By Tola Adeniyi
I had wanted to title this piece ‘Primitive Politics and Sycophancy’ given the way and manner Nigerian politicians, nay, African politicians in particular, and the entire universal politicians have stood politics and its practice on its head. Politics is supposed to be a means to seeking and receiving power from constituents and, in return, giving service for the collective good. But that is no longer the case. Politics is like collecting power from the people by hook or crook and use that power to turn the constituents to a game for dinner and nauseating self-aggrandizement. And worse, turn constituents into serfs, servants and slaves.
Politicians go further to frighten, humiliate, suppress, oppress and victimize whosoever of their constituents that have the courage and guts to challenge their authoritarianism. And they do all these in the most primitive, crude and uncivil manner while they employ a coterie of fawners as praise-singers! Sadly and lamentably, these constituents are actually their employers who pay their salaries, wages and emoluments!
Now I have chosen ‘God-complex and Sycophancy’ because at the root of the crudity and inconceivable selfishness, greed and insensitivity of politicians and leading political office holders is a conviction of inviolability and invincibility. These political office holders at the top of the ladder see themselves as mini-god! And they are made so by the pitiable fawners and praise-singers who worship at their feet.
I recall that I have written several articles and made several pronouncements on television and radio channels lamenting and condemning the role Nigerians as a people had played and continue to play in the build-up to making their ‘employed’ politicians tin-gods. I have not been able to find any sensible rationale for the psychological, sociological or traditional cause which makes otherwise educated people, highly professional individuals who have made a great success in their callings, respectable traditional rulers with large following and community elders who suddenly turn themselves to politicians’ foot mats.
Why should an erudite scholar or university professor end up carrying brief cases for some secondary school drop-outs, known criminals or well-known thugs simply because such riffraff’s have succeeded in hijacking power and have found themselves in undeserved positions of authority? It is unfathomable and unpardonable.
It is the people who have lost self-worth or personal dignity and an otherwise honourable family identity who constitute the bulk of the unfortunate beings that have now created gods in political office holders and sadly, insist that others, those who still have their heads screwed on their necks should follow them in their blind servitude.
Nigeria is entering another stage of their comical and usually tragic political electioneering cycle which invariably awards purchased victory to losers and blinds the actual winners with curious electoral loss. Ugly as that had always been, it has become imperative that the few saner voices around should speak up now and warn of the dire consequences of the mounting campaign of hate and xenophobia which is already soiling the atmosphere with its attendant putrid poison.
Nigerians are now being daily fed with propaganda hinged on absolute falsehood; falsification of facts, falsification of history, falsification of identity and humongous lies and deceit.
At the root of all these shenanigans is the desire to create Machiavellian cult-heroes of top political office holders from the very bottom of the ladder, local government chairpersons to speakers of state assemblies, to governors, leaders of the national assembly and the president. Self-serving sycophants and praise-singers are currently in competition amongst themselves to outdo one another to get a bite of the slush funds dripping with blood!
We must all combat the heresy that had gained currency in the last decade or so. Heresy never known in the annals of Nigeria’s political history. That heresy is the nauseating claim and propaganda that one politician made another politician. This is the crust of the God-complex heresy which Nigerians must arrest and deal with once and for all.
It is not in our culture or tradition, to compete with the creator of this Universe or allow or encourage anyone to so do on our behalf. We know the consequences of playing God. All history books and religious literatures are awash with the ignominious and ruinous ends of all those who played or acted God. And because God, Olodumare to the Yoruba, and bearer of as many names as there are tongues, is the only entity whose position is permanent and unchangeable, anyone who seeks to compete with him crashes when faced with unavoidable change or mortality.
The Creator of the Universe is the ONLY Creator of creatures of which human species is one. No one should ever say someone creates someone. Because it is in that self-conceited mindset that people can talk of some one betraying a god! It is heresy, pure and simple. The beautiful religion of Islam seriously forbids god-complex. Every person is regarded as a servant of Allah. It is a religion of absolute humility and submission. And Prophet Mohammed [Peace be unto Him] remains eternally, Allah’s messenger. The religion forbids creating images, or worshipping fellow human being, the reason why there is no image of Prophet Mohammed [PBOH] anywhere in the world. Actors who play the role of the Prophet are never shown!
In political spheres people who believe they want to serve their people present themselves and their manifesto to the people for assessment and approval or disapproval. Acceptance or rejection. In a democracy which, among many definitions, is a guarantee for freedom of association, freedom of choice, and enhancement of fundamental human rights, children of the same parents, husbands and wives can compete against one another in their bid to render service to the community. The husband may say he wants to provide roads while the wife says she wants to provide clothing for the masses. No offence. No name-calling. No character assassination.
Nigerians who may be too young to know, or are too old to remember should be enlightened that in the days of yore no political leader in this country ever claimed to have created anybody nor get consumed by a feeling of betrayal because one or two members of his team chose introspection and independence instead of blind followership. The great Ahmadu Bello had Inuwa Wada, Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, Mallam Aminu Kano and others as colleagues in the Northern Peoples Congress which became Nigerian Peoples Congress. He never, repeat never, claimed he created any of them. Mallam Aminu Kano was his greatest asset because of the latter’s charisma and huge following among the poor, the talakawa. Kano left Bello to found his Northern Elements Progressive Union and gave Bello a stiff competition. But no one ever accused Kano of betrayal or treachery.
Mazi Samuel Goomsu Ikoku ran against his own father, the great Dr Azinna Alvan Ikoku, in an election [March 15, 1957] and even defeated his father. They lived happily as father and son. Eminent Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe never claimed he created Dr Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe or Dr Michael Okpara or Mazi Mbonu Ojike. He addressed them as ‘my colleagues’.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo invited the best of the best to form a formidable team to constitute the best government there ever was in Africa in his time but he never claimed he created Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Samuel Akintola, brilliant journalist and lawyer, Chief Joseph Oduola Osuntokun, Dr Stephen Oluwole Awokoya, Professor Samuel Aluko, Chief Anthony Enahoro and several others. He regarded them as colleagues and assets. They were distinguished in their own right. He needed them. He saw quality in them. He was their leader, the team leader.
Duro Ladipo did not create Abiodun Ladipo, Oya, a most talented singer before Ladipo invited her to his Theatre Group in 1963 and married her a year later. Demola Onibonokuta, Lere Paimo and others were established talents who became the collaborative collective that created Duro Ladipo, the Myth.
In politics, except in Nigeria where it has been crudely turned into a personal business/investment, people of the same ideological bent come together to drive and idea and campaign to win an election. It is a team work with a team leader. All funds to run the campaigns and put people in positions after winning an election belong to the ‘system’. Team members leave from time to time. Even apprentices leave once they believe they could stand on their own and establish their own business. The sky is large enough for all birds to fly.
Rivers state, one of the most glorious states in Nigeria had been turned into a political jungle because of this silly entitlement syndrome and God-complex. Dr Peter Odili ‘created’ Rotimi Amechi, Amechi ‘created’ Nyesom Wike, Wike ‘created’ Fubara and would want their ‘creations’, their ‘investments’ to continue to yield dividends for the local ‘gods’! Wahala burst! Only God knows when that beautiful oil-rich state and its beautiful happy-go-lucky citizens would ever know peace again.
Nigeria must turn its back on those fanning embers of hate and xenophobia in the name of crude and self-serving politics infused with the worst pettiness and suffocating god-complex.
Let each and every one of us be humble enough to look in the mirror: what do you see? Your ordinariness!
