In terms of physical attributes, nay pigmentation, President Kais Saied of Tunisia is somewhat a special breed indeed. Almost featuring features of albinism the President could count himself lucky to be born and bred in Tunisia. Otherwise he could from infancy have fallen victim to sacrificial ritual money-making adventure of elements whose cupidity knows no moral limits.
Elsewhere in Africa his kind could have been ‘meat’ for ritual-killing hunters desperate to hit it big in life by using the blood of albinos or hunchbacks to make big money!
Kais Saied, the 61-year-old law professor had no prior political experience; he had never held office and barely ran a campaign when in 2019 following the President Beji Caid Essebsi he succeeded him having won a landslide victory in a presidential poll.
Prof. Saied is a jurist, a law professor, who prior to his rise to power, taught law at the University of Tunis.
The hugely controversial 8th President of Tunisia was once the President of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional Law, so no one can ever accuse him of being ignorant of the law, not the least the Constitution.
Now, to be fair and objective, Tunisia is a beautiful landscape to behold. Some years ago a French friend of mine had invited me over for holiday in Tunis. And there we had a good time!
Following the popular Arab Spring revolution that took place simultaneously in Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain from 2011 the long-reigning dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, was forced from power. Following the immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a young street merchant jeune at Sidi Bouzid town Ben Ali was toppled by a revolution, one unprecedented in the history of the nation.
He had ruled for 23 unbroken years marked by oppression and high-wire corruption racking up five Soviet-style electoral victories with more than 90% of the vote!
Early last week President Saied had provoked a global controversy when he addressed security chiefs in a National Security Council meeting urging them to take “urgent measures” to tackle irregular migration. He alleged that there existed a years-long plot to bring immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa to the country “to transform the demographic composition of Tunisia.”
Describing our brothers and sisters as “hordes of irregular migrants of criminality and violence” the dictator struck a xenophobic racial chord! Hallucinatively he maintained during the speech that a time shall come when Tunisia would no longer be wholly Arab or muslim country!
According to official figures quoted by the FTDES agency Tunisia, which has a population of some 12 million, is home to more than 21,000 citizens from sub-Saharan African countries including Nigerians of course.
While I holidayed happily in Tunis I met many Nigerians in the restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Many of them had been in the country for decades. Now with the Saied presidential no-to-migration edict many of them without legitimate residence documents might be in trouble in the coming days, weeks or months.
If not that Nigeria is a useless lawless and big-for-nothing country damaged by leadership mediocrity and misery why would Nigerians be found in almost every country of the world including those we are better than? Why would our compatriots be among those dying across the Mediterranean sea trying to cross over to Europe from Libya? What the hell are Nigerians looking for that is not found abundantly at home?
For crying out loud Nigeria, from all indications, is richer and greater than Tunisia! But the latter is nationally more organized and individually more prosperous than us. Again, leadership is held culpable here.
Perhaps animated by the misplaced confidence and belief that he is a glorified white man, a second-class or third-class one for that matter, the Tunisian strongman sees himself as superior to the purely-black Africans. That is, in other words, he sees the sub-Saharan Africans as inferior ‘animals’ unworthy to share the same territorial space with.
Yet we hold that his racial hate-filled outburst has something to do with dictatorial god syndrome antics of a man intoxicated with power.
Last weekend hundreds of thousands of Tunisians spontaneously took to the streets protesting against the inflammatory rhetorics of the President. In the spirit of brotherhood they demonstrated against the irresponsible unpresidential declaration of their leader.
The African Union (AU) rose strongly against the xenophobic presidential gaffe from Tunis. The continental body uncharacteristically issued a strongly-worded denunciation of the Saied hubris reminding the leaders of the countries of the conventions and statutory obligations as regards migrants.
Over the years we have seen xenophobic attacks visited on African migrants in South Africa — including Nigerians. But in such cases the leadership had not sanctioned the madness. Leaders in SA rose in condemning the violence and mayhem on the streets. They showed leadership by taming the black-on-black violence and murder.
Since the Kais misguided declaration with violent implications xenophobic incidents had flared up leading to displacements, arbitrary arrests and intimidation by law enforcement agents. Some landlords were reported to have evicted African tenants from their houses!
President Saied’s unfounded misguided argument that the demographic make-up of his country would be altered if immigration was not checked makes no sense. Perhaps unable to meet the econo-social challenges and expectations of his people he had chosen to play populist politics.
He has since arrogated enormous powers to himself, alienating the majority of the people. Ever since he happened on the national stage he has sown division and discord sending many to forced exile. Many dissidents are still languishing in different prisons across the country.
President Saied by dissolving the parliament last year had sought to establish a one-man rule, a dictatorship that is incompatible with democratic ethos!
President Kais Saied is arrogating to himself a supreme arrogance and nationalistic superiority his country does not command internationally. Come to think of it, Tunisia is not classified as a rich country, or one of the richest. She is an underdeveloped third world poor enclave struggling with its economy and democracy.
All over the world (including the richest and poorest nations of the world) there are legal and illegal immigrants but no responsible President could have afforded to spew the kind of balderdash that came out of the mouth of the Professor-President.
President Saied has gone berserk, made mad by absolute power! And it is up to brave Tunisians to ‘cure’ their society of this presidential pestilence.
SOC Okenwa
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
