Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko
Since the end of the war in 1970, and the advent of the “make it at all costs” syndrome, my society has been driven by unlimited hustle mindset that implied everyone is in a hurry to make it big. A far cry from the pre-civil war sociopolitical milieu of regional dominance and regional sociocultural influence dictating the tempo of life in each of the regions.
The war changed the template, and the novel military regime, encouraged new habits which were unconsciously imbibed over time. The mono-source income of petro-dollars ensured government remained the maker of everybody. All the billionaires and multi millionaires made it either as government contractor or government official.
Soon, people in government assumed rightly or wrongly, the image of super powerful beings.
Overtime, being in government for a season, meant total life transformation and transition from an ordinary fellow to a powerful super rich celebrity. People in power lived the dream life of movie stars, could afford any stuff under the sun, became sacred cows and were beyond criticism. They had the media in their pocket, influenced the judiciary, the police and every institution in the land. Political power was everything. You take them on, at your peril.
Everyone pledged loyalty to them. That is contemporary sub Sahara Africa. They dispensed patronage, empowered their friends and acolytes and dominated society in such a manner that everyone rushed to seek their acquaintance. Their influence determines a lot in a society suffering from illiteracy, ignorance, poverty and very weak institutions.
They determined who strives and who withers.
The unitary structure enables the emergence of cabals who control the centre, ensuring everything flows from them. They do and undo. They influence and determine everything, from appointments to promotions. Everyone struggled to belong or at least, acquaint with the big boys.
Soon, the post civil war new normal became the standard sociopolitical culture. People in power gradually got used to unending pressure from influential members of the society who thronged their offices asking for all kinds of favour.
The unpredictable and unstable economy created very broke elite club who survived from government. They always beg for favours. From contracts, jobs, appointments, allocation of land, handouts etc. The political leader became the father, the great provider and the automated teller machine (ATM) to business men, politicians, traditional rulers, clerics, pressure groups and influence peddlers of all shades.
They come with all kinds of stories in order to obtain favour from the political leader. Many are hangers on and loyalists, many are important stakeholders who come to pledge their loyalty in return for assistance. Others use seductive offers, subtle threats and blackmail to extract favour from the man in power.
Everybody pretends they love him from the bottom of their heart. The man of power, gradually begins to feel like a deity. The enormous powers at his disposal starts to trip him.
Can’t blame him, not his fault. He gets used to the disturbing fact that nobody comes to him without expectations of one favour or the other. The sad reality of our clime.
Behind every phone call, text message or chat to the political leader from whomever is a scheme for one favour or the other, no matter how they cleverly sandwich the demand or project. It always ends in demand or desire for one favour or the other.
Every political leader in my country knows that nobody visits him just to say hello or just to enquire about state affairs, without expecting a “handshake”, at the end of the meeting.
In Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, etc, traditional rulers, businessmen, clerics and politicians etc do not visit government houses expecting handouts.
Our way of life has unwittingly defined who we have become. Sadly, we see nothing wrong in it.
“It’s our oil money,” “they are only temporary minders of the public till”, “the security vote covers us”, are the mindset that created a large army of indolent fellows, totally dependent on extorting leaders in government.
They sadly, do not know that this unwholesome industry thrives only because of the unitary structure.
Why do I dwell on this today?
Because this anomaly makes everyone who approaches people in government look like a hustler.
Any one who gets an appointment to see them, always comes to promote their self interest.
Since he was sworn into office, he hadn’t seen one fellow come to discuss any subject matter with him, without sandwiching his self interest inside the project.
So the politicos gradually adapted to dispensing handouts in order to sit well with the public.
For example, the one and only time I ever met former deputy president of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, he dipped his hand into his drawer and brought out cash to give me. As I politely turned down the offer and told him I don’t accept handouts from politicians as a principle, he didn’t like that. But I calmly left his house.
Again, the very first time I met Governor Dave Umahi in his office in Abakaliki, six years ago, to plead with him to invite and engage the agitators, he offered me a fat envelope of cash, and was surprised that I politely turned it down.
He told me nobody has turned down such money offer before. I was to later ask him for financial assistance a year later when I went for surgery and he obliged me. But he always remembers that I rejected the cash gift he offered at our first meeting. The leaders are not to blame. The culture had long been established, even before they came to power. That culture, later grew into a way of life.
So when a well-known “stubborn” activist comes to discuss the agitation raging in the land, it could be a gambit he’s pushing. So they thought.
He probably stands to gain something. When he insists the agitators be invited and engaged, it may sound as if he is pushing either to make the agitators relevant or driving his own relevance.
Because everybody comes looking for something, the idea that this activist can’t be different, created a wedge in listening to him and exploring his suggestions.
There was no harm whatsoever in exploring his suggestion of engaging the agitators. Nobody looses anything if the agitators were engaged. That didn’t happen because the leaders who would have acted on time, probably thought he was looking for something.
They probably thought he was looking for something, because everybody who ever comes to them, was looking for something. They concluded he wouldn’t be different from others. So in the end, they refused to listen to the activist and misdiagnosed the agitation.
This misdiagnosis led to the application of wrong strategies. The wrong strategy, inflamed the agitation. There could be other reasons the men in power refused to take the activist seriously. But the mindset that everyone comes to them in search of something, most probably led to their disposition to the whole thing, which led to misdiagnosis.
The misdiagnosis and application of a certain unhelpful strategy, only complicated the crises.
A particular mindset led us to here.
The mindset grew from the demands of the public from leaders in office.
Our world, our life.
To be CONTINUED.
