Learning from the French as we celebrate the declaration of the Paris Commune today

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Today is March 28. On this very day in 1871, France took the world by storm when for the first time ever in the history of humanity, ordinary working people seized control of a country’s capital and established the Paris Commune. Many of the policies they introduced then remain with us until today and are taken for granted as universal human rights but at the time, they were extremely radical

(2) For starters, they passed decrees separating the church from the state, appropriated all church property and excluded the practice of religion in schools. Naija people, we do not even have to go that far. All we need to do is levy a religious tax on faith houses and pass a bill similar to what Paul Kagame did in Rwanda to regulate the multi-million dollar industry. You must have a degree in theology to become a clergyman and you must pledge all profits to good causes if you are registered as a religious house or charity

(3) The Paris Communards also pulled down the statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, calling it a monument to barbarian. Bonaparte was the world’s first military general to seize state power on a national level and set the precedent for all these coups we later witnessed across the world. Have we learnt from the French? As we speak today, there is still a Sani Abacha Stadium in Nigeria

(4) What I love about the Paris Communards though were their social policies. For instance, in its Third Arrondissement, school materials were provided free and an orphanage was established. In its 20th Arrondissement, schoolchildren were provided with free clothing and food

(5) They also provided gender and wage equality, the right of divorce for women, the right to secular education and professional education for girls. In addition, they removed the distinction between married women and concubines and between legitimate and illegitimate children. To top it up they abolished prostitution

(6) Do you know that the officers of the National Guard were elected by the soldiers? Yes, troops only elected commanders they had faith in and were prepared to die for

(7) Among other things the Paris Commune introduced the granting of pensions to the unmarried companions and children of national guardsmen killed in active service and passed a decree granting the free return by pawnshops of all workmen's tools and household items, valued up to 20 francs

(8) The pay of all officials of the Paris Commune was pegged at three times the minimum wage of the average worker. How much do your lawmakers earn again Naija people? Can someone please explain to me why their salaries are not tied to the new minimum wage of N30,000? I would actually go for a compromise paying senators the same amount as permanent secretaries on Level 17 and members of the House of Reps the same amount as Level 16 heads of parastatals

(9) During the 18th and 19th centuries, France led the world in the area of human rights, standing head and shoulders above every other nation on the planet. It was the French who gave us the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and Robespierre's draft Declaration of 1793 that came up with the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity

(10) Any student of history will tell you that the French fighting spirit has always inspired humanity to do great things. Be it the Tennis Court Oath of June 20 1789 when legislators went to a nearby tennis court and vowed to die rather than accept a royal decree banning them, or the storming of the Bastille Prison on July 14 1789. The Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris and attacking it showed the stuff the French were made of. My people are just not ready for this kind of change!