{"id":60662,"date":"2017-12-28T17:43:41","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T16:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=60662"},"modified":"2017-12-28T17:43:41","modified_gmt":"2017-12-28T16:43:41","slug":"louis-xvi-of-france-and-yusuf-buhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/louis-xvi-of-france-and-yusuf-buhari\/","title":{"rendered":"LOUIS XVI OF FRANCE AND YUSUF BUHARI"},"content":{"rendered":"
By\u00a0 ‘Remi Oyeyemi<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When at 10.22am on January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed<\/div>\n
at Place de la R\u00e9volution (“Revolution Square”, formerly Place Louis XV,<\/div>\n
and renamed Place de la Concorde in 1795) it called to question the<\/div>\n
humaneness of our humanity.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Born as Louis-Auguste and referred to as Citizen Louis Capet during the<\/div>\n
final week of his life while being tried by the revolutionary Republican<\/div>\n
Government, he was condemned to death for what was deemed “sins” against<\/div>\n
the people. His immediate family members could hear the guns celebrating<\/div>\n
his death in their captivity.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Reading the background accounts of the events that led to the French<\/div>\n
Revolution, the sufferings of the people under an obnoxious feudalistic<\/div>\n
system and the rebellion that followed, it was difficult not to sympathize<\/div>\n
with the French people. Under the banner of a newly found freedom chant of<\/div>\n
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” they overthrew the monarchy. And executed<\/div>\n
the king.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As I read the detail accounts of the execution, my humanity was called<\/div>\n
into question. The gory details provided by eyewitness accounts made the<\/div>\n
historical event so vivid and scary. Despite my unreserved sympathy for<\/div>\n
the French people, cutting off the head of a fellow human being really got<\/div>\n
to me. It paused me momentarily, as I shuddered at what it looked like<\/div>\n
while the grisly event lasted.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I wondered why a different sort of punishment could not have been meted<\/div>\n
out to Citizen Louis Capet. I wondered what had possessed his “judges”,<\/div>\n
the French people, to the point of celebrating that barbarity. I wondered<\/div>\n
how their blood had vapourised to make them so unfeeling. I wondered why<\/div>\n
the milk of human kindness in their veins ceased to flow. I wondered what<\/div>\n
had driven them to such savagery. I wondered how they became so cold,<\/div>\n
cruel, callous and chilled. I wondered how their humanity evaporated.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Engaging in the psychoanalysis of a monumental historical event such as<\/div>\n
the French Revolution and the amount of blood that flowed through several<\/div>\n
stages of it, is a very titanic task. Doing this in a dispassionate manner<\/div>\n
in a way not to allow my sentiments and sympathy, (or if you like, my<\/div>\n
humanity) to intervene is a much more a yeoman’s yoke. Yet this is about<\/div>\n
humaneness. Our humanity.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0It is, as it was evident, that hundreds of years of povertization of the<\/div>\n
French people by the monarchy had drained their humanity. Centuries of<\/div>\n
yoking in squalid, inhuman and agonising conditions; living lives of utter<\/div>\n
hopelessness from generation to generation had drained their humanity.<\/div>\n
Such conditions have made them less than humans. The monarchy had actually<\/div>\n
treated them not as humans but factors of production that deserved minimum<\/div>\n
maintenance to ensure their continued servitude.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Thus, the execution of Citizen Louis Capet was not just an act of anger,<\/div>\n
rage, resentment or spleen, but that of vengeance. Vengeance against<\/div>\n
subjugation. Vengeance against slavery. Vengeance against exploitation.<\/div>\n
Vengeance against poverty. Vengeance against denigration. Vengeance<\/div>\n
against dehumanization. Vengeance against bestialization.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In their vengeance, their humanity evaporated. They became depraved having<\/div>\n
been deprived of their own humanity. Their capability to be kind became<\/div>\n
critically crippled. Their religiosity could not even temper their rage.<\/div>\n
Neither could their faith in the Supreme Being mitigate their mania. As<\/div>\n
far as the French people were concerned, Citizen Louis Capet was the<\/div>\n
embodiment of their agonies and hopelessness. He must be at the receiving<\/div>\n
end of their violent frustrations. He must be terminated. He must be<\/div>\n
permanently incapacitated. He must be guillotined.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So, the reactions of a cross section of Nigerians to the misfortune that<\/div>\n
befell Mr. Yusuf Buhari, a son of the President Mohammadu Buhari could be<\/div>\n
understood to this extent. Aghast at the unsympathetic reactions of the<\/div>\n
majority of Nigerians to Yusuf Buhari’s accident, Prince Adebayo Adeyinka<\/div>\n
had asked on his Facebook page article titled : THE HUMAN SIDE OF ALL OF<\/div>\n
US, “Where is our humanity?”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He had made a passionate appeal to us all not to lose our humanity and<\/div>\n
show empathy to Mr. Yusuf Buhari. He appealed to Nigerians not use the<\/div>\n
pains inflicted on Nigeria by his father, President Buhari, to judge him.<\/div>\n
He pointed out that we are all parents and that this ought to be the<\/div>\n
