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| Colonel Gaddafi Source: African politics.com |
Nine months after vowing to fight until the very end, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, 'Brotherly Leader and Guide of the [Libyan] Revolution', met his demise in his hometown of Sirte on 20 October 2011. I should point out that the Revolution he was the guide of was not the one in 2011 that led to his demise but rather the one in 1969 that saw him topple King Idris before installing himself leader of Libya.
A lot has been said about the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's death. Many people were horrified by the images of a battered and bruised Gaddafi being shown captured and alive followed by images showing him dead. Events took a turn for the macabre when Libyans lined up outside a cold storage unit in their hundreds to take pictures of their former leader's body. Interestingly, amid the sounds of jubilation coming from Libya, the only voices lamenting his passing appear to be from sub-Saharan Africa where he is heralded by many as a great African leader. This is despite the fact that just last year, Colonel Gaddafi sought to cash in on illegal African migration to Europe by asking the EU for 6.3 billion dollars per year to prevent a "black Europe". I stumbled across a very interesting op-ed piece in The East African online that examines Sub-saharan African love for Gaddafi entitled "What secret do Africans know that the majority of Libyans don't?"
A lot has been said about the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's death. Many people were horrified by the images of a battered and bruised Gaddafi being shown captured and alive followed by images showing him dead. Events took a turn for the macabre when Libyans lined up outside a cold storage unit in their hundreds to take pictures of their former leader's body. Interestingly, amid the sounds of jubilation coming from Libya, the only voices lamenting his passing appear to be from sub-Saharan Africa where he is heralded by many as a great African leader. This is despite the fact that just last year, Colonel Gaddafi sought to cash in on illegal African migration to Europe by asking the EU for 6.3 billion dollars per year to prevent a "black Europe". I stumbled across a very interesting op-ed piece in The East African online that examines Sub-saharan African love for Gaddafi entitled "What secret do Africans know that the majority of Libyans don't?"
Regardless of his record, one cannot escape from the fact that the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's death are questionable and unsettling to say the least. However, after all that is said and done, the reality is that Libya faces a long arduous road to rebuilding a nation.
It is fascinating to note that since 1 January 2011, the list of African-leaders-still-in-power-when-I-was-in primary-school, has lost three entries. Time will only tell who is next to vacate that list. In the meantime, may Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi Rest in Peace.
2 comments:
Truely. May Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi Rest in Peace.
Regarding the post you referred to "What secret do Africans know that the majority of Libyans don't?".
Africans, especially Ghanaians know what it is like to not know the value of a leader until decades after you have lost him.
There are too many questions Libyans haven't been given credit for asking and for me, the least important is who shot him. I'd like to know why NATO focussed on Libya over all the other countries with uprisings. Oh, we already know the answer to that.
One day they are rebels, the next day you give them arms & ammunition and tell them to keep fighting.
If the truth will be told today, I'd like a census of the rebels. I bet you most of them are not Libyans. We saw how things transpired in Sierra Leone, Liberia. We know whats up.
Now, all that hardware in the country- Is NATO going to take them back from the fighters? I don't think so.
Who is the NLC made up of anyway? Watch them sell Libya off.
Just like a headline I recently saw: "Libya is ripe for picking".
I'm hurting so bad for our continent.
@Think-About-It, thanks for stopping by..Perhaps Gaddafi's legacy from a Libyan perspective will be better in the future then it is now. One of the stumbling blocks must be the manner in which Gaddafi maintained control over Libya over the past 42 years and how he dealt with opponents. I guess time will tell.
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