As articulated in the first part of this piece, informed knowledge dictates that politics is not about braggadocio, self-glorification, personal ambition, self-interest or self-aggrandizement, it is about serving the best interest of your country.
his piece is the concluding part of my recent article titled “Political Madness and Personality Flimflam” published in May 2022.
The perpetuation of politicking towards the 2023 General Election in Nigeria is somewhat perverse. Let’s put things into context so we can understand the broader picture and not draw conclusions about the situation in isolation.
It is no secret that Yorùbá has a rich culture of self-dignity, respect, honour and family values. It’s also a known fact that we lack UNITY, unity as a race. This may explain why we the Yorubas has consistently suffer; pre-Independence and post-Independence respectively. In context, the historical precedents are pretty depressing; the infamous rift between Pa Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Ladoke Akintola over the battle for supremacy in the Action Group (AG) which subsequently led to crisis in May 1962 when the Western House of Assembly erupted; the role played by late M.K.O Abiola in 1983 in which he prevented (in collaboration with his Northern allies) Pa Awolowo from becoming President, again leading to disastrous Military intervention through coup led by the current President, Major General Muhammad Buhari; the abrupt annulment of June 12, 1993 General Election engineered by another Military dictator Gen Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, after which he installed Ernest Sonekan (another Yoruba from Abeokuta stock) as “Interim President” before late Sanni Abacha staged a “Palace Coup” and took over power and ruled with maximum force and terror.
Some public intellectuals and reasonable Nigerians may also remember the role played by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (actually he confirmed it himself during his speech in Abeokuta) in ensuring that the same Major General Muhammad Buhari, once again, emerged as the Nigerian President in 2015. This trajectory clearly shows that Betrayal and utter Disunity have not favour our race.
So on Thursday 2nd June, 2022, I watched in disbelief as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu unleashed his tirade of vendetta during a political gathering in my ancestral hometown of Abeokuta. It’s comprehensively naive of Asiwaju Tinubu to attempt to rubbish and treat his Abeokuta audience with disregard, utter contempt and garrulous loquacity. Even the State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, was not spared when Jagaban Jagbajantis unleashed his uncontrollable temper. To add salt to injury, he embarked in what is known in Yorùbá as “Osinregun” (recounting favours done for others). Asiwaju embarked on ferocious ego-trip, braggadocio and self-glorification as opposed to solely focus on issues of national interest. The open outburst may also be a case of “Efun and Edi“, meaning self-destruction influenced by some mysterious powers.
As the Egba and Ijebu stock are one of the most educated people in Africa, you cannot use uninformed psychology to insult your own race and people who may provide comfort setting when the Northern hegemony agenda is unleashed with impunity. It is high time we learn serious lesson from the quite perverse circumstances that surrounded the assassination of M.K.O Abiola, the winner of the June 12, 1993 General election.
Nigeria, as a social economic unit, is currently experiencing economic contraction (this is a decline in national output as measured by gross domestic product i.e.; the economy as a whole is in decline). The devaluation of Naira, high Inflation rate, high Debt servicing ratio, high Unemployment are all major macroeconomic challenges facing the country. This is compounded by other domestic issues mainly insane greed, high propensity to steal and looting of public money.
Furthermore, Nigerians have been subjected to some psychopath who proclaimed that “heaven will not fall if another Northern become President in 2023”. This is another evidence of “do or die” politics that have bewildered our country since the so-called leaders imposed Dummy-Democracy in 1999. Since then the political and social spaces have degenerated to the lowest level of human dignity and civility.
Within the context of these precarious situations, we need to understand that urgent measures and actions are required to tackle the economic and social problems facing our citizens.
As articulated in the first part of this piece, informed knowledge dictates that politics is not about braggadocio, self-glorification, personal ambition, self-interest or self-aggrandizement, it is about serving the best interest of your country.
In conclusion, the next President must possess an uncommon ability, intellectual capacity, extraordinary qualities, and capable of rising above ethnic, regional and religious sentiments with negative connotations otherwise the circle of madness and Jagbajantis will continue to ravage our dear country.
Femi Amosun
