“Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to
have nothing to do with it”, so wrote W. Somerset Maugham.
But for millions of people around the world, Tuesday March 5th
2013 is remarkable only for one significant event – the death of Hugo Chavez,
revolutionary leader of one of the World’s largest crude oil producing nations
– Venezuela. In the demise of one of the World’s most significant charismatic
leader, most people have once more come in close contact with the much dreaded
concept of death.
President Chavez succumbed to the cruel hand of death after
suffering from a deadly cancerous affliction for which he underwent series of
surgical operations in Cuba and in his homeland.
For fourteen memorable years, Hugo Chavez, a former military
officer, presided over the affairs of governance of one of South America’s most
populated and resource rich nations – Venezuela just as he achieved popularity
and respectability among his local people for working vigorously to uplift their
living standards.
Chavez extensively worked as the president of Venezuela to show
that leadership is all about improving radically the living conditions of the
greatest majority of the populace and to lift them to their better selves.
Hugo Chavez for me exemplified the teaching of the founding
fathers of utilitarianism who anchored their belief system on the intellectual
plank that political leadership is all about serving and indeed actualizing the
greatest happiness for the greatest number of people of a given society.
As a thorough bred political communicator, Hugo Chavez remained in
constant communication with his beloved citizenry even till the point that he
reportedly gave up the ghost.
Chavez rose to prominence when he assumed the presidency of Venezuela
from 1999 up until he died in hospital in Caracas, Venezuela on Tuesday 5th
March 2013, and fundamentally drove a political and radical economic
process/regime that departed from the Western neo-liberal ideology and he
indeed renounced the global dictatorship of the United States of America just
as he advocated a just and fair World whereby the interest of one uni-polar
powerful nation would not constitute the dominant global agenda.
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia recorded that he was born as
Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias on July 28th 1954 and became the leader of the fifth
Republic movement political party from its founding in 1997 until 2007 when he
became the leader of the United Socialist party of Venezuela.
As a political leader per excellence, who assumed office after a
beautiful and illustrious military career, he vigourously implemented the
political ideology of ‘Bolivarianism’ and what is called “Socialism of the 21st
century” under which he undertook sweeping economic reforms with the core interest
of the civil populace in mind.
Part of the larger home – grown economic reforms which brought his
government into constant conflict on the World stage with the American
political establishment, was his government’s policy of nationalization of
several strategic industries in which Western dominance in the ownership
pattern was hitherto remarkably noticeable.
His popularity blossomed among the populace when his government
consistently invested substantial financial resources into the Health care
sector which significantly improved the health standards of the poorest of the
poor and he proceeded to introduce a new constitution which spelt out in broad
terms, certain participatory democratic norms which saw the ordinary people
gained ownership of the political process.
The West spearheaded by the United States Government waged
unrelenting campaign of calumny against Hugo Chavez particularly for his
penchant in associating closely with some political leaders in the middle East
like the Iranian Ahmadi Najad, considered as a big enemy of the West and the
United States of America. Chavez voiced his support for the Iranian right to
enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy for which the Western nations feared that
Iran is developing nuclear weapons to confront Israel considered as a core ally
of the United States of America.
He also mingled deeply with the political leadership in China just
as his verbal political battle with the United States reached a dramatic twist
when it emerged that he has cancer which he immediately accused America of the
responsibility for his ill health. At death, his successor accused the United
States of responsibility in the circumstances surrounding Chavez’s cancer.
Political historians recorded that at his inauguration on February
2nd 1999 for his first presidential tenure, Chavez deviated from the exact
words encapsulated in the then Constitution and invented his own pro-poor
statement of oath taking which goes thus; “I swear before my people that upon
this moribund constitution, I will drive forth the necessary democratic
transformation so that the new republic will have a magna carta befitting these
new times”.
He was more or less a man of action who proceeded from mere
ideological communication to the pragmatic implementation of those far-reaching
economic reforms that practically bettered the lives of his people in the long
run
From Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, we
learnt that this charismatic leader of Venezuela made several alterations to
his presidential privileges scrapping the presidential limousine, giving away
his entire presidential wage of $ 1,200 USD a month to a scholarship fund and
selling off many of the government owned air planes, even though critics also
pointed to a life of extravagance which he allegedly lived alongside his
immediate family members and cronies.
