Nigerianizing democracy: how? By Tunde Akande
Dragging Sanwo-Olu before Tinubu to prostrate makes a god of Tinubu. Human frailties mean Tinubu will begin to see himself as a special creation of God beyond his peers.
Though I'm a stickler for creating Nigeria's homegrown democracy patterned after our cultural practices, I cannot stomach the recent Bola Tinubu treatment of Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu as reported in the press. According to press reports, the chairman of the Governor's Advisory Council (GAC) of Lagos state, a creation of President Bola Tinubu the godfather of Lagos politics, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi had in company of other members of the GAC taken Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu before President Tinubu to beg for forgiveness of any infraction that might have been committed by his political godson. Sanwo-Olu was reported to have prostrated at the feet of President Tinubu begging for forgiveness.
Anybody who knows the culture of the Yoruba to which both Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu belong will know that the Yoruba are pacifists. Other tribes take it for weakness but Yoruba pacifism works miracles among the Yoruba people. Age is everything in Yorubaland to the extent that it is said that the only thing that age is employed to do is to cheat. In a conflict between a young one and an older one, the younger one is asked to prostrate for the elder because he or she drank the 'water of this earth' before the younger fellow. That is meant to solve the problem without the long and boring procedure of asking them to say whatever has caused the altercation. After that the elders may chastise the elder for his infraction, often this is done mildly and like a joke. They can ask the elder to go to the younger one to forgive him and draw him closer with his right hand. It doesn't ensure justice but it assures peace. This tradition has broken down considerably in today's educated generation but that also has meant great disunity in families.
This tradition is what Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi of GAC employed in the feud between the boss and the older Bola Tinubu and his political son, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the sitting governor of Lagos state. Chief Olusi and his GAC were reportedly not going to listen to the long narration of what happened or what did not happen but was simply going to ask Sanwo-Olu to prostrate and beg Tinubu. It worked as usual because President Tinubu immediately announced that the feud was over. The attention of the whole nation was drawn to the feud which had been speculated in the press when at the recent commissioning of the 30 kilometers portion of the Lagos - Calabar coastal road President Bola Tinubu deliberately snubbed Sanwo-Olu.
What caused the feud remains a subject of speculation. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as speculated channeled funds to the campaign of Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar two arch rivals of Tinubu during the 2023 presidential elections. He was said to have done it through a woman named Aisha Achimugu who some speculated was his mistress. Some say that was responsible for Tinubu's loss of Lagos state at the presidential election. The alleged proof of this is the arrest of Aisha Achimugu by the EFCC. It is thought that the investigation is aimed at Governor Sanwo-Olu. Some have even speculated that Sanwo-Olu may be impeached before 2027 elections as a consequence of his betrayal of the godfather. While Nigerianizing democracy to suit Nigeria's condition may be good, the question must be asked whether prostrating before a godfather is healthy for a Nigerianized democracy, whether making God of kingmakers is good. In all considerations, it is not healthy for us in Nigeria. Any practice that makes some superior over any other person in the polity is slavery, it will never promote good government where all are supposed to be equal. Dragging Sanwo-Olu before Tinubu to prostrate makes a god of Tinubu. Human frailties mean Tinubu will begin to see himself as a special creation of God beyond his peers. Any system of governance must promote equality of all citizens before the laws of that land. Already our nation is beset by the feeling of leaders that they are above the law. They can't be arrested by the police, they disobey traffic laws because they are big men and women; policemen and women serve them food at parties and they put the video on social media. Even a member of the House of Representatives threatened a citizen that he will cause him to vanish. Their children disobey the laws or misuse state facilities at the behest of their fathers as Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu is doing all over the place now. Until his father sent him out, he was attending the Federal Executive Council meeting meant only for members of the Cabinet. What audacity? Tinubu is not the only one to whom prostration or genuflection has been done. The wife of former vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, Dolapo genuflected before General Yakubu Gowon. That is understandable because she didn't do it for any personal benefit and retired General Gowon at 90 years, is considerably older than the wife of the former vice-president who is in her sixties .
But since she did it as a cultured Yoruba woman, that practice has been politically manipulated for selfish gain. For example, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the sitting president also genuflected for former president Muhammadu Buhari when her husband sought the favour of Buhari to be president. That act failed to deliver because Buhari rather favoured the former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan to succeed him as president. Labour Party's presidential candidate for 2023, Peter Obi also recently in the manner of Igbo culture knelt before Tinubu during his visit to the new Pope in the Vatican. Nigerians understood it as begging for favour but Obi has said it was a display of respect and not a seeking for favour. I believe Peter Obi. Another person who has deployed that posture to a selfish end is Nasir El-Rufai, the controversial former Kaduna state governor who has given himself the task of stopping President Bola Tinubu from securing a second term in 2027. He has genuflected before Muhammadu Buhari; Olusegun Obasanjo who was his principal as president between 1999 and 2007, even before El Zaki Zaki, the leader of a controversial Islamic sect in Kaduna. While this may be a genuine Fulani culture, Rufai has not been rightly motivated in its deployment. He often goes behind again to betray those who he did it for.
A question that must be asked in Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi's deployment of this culture to resolve the conflict between godfather Bola Tinubu and his godson, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is what legacy is Bola Tinubu building for Lagos state and for Nigeria? Is Bola Tinubu building a legacy of a political structure that will outlive him or one that will die with him in that it will be jettisoned immediately after him. It is certain that President Bola Tinubu isn't building anything that will outlive him. At best what he has built is what will help him achieve his ambition to get to the top rung of the political ladder in Nigeria. It is certain that he is not interested in what happens after him. He has used underhanded methods to sustain himself in power and to recruit people around himself who cannot speak their minds in his presence. He has deployed money and positions to do this. Those who continue to kowtow to him receive the best of positions and pecuniary benefits as well. Those who don't, usually, find themselves in political limbo and in pernury. A few have dared him but how such have fared remains to be seen. Like legendary Obafemi Awolowo who was more principled but was hampered by military interventions and as such could not build a lasting legacy; his hypocritical followers faced succession challenges that ended his legacy, Tinubu is not building anything enduring. His type of politics is neither built on principle nor on ideology. When they call themselves progressives, people know they are only lying because they are no better than others who are not. What you need to become a progressive is for you to cross over from the PDP to the APC. Even if you are the greatest thief, you become immediately branded progressive and forgiven by the anti-graft agency, EFCC the moment you defect to APC.
From the look of things, Tinubu has only built a cult of followers who praise him in his presence but cannot endure in their followership because they are not genuine. Tinubu's camp will immediately crumble like a pack of cards after him. Employing the culturally accepted practice of prostrating or genuflecting before any leader is bad and will not help our democracy. Anybody who has watched two-time ruler of Nigeria, former president Olusegun Obasanjo will marvel at what pride and delusion can do in the life of a leader. Obasanjo thinks he is the best thing that has happened to Nigeria and that without him Nigeria cannot go ahead. What a delusion. But it is promoted when leaders accept genuflection or worship. It doesn't promote equality, rather it says all animals are not equal, some are higher than others. President Tinubu, when next he's offered worship must humbly reject it. He must cultivate willing followership. Willing followership comes when you serve the people and not yourself and your cronies. Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed did not coerce or manipulate people to follow them, they offered genuine service and they have not been forgotten or lacking in committed followership centuries after their departure.
First Published in METRO
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Tunde Akande is both a journalist and pastor. He earned a Master's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.
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