Never Let It be Said

...that revolutions can't inspire some delicious humour:

Our own African Psycho Gaddafi deserves an Oscar

"Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been in power for 41 years, so the world knows he is a little mad. However, no one imagined he had so much more madness inside him.

Besieged, and having lost control of a large part of his country to protestors, Gaddafi entered a very dark place.

He became the first modern dictator anywhere to order his air force jets and navy ships to attack protestors in the street.

His faced distorted by botox, raving like a deranged man, Gaddafi has been a scary sight to watch on TV."

Too late for this year's Oscars, I guess, but there's always next year.

"However, in their moments of disgrace and humiliation, these dictators have still taught Africa a few key political lessons that needed good examples to illustrate them.

The first lesson is on the vexing matter of presidential term limits.

In the past 10 years, many African leaders have scrapped term limits so they can rig elections and continue in office. No region has been spared.

In the East African Community, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni did away with term limits in 2005.

What Ben Ali and Mubarak’s fates, and now Gaddafi’s troubles, tell us is that the people want term limits.

That if a leader resists having the term limits written into law, the people will eventually impose them from the street.

Secondly, that 20 years and beyond is a danger zone for any ruler. More often than not, it ends badly."

And I would add, if "the people" don't do that for themselves, don't be surprised if someone else does it for them, especially if the dear leader uses the nation's resources to abuse the West.