RANDOM THOTS
In just 100 days in 1994, some 800,000 members of the minority Tutsi community were reportedly slaughtered in Rwanda by ethnic Hutu extremists, who comprised 85 per cent of the country’s population. According to reports, neighbours killed neighbours while some husbands even killed their Tutsi wives, saying they would be killed if they refused.
Now 23 years later, Rwanda’s ruling party, Rwandan Patriot Front (RPF), recently elected the country’s incumbent President, Paul Kagame as its presidential candidate for the elections scheduled to hold in August, for the third time since the end of the ex-genocidal regime in 1994. Kagame was the sole candidate in a unanimous vote conducted by RPF Congress in Kigali, capital of Rwanda. He gained 1929 congress members’ votes out of 1930, after one vote was declared invalid.
A recent special report monitored by this reporter on the African country, which is now an investors’ destination, revealed that the constitution of the country was amended by parliament to allow Kagame contest for a third term, which may see him stay in office for more than another ten years.
The lessons from this tiny booming country are many, among them the fact that ethnicity has been subsumed in favour of economic prosperity, and enmity has taken a back seat while good leadership holds sway; all combining to make Rwanda an economic giant in Africa. If only those agitating for war and separation in Nigeria would take the positives from Rwanda and instead seek the best leadership in unity, this nation would be rescued from the grip of poverty and economic recession. Sustained good governance and committed leadership has liberated Rwanda; Nigeria can do the same, if she wants to truly become the giant of Africa…worthy goal
– Abimbola Akosile