perspective to see the misfortune that befell Mr. Yusuf Buhari.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But Mr. Charles Ogbu had a different take on the issue. He wrote inter alia:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Buhari’s son, Yusuf, who had a Power Bike accident last night, deserves<\/div>\n
no empathy from any reasonable Nigerian.<\/div>\n
That guy is an embodiment of the criminal insensitivity with which the<\/div>\n
rogue govt of his father treats common Nigerians.<\/div>\n
At a time when poor masses are sleeping in filling station to buy fuel at<\/div>\n
an exorbitant price just to travel home for the Christmas and new year<\/div>\n
celebration, the son of the man who is directly responsible for this<\/div>\n
unimaginable suffering was busy doing Power Bike speed race with his<\/div>\n
friend on a public road, thereby endangering the lives of other road<\/div>\n
users.<\/div>\n
After grooving with our money in company of his friends, Yusuf Buhari<\/div>\n
didn’t think it wise to empathize with poor Nigerians by quietly driving<\/div>\n
or riding home in peace, he chose to mock us by engaging in racing<\/div>\n
competition with his friends using the same fuel for which thousands of<\/div>\n
Nigerians spent their holiday at the fuel station.<\/div>\n
Why should I waste my empathy on such a fellow??<\/div>\n
Now, he’s been operated upon. At our expense of course.<\/div>\n
If I waste my expensive empathy on an over-indulged insensitive son of an<\/div>\n
irresponsible President, which one will I spend on poor Nigerians dying<\/div>\n
everyday on our road due to the legendary ineptitude of this President??<\/div>\n
That his Power Bike was bought with public fund. The fuel in the Bike was<\/div>\n
sourced from Asorock fuel depot. Even the money with which he grooved was<\/div>\n
not his sweat. He is already receiving the best medical attention that is<\/div>\n
unavailable to 80% of Nigerians. With our money of course.<\/div>\n
So in essence, Yusuf Buhari DOESN’T really need our empathy. He already<\/div>\n
has the key to our common treasury.<\/div>\n
I rather reserve my empathy for those who are not as privileged as he is.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
While it is difficult to fault Mr. Ogbu’s position, it is my belief, as a<\/div>\n
father myself, that Mr. Yusuf Buhari deserves sympathy. His father,<\/div>\n
President Buhari deserves our empathy too. I congratulate the mother to<\/div>\n
still have her son. The death of any son is the greatest tragedy that<\/div>\n
could befall any human being.\u00a0 We should not wish it on others.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0But it would be insensitive, unfeeling and hypocritical not to juxtapose<\/div>\n
this mild incident to the experience of ordinary Nigerians in the hands of<\/div>\n
a cold and evidently uncaring President Buhari. A President under whose<\/div>\n
watch many innocent sons and daughters have been murdered by his Fulani<\/div>\n
tribesmen. A President Buhari, under whose watch several fathers and<\/div>\n
mothers have lost their sons and daughters.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
President Buhari’s lack of response to these agonies of Nigerians amount<\/div>\n
to trivialization of their lives. His quiet and tacit backing of Fulani<\/div>\n
herdsmen extend the frontiers of agonies pervading the land. People are<\/div>\n
suffering. And they are angry. Their reactions that elicited Prince<\/div>\n
Adebayo’s admonitions are symptomatic of their level of dehumanization by<\/div>\n
the Nigerian Government headed by President Buhari. President Buhari’s<\/div>\n
coldness and unfeeling attitude is draining the humanity of Nigerians.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It would amount to intellectual dishonesty to heap all the blames of the<\/div>\n
current tragedies on President Buhari alone and his Government, the fact<\/div>\n
that President Buhari has been a constant denominator in Nigeria’s miasma<\/div>\n
for about five decades notwithstanding. But he is the one in office right<\/div>\n
now and he has to be responsible for the current situation.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Nigerians are daily being dehumanized. Nigerians are becoming more cruel<\/div>\n
and mean. They’re becoming more hopeless and despondent. They are<\/div>\n
dangerously irritated. They are frustrated. They are on edge. The sanity<\/div>\n
of many is challenged. Their meanness to Yusuf Buhari is a tip of the<\/div>\n
iceberg. It is a pointer to where the feelings of the majority of the<\/div>\n
people are tipped.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Enough of the lies. Time to rectify the situation before the bomb<\/div>\n
explodes. This is because when it does, no amount of police on the streets<\/div>\n
or armoured personnel manned\u00a0 by the Armed Forces would be able to contain<\/div>\n
the anger, the fury and the bestiality of the people.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A word, they say, is enough for the wise.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been<\/div>\n
granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do<\/div>\n
not shrink from this responsibility \u2013 I welcome it.\u201d<\/div>\n
– John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961<\/div>\n
Please follow me on Twitter: @OyeyemiRemi<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0 ‘Remi Oyeyemi When at 10.22am on January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed at Place de la R\u00e9volution (“Revolution Square”, formerly Place Louis XV, and renamed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nLOUIS XVI OF FRANCE AND YUSUF BUHARI - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/louis-xvi-of-france-and-yusuf-buhari\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LOUIS XVI OF FRANCE AND YUSUF BUHARI - 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