Okay, we all know how the Egyptian revolution properly kickstarted with a youth lighting himself on fire. Several Nigerians have been wondering; couldn't a Nigerian do this to start a revolution here in Naija? Well, here is what I think The Daily Sun (the sun newspaper) story would look like the next day;

SHOCKING!!!!! YOUNG MAN LIGHTS HIMSELF ON FIRE IN FRONT OF NASS COMPLEX.

(have you noticed that the sun has a plethora of descriptive words that they use to introduce their headlines e.g WICKED! HEARTLESS! SAD! and of course, SHOCKING! Sometimes it's a rather silly phrase like; YOU LIE!. I'll deal with that in full on another thread)

Lawmakers heading to the National Assembly Complex yesterday would have expected another regular day at the National legislature. Not many of them would have anticipated the gruesome sight they were to behold at the entrance to the complex. Mr Adeola Usman Chukwukelu, a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka must have had enough of life when he doused himself with petrol and set himself ablaze right at the entrance of the National Assembly. Nobody expected what he was up to when he approached the entrance of the NASS complex smelling of petrol (i'm sure you're wondering, like me, how they knew he was smelling of petrol. The Sun knows everything, just take it like that). However, everyone was shocked to see him strike a match and light himself on fire.

"He did not look like he was planning to do anything strange," said Ahmed Audu, one of the security staff that witnessed the horrifying incident. "We would have stopped him if we knew what he was planning."

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who also witnessed the event, said it was unfortunate; "It is unfortunated that something like this happened, especially right here at the National Assembly. We are left wondering why a young man with so much promise could do a thing like that to himself. It is really unfortunate". When asked if efforts were made to stop the young man from burning to death, he said that the members tried their best in the circumstances; "We called the Federal fire service. I personally called their closest station and asked them to come immediately. It was rather unfortunate that they came twenty minutes later, by which time, the young man was dead". When asked if there wasn't any immediate means of putting out the fire, he said "well there was a fire extinguisher but none of us knew how to make use of it. My special assistant on fires and disaster management was not present so there was nothing we could do".

Nigerians the country over have condemned the death of the young man and have called upon government to make sure the man doesn't die in vain. "It is obvious the young man died from frustration", says Mrs. Chima Adeojo, a trader. "There are no jobs, no opportunities and the youth are unhappy. Government should do something to stop this kind of thing from happening again (if it happens again, you'll still hear this from someone)".

Police PRO, Mr Frank Mba (i don't know the name of the National Police PRO, and Mr Frank Mba is probably the most popular police PRO in the country. Besides, he's the only one on the pages of the sun confirming the happenings of crimes, arrests and everything bad that happens about) has confirmed the event and says police are conducting investigations into the event. He also confirmed that the body has been moved to the National Morgue pending identification by family members.

So what do you guys think would happen?

Nigerians will say 'eeh yaah' and then carry on with life.

ezeagu:

Nigerians will say 'eeh yaah' and then carry on with life.

now that would be pathetic.

Hausa man wil say nyaminri don go kolo! Yoruba man wil simply shout yeepa! Ibo people wil surely make some noise and afta, life wil go on as usual!(i asume d guy on fire s an ibo guy)

So, setting yourself on fire would achieve what?

cogitoErgo:

Hausa man wil say nyaminri don go kolo! Yoruba man wil simply shout yeepa! Ibo people wil surely make some noise and afta, life wil go on as usual!(i asume d guy on fire s an ibo guy)

^^^ Can you let the rest of us know what informed your assumption the poster was refering to "AN IBO GUY"?

Also, what's your ethnicity and how do you reckon the other major tribes would react to one of yours killing himself?

Just curious .

poster the onus is on you.

go ahead.

if you read through my post, you'll find the full name of the character used comprised of names from the three major tribes in the country. I wasn't trying to say only someone from a particular tribe would/could set himself on fire.

as for what setting self on fre would achieve, I wasn't suggesting tgat someone sets thenselves on fire. I was just wondering what the result would be if it happened in Nigeria as we all know how it turned out for Egypt.

Nigerians will simply say "dem don curse the boy for village"

No, the young man who set himself alight was a Tunisian, not Egyptian.

he don chop belle full

instead of setting himself on fire, he should set the Inspector General of Police on fire or a well known politician-- David mark will say 'very unfortunate' this seems to be the new line of politicians 'so unfortunate'

johnie:

No, the young man who set himself alight was a Tunisian, not Egyptian.

sure?

senbonzakura_kageyoshi:

sure?