But the above criticism does not take anything away from the good
leadership example which he set for the rest of the World, especially the
African continent and Nigeria in particular to emulate if we must move away
from our current situation of massive economic and political crimes by the
political elites which resulted in the excruciating poverty afflicting nearly
80% of the Nigerian population today.
Known for his fiscal conservatism, Hugo Chavez nevertheless was
reported to have successfully implemented economic reforms that on the long
term were primarily targeted towards poverty alleviation for the working class
just as he invested massively in public works which also contributed in
creating millions of jobs for the unemployed youth.
Dan F. Hahn in his book “political communication;
rhetoric; government and citizen”, has the following to say about
ideology and communication for which Hugo Chavez perfectly represented, if you
ask me.
Hahn wrote thus; “Ideologies cannot be developed, sustained, or
challenged except through communication. And communication cannot occur without
reflecting the ideology of the speaking individual and the society for which
[s]he is a member”.
He was such a great leader that even at his death, his erstwhile
political adversaries in the United States and Europe paid glowing tributes to
his heroic leadership style which remarkably witnessed the transition of most
peasants from poverty to sustainable employment.
For instance, the United States President Mr. Barrack Obama who
never saw eye- to- eye literary(in political parlance) with Hugo Chavez also
expressed the sentiment that goes to convey a certain sense of apprehension
that the demise of president Chavez constituted grave challenge to the people
of Venezuela.
Obama stated thus; “At this challenging time of president Hugo
Chavez’s passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan
people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the
Venezuelan government. As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the
United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles,
the rule of law, and respect for human rights”.
Plato one of the best known philosopher had listed the attributes
of a good leader some of which were in large supply during the life and time of
Hugo Chavez as the Venezuelan President for fourteen years.
Plato said in a straightforward term that the ruler should be the
one who has been fully educated, one who has come to understand the difference
between the visible world and the intelligible world, between the realm of
opinion and the realm of knowledge, between appearance and reality. The
philosopher king’ is one whose education, in short has led up step by step
through the ascending degrees of the divided line until at last he has a
knowledge of the Good, that synoptic vision of the interrelation of all truth
of each other.
Most important of all, Plato, the quintessential philosopher,
affirmed that “the ruler must come as close as possible to a knowledge of the
Good, for the well being of the state depends upon knowledge and character”,
(see, S.E. Stampf, page 76-79).
Unlike in other climes whereby political appointees are quick to
betray their leaders especially in their times of trial and tribulation, the
leadership that was put in place by Hugo Chavez during his absence up until he
died, headed by his vice President Nicholas Maduro remained consistently loyal
and committed to defending the integrity and credibility of Hugo Chavez and his
unique school of thought.
In about a month time, the people of Venezuela are expected to
vote in a substantive president in compliance with their extant constitution,
to elect a president to replace the departed leader who was so loved genuinely
by his people unlike in other political environment like Nigeria whereby
political leaders pay and hire crowds of hungry people to stage solidarity
rallies in Abuja.
One huge task for the people of Venezuela is to show a unity of
purpose when they go out to vote and ensure that a surrogate of the Western
interest is not put into office so that the monumental people- friendly
economic reforms put in place by the departed leader are not speedily reversed
under the heavy weight of influence of the Western neoliberal and neocolonial
promoters who are already warming up to unleash their influence on the
political firmament of Venezuela with the sole objective of predetermining the
outcome of the coming election.
Venezuela must not return to the position of a ‘guinea –pig’ of
the Western powers like most nations in Africa including Nigeria whereby the
huge crude oil wealth are cornered systematically by the tiny clique of
political rulers who transfer these massive public wealth to their private bank
accounts in the Western World.
* Emmanuel Onwubiko;
Head, HUMAN Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria blogs
@www.huriwa.blogspot.com.
6/3/2013
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