leads to tyranny by the domineering ruler.


Tyranny can be defined as cruel use of power: cruelty and injustice in the exercise of power or authority over others; oppressive government by one or more people who exercise absolute power cruelly and unjustly; a country or state under the power of an oppressive ruler; a cruel or oppressive act, especially one committed by a person wielding power – the tyrant!


Thesaurus gives the following as synonyms for tyranny: oppression, dictatorship, autocracy, domination, despotism, totalitarianism, cruelty, oppressiveness, bullying …


A tyrant is an absolute ruler who exercises power cruelly and unjustly for selfish gains often with connivance of minions and sycophants that tell and assure him that his vices are virtues. In other words, a tyrant does not exist in isolation; surrounded by evil doers, the tyrant through the mechanism of greed plays God, displaying idiotic tendencies common amongst beasts that he becomes blind and deaf to the yearnings and lamentations of the governed. And in a bid to make billion through self succession and perpetuation that is done with all manners of abuse, he would rather kill millions and render more homeless and useless than retrace his footsteps and get the essential points from people’s complaints and opposition because he is totally disconnected from reality what with living in a world of fantasy built by false sense of importance and decorated with false assumptions. Even when faced with stark realities about the sufferings of the masses, he would quickly dismiss such as non issue and listen only to his cantankerous voice and dead conscience.


The existence of tyranny anywhere breeds fear, promotes rancour and brings about multiple pains, thereby making life miserable and wasteful for the populace – the governed. It results to skewedness in developmental and empowerment, leading to misery, hardship and abject poverty amongst the masses who would initially tolerate such but definitely revolt especially when the tolerance limit has been exceeded that there would be tumultuous agitation for change, for freedom, for liberation and for unity.


We must have faith in the ability to lead by reasons and think from the head not the anus that there would be no abuse and misuse of power otherwise desperate reactions will follow desperate actions. This is because people consent to be governed not elect to be ruled. At this stage so many things could happen even with opposition coming from where it is least expected with consequent destruction of lives and property on both side of the ruled and the ruler. Yes, when someone entrusted with the responsibility to protect lives and property turns around to destroy them through greed, nepotism, selfish aggrandizement and wickedness, the people - the victims - will revolt. When people’s land would be grabbled and their sources of livelihood destroyed by the ‘government’ without adequate compensation but rather the brag that government owns the land only for such lands to be converted into the private estates and property of the selected few in government, the people will revolt. When and where there is no justice and no hope for the common man, the people will revolt…


To avoid this type of scenario, people with conscience who believe that justice and equity are sacrosanct to human race against threats and attacks, usually speak out and protest to call the tyrant to order before things get out of hand, just to save humanity. Such intervention becomes necessary and timely because in a state of crisis, casualties can come from either side. In war, every party could become a victim, a vanquish!


Because human beings are very unpredictable and insatiable, every generation has grappled with some cases of tyranny even in families. Early examples include Ancient Greece: Athenian Empire (480-359BC); Greek Art and Architecture: the Archaic Period (700?-480BC), with Julius Caesar, Herod the Great, Francisco Franco, Adolf Hitler to mention a few being tyrants. On degree of relatedness, every tyrant suffers from complex – inferiority complex and superiority complex – that makes him wallow in muddy waters of indecision, irresponsibility and irresponsiveness, manifesting in shabby policies designed to enrich the self at expense of the masses. With devilish acts born out of greed and wickedness, he rapes the people and defiles the land, promoting one evil after another. Suffering from stupidity of arrogance, he becomes a flippant-braggart who talks before he thinks; a prostitute and an impressionistic god that seeks all-time attention but for wrong reasons … he would want to be worshipped and at all cost, but ends up painfully in shame!


At this point, it is pertinent to ask: Has there ever been cases of tyranny in Nigeria; Is there any tyrant in the present political dispensation in Nigeria; Is there a way our actions and inactions promote the emergence and existence of tyranny; How best can you as a person stop tyranny in any form and in any way; And if you are the tyrant, can’t you repent and amend your ways?


Therefore, there is need for people to have a stake on how they are governed by engaging in participatory democracy for meaningful and lasting development. There is urgent need to build a network that could put pressure in freeing the masses from the jugular hands of tyrants for preservation of humanity and mankind. And the time to do it is now.