The tragic life of a street vendor

Al Jazeera travels to the birthplace of Tunisia's uprising and speaks to Mohamed Bouazizi's family.
Yasmine Ryan Last Modified: 20 Jan 2011 15:00

A town not previously recognised outside of Tunisia is now known as the place where a revolution began [Al Jazeera]

In a country where officials have little concern for the rights of citizens, there was nothing extraordinary about humiliating a young man trying to sell fruit and vegetables to support his family.

Yet when Mohamed Bouazizi poured inflammable liquid over his body and set himself alight outside the local municipal office, his act of protest cemented a revolt that would ultimately end President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year-rule.

Local police officers had been picking on Bouazizi for years, ever since he was a child. For his family, there is some comfort that their personal loss has had such stunning political consequences.

"I don't want Mohamed's death to be wasted," Menobia Bouazizi, his mother, said. "Mohamed was the key to this revolt."

Simple, troubled life

Mohamed Bouazizi was 10 years old when he became the main provider for his family, selling fresh produce in the local market. He stayed in high school long enough to sit his baccalaureate exam, but did not graduate. (He never attended university, contrary to what many news organisations have reported).

Bouazizi's father died when he was three years old. His elder brother lives away from the family, in Sfax. Though his mother remarried, her second husband suffers from poor health and is unable to find regular work.

IN VIDEO

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin profiles the man whose suicide launched a revolution


"He didn't expect to study, because we didn't have the money," his mother said.

At age of 19, Mohamed halted his studies in order to work fulltime, to help offer his five younger siblings the chance to stay in school.

"My sister was the one in university and he would pay for her," Samya Bouazizi, one of his sisters, said. "And I am still a student and he would spend money on me."

He applied to join the army, but was refused, as were other successive job applications. With his family dependant on him, there were few options other than to continue going to market.

By all accounts, Bouazizi, just 26 when he died earlier this month, was honest and hardworking. Every day, he would take his wooden cart to the supermarket and load it would fruit and vegetables. Then he would walk it more than two kilometres to the local souk.

Police abuse

And nearly everyday, he was bullied by local police officers.

"Since he was a child, they were mistreating him. He was used to it," Hajlaoui Jaafer, a close friend of Bouazizi, said. "I saw him humiliated."

The body of the man who started a revolution now lies in a simple grave, surrounded by olive trees, cactuses and blossoming almond trees.


The abuse took many forms. Mostly, it was the type of petty bureaucratic tyranny that many in the region know all too well. Police would confiscate his scales and his produce, or fine him for running a stall without a permit.

Six months before his attempted suicide, police sent a fine for 400 dinars ($280) to his house – the equivalent of two months of earnings.

The harassment finally became too much for the young man on December 17.

That morning, it became physical. A policewoman confronted him on the way to market. She returned to take his scales from him, but Bouazizi refused to hand them over. They swore at each other, the policewoman slapped him and, with the help of her colleagues, forced him to the ground.

The officers took away his produce and his scale.

Publically humiliated, Bouazizi tried to seek recourse. He went to the local municipality building and demanded to a meeting with an official.

He was told it would not be possible and that the official was in a meeting.

"It's the type of lie we're used to hearing," said his friend.

Protest of last resort

With no official wiling to hear his grievances, the young man brought paint fuel, returned to the street outside the building, and set himself on fire.

For Mohamed's mother, her son's suicide was motivated not by poverty but because he had been humiliated.

"It got to him deep inside, it hurt his pride," she said, referring to the police's harassment of her son.

The uprising that followed came quick and fast. From Sidi Bouzid it spread to Kasserine, Thala, Menzel Bouzaiene. Tunisians of every age, class and profession joined the revolution.

In the beginning, however, the outrage was intensely personal.

"What really gave fire to the revolution was that Mohamed was a very well-known and popular man. He would give free fruit and vegetables to very poor families," Jaafer said.


Tunisian president paid a visit to Bouazizi in hospital [AFP]

It took Ben Ali nearly two weeks to visit Mohamed Bouazizi's bedside at the hospital in Ben Arous. For many observers, the official photo of the president looking down on the bandaged young man had a different symbolism from what Ben Ali had probably intended.

Menobia Bouazizi said the former president was wrong not to meet with her son sooner, and that when Ben Ali finally did reach out to her family, it was too late - both to save her son, and to save his presidency.

