Mugabe's resignation should serve as a serious warning to some African power mongers

The picture above shows the oldest African presidents, and probably are among the oldest presidents
in the world, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe included. On November 21, Robert who had said only God can stop him from being president, unexpectedly resigned. Reports say he was under serious pressure from Zimbabweans and even his own military. For too long African leaders are typified for their stay-put attitude in power. Once they come to power, they turn themselves into civilian presidents through manipulated elections and continue to renew their tenures of office with landslide victory election after election.
For one thing, what happened to Mugabe on Tuesday, which witnessed his fall from grace to grass is a seed he had sown long before today. His firm grip over Zimbabwe was purportedly dominated by murder, bloodshed, torture, persecution of political opponents, economic hardship, intimidation and vote-rigging on a grand scale.
He was the man who, in 1980, became the head of government of Zimbabwe, chosen to guide the country towards ‘democracy’ after 14 years of rebellion against the Crown headed by white Southern Rhodesian leader Ian Smith. Under Mugabe many humble Zimbabweans became billionaires, but ones on the brink of starvation and unable to pay for fuel because their money was worth so little thanks to stratospheric inflation.
In 2008 and 2009, the state’s central bank printed so much of its currency – the Zimbabwe dollar – that the country experienced mind-boggling hyperinflation that reached 500 billion per cent, according to the International Monetary Fund.
He turned the government to personal fiefdom where he nursed the plan of presenting his wife as a presidential aspirant in the next general elections. It was not known till Tuesday,  if he would have run again for the highest office he had monopolized in decades. However before his plans was envisioned, the people decided that he must bow to the popular will. Supported by the army, the people rallied against him.
To sit tight African leaders, the fall of Robert Mugabe, should serve as a warning sign that it is not business as usual. In specific terms the other ‘strongmen’ like Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea and Paul Biya of Cameroon, should know that the coast is not clear for their sit-tight attitude.  Paul Biya recently commemorated his 35^th anniversary in power. Political pundits are of the opinion that these leaders should be cautious, because according to them, the era of complacency on the part of the ordinary people is over. The African people can now assert their right and at any time and they will decide who govern them.