He received members of the Bouazizi family in his offices, but for Menobia Bouazizi, the meeting rang hollow.

"The invite to the presidential palace came very late," she said. "We are sure that the president only made the invitation to try to derail the revolution."

"I went there as a mother and a citizen to ask for justice for my son."

"The president promised he would do everything he could to save our son, even to have him sent to France for treatment."

The president never delivered on his promises to her family, Menobia Bouazizi said.

Contagious uprising

But by the time Menobia Bouazizi's son died of his burns on January 4, the uprising had already spread across Tunisia.

Fedya Hamdi, the last police officer to antagonise the street vendor, has since fled the town. She was reportedly dismissed, but her exact whereabouts are unknown.

Meanwhile, the body of the man who started a revolution now lies in a simple grave outside Sidi Bouzid, surrounded by olive trees, cactuses and blossoming almond trees.

He is sorely missed by his family, whose modest house is now one of the busiest in Sidi Bouzid, with a steady flow of journalists who have only just discovered the town where it all began.

"He was very sincere," Basma Bouazizi, his shy 16-year-old sister, said. "We are like soulless bodies since he left."

"We consider him to be a martyr," Mahmoud Ghozlani, a local member of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), said in an interview metres away from the spot where the street vendor set himself on fire.

Proof itself of the progress made in four short weeks: such an interview with an opposition activist on the streets of Sidi Bouzid would not have been possible until the day Bouazizi inspired the revolt.




http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201111684242518839.html

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47d6fyaOjRM[/flash]

@johnie, ok. You're right.

@PROUD-IGBO, dats just wt i mean, an igbo s fuming bcus i usd ibo as an exmple and nt bcus he s a nigerian! He culd hv been any tribe!
F t s a yoruba guy or hausa den there pple wil make noise acodinly, at d end absolutly nothng wil happen!

It would mean nothing.
Would only bring misery to the ones you leave behind.
Risk being tagged a madman and your name swept under a carpet.

If the deaths of those innocent copers could not change a thing, then someone setting himself ablaze will mean nothing

High_Chief:

If the deaths of those innocent copers could not change a thing, then someone setting himself ablaze will mean nothing

High_Chief you said it all

johnie:

The tragic life of a street vendor

johnie boy, u had to go dat far!!

Hausa man wil say nyaminri don go kolo! Yoruba man wil simply shout yeepa! Ibo people wil surely make some noise and afta, life wil go on as usual!(i asume d guy on fire s an ibo guy)

You fink ibos are that stupid like ur people??

I'd say. . .Good Ridddance.
One less Naija psycho of a bl[b][size=20pt]aaaaa[/size][/b]dy fool to deal wiv!

In fact, more should follow and do the rest of us a huge favor.

Wasted sacrifice tho!

High_Chief:

If the deaths of those innocent copers could not change a thing, then someone setting himself ablaze will mean nothing

true talk brother.

As they say in french- Nigeria -c'est finit

If somebody set himself on fire for Naija na im be say na im village people de follow am, till dem follow am reach Abuja. Haba!

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who also witnessed the event, said it was unfortunate; "It is unfortunated that something like this happened, especially right here at the National Assembly. We are left wondering why a young man with so much promise could do a thing like that to himself. It is really unfortunate".


I love this part, cos thats exactly what would have been said a young man with so much promise,

Where are the biafran apologists ? Can't they use this opportunity to canvass their secessionist agenda ?

@topic
An average Nigerian is not ready to die for change.We prefer the status quo ''Suffering and Smiling '' !

lol

High_Chief:

If the deaths of those innocent copers could not change a thing, then someone setting himself ablaze will mean nothing

u are so right my broda! Only strong independent law system, like death sentence or long jail sentences can purge d anomaly in dis nation.

nigerians will do nothing if they here such! noone wants to "talk first". really, dunno waht masses r afraid of. maybe cuz nigeria's really corrupt, even if they start the riot, cases of rapes and stealing will still be reported! abeg leave naija for God in His infinite mercy to intervene jere

all the religious fights and unrest could not disrupt this country let alone the burning of one's self,I tell you the NASS members will not even talk about it.I know how frustrating things can be but you have to keep moving.A graduate must have class mates,so I asked have you contacted your mates and no information on survival?try harder and trust in GOD and see what will happen.But I think some people want to be MD's over night,that is the problem.