APC DEFEAT IN ANAMBRA GUBER ELECTION AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF VIAM-NANYAISM As a philosophy student some years back in the University, i came in contact with the concept Hermeneutics through an intellectual romance i had with a friend who did his bachelor s degree research on the topic The Hermeneutics of Theophilus Okere: A Critical Appraisal .Okere is a renowned champion of the concept and an African Philosopher per excellence!. He is indeed a living library little wonder people travel from far and wide to Washington DC where he lives to consult him on philosophical issues. This young friend of mine with whom I always enjoy intellectual banquets - Ethelbert Obinna Umeh is one young Philosopher I admire. Hermeneutics is that which can happen to a culture in order to become a Philosophy. An imperative for the existence of African Philosophy. Infact in the view of the father of Hermeneutics-Rev.Fr.Prof Theophilus Okere Non Philosophy can also become Philosophy through the mediation of Hermeneutics He futher adds that every philosophy is a hermeneutics of culture. To this end, African philosophy becomes that perculiar philosophy that germinates as a result of encounter of Philosophy in African context. John Mbiti an ethno-philosophy proponent gave credence to the above position when he writes: African philosophy is the understanding,attitude of mind,logic and perception behind the manner in which Africans think,act or speak in different situation of life I concur with Mbiti hence i add African philosophy is African culture speaking of itself,by itself and for itself through the medium of hermeneutics The above gives credence and academic acceptance to every philosophy that is of African descent including the concept of VIAM-NANYAISIM which i intend to epochee in this piece. This yet unpopular concept which do not exclusively apply to political domain instead but also can be stretched into domains of relationship,education,marriage,business etc,came to my notice in 2010 during the the Guber campaign that saw Peter Obi of Anambra State re-elected for second tenure. As a matter of fact i happend to be in a gathering that had the presence of Gov.Peter Obi sometime in January 2010 wherein the Governor came on a campaign tour in build up to the February Guber election of the said year, when he stood to address the crowd ,in the usuall political cheering of Nigerians(which most times is no more than Sycophancy) some group of women started a song that spontenously enjoyed the chorusing of many, the song goes thus: Oga- eme ha Viam nanya, O ga- eme ha Viam nanya Peter Obi ga-achikwa ozo,O ga-eme ha Viam nanya. To try what i may consider an imperfect translation for the sake of those that dont understand Igbo Language, the song says (in mockery of some un-named oppositions) Viam! Literally is an Onomatopeaic (sound-coined) expression that connotes a kind of a movement of flash of light or anything with such speed of passage. Hence the song says the wishful and illusory thinking of Peter Obis opponents shall give way to reality in a VIAM manner that suggests a consequent bitter embrace with an unwanted reality (defeat). Its another way of telling your opponent in a contest that by the time you beat him to defeat, his illusive hope for victory will vanish with the speed of light to give way for bitter reality of defeat. Listening to the song, I marveled at the raciocinative cum music compositional ingenuity of those women that depicts the depth of African interpretation of reality. Since then i adopted the concept as a Philosohical idea that can be developed and used instructively to guide people from fallen prey to illusion. Over time i have tried using it in the contexts of young men that run after flashy looking ladies with an illusive thinking that looking flashy implies being a good lady, or ladies that run into marriage with show-off men thinking that to be wealthy is to be good husband, or a student that goes to exam with expo that covers his scheme of work in a subject thinking that all questions will start with: What is?, Define, Mention. Some question do come in this form: Using the principle of so and so, discuss so and so scenario?. At such a time, the illusive reliance of the student on his expo will certainly vanish VIAM! giving way to the bitter reality of OYO (On Your Own). Now to why this piece, the outcome of the just concluded Anambra Governoship election which dragged more than required( no thanks to people that believe unless they win the process must be tagged a flaw) has reinforced the facticity of the concept of Viam-Nanyaism. The candidate of APC who boosted that victory was sure for him before November 16, who carried such a commendable media propaganda that still leave people outside the state wondering why APC could not sweep Anambra with such popularity among the voters (which I can bet thousand times that it is nothing but delusion) and banked on illusive hope of being given victory by the combined support of all APC governors and his unsubstantiated I did it before campaign abrakadabra, the imported thugs from Osun state and his resort to call for cancellation of the election in view of using a rerun as an advantage (similar to what happend during his contest with Akunyili), All of these vanished VIAM! and now he faces reality in most bitter form. However i must give it to him that he is a no push over in politics, he is vastly skilled in the art of political maneuvering, an art that paid him off during senatorial contest against one of the best women Nigeria missed in senate-Dora.Akunyili whose presence with Chris Anyanwu of Imo state would have given the red chamber an Amazonic aura. Not too late though! Outstanding lessons everyone should learn from just concluded guber poll in Anambra uncludes: 1.Never you judge your relevance of the present with your performance of the past, feats attained in the past are subject to overtake by ongoing achievements of those after you. 2. Desperation tinkers the fabric of concentration and competitive leverages. 3.Rented and Sycophantic crowd is deceptive to work with. 4.Popularity that is home based suppercedes notoreity that sounds abroad. 5.Greed for political positions characterised by jumping around in politics do make ones presence on political scene more boring than relevant and consequently leads to gradual depreciation of ones political value.Mandela,Abdulsalem Abubakar,Alex Ekwueme,Yakubu Gowon,Attahiru Bafarawa are good examples in the positives. You can name those on the negative. I conclude this piece by recommending my espoused political-cum philosophical concept of VIAM NANYAISM as a didactic concept that should guide contenders for public offices just as i call on fellow scholars to help me bring out its relevance in other spheres of life. Celestine Chidozie Writes from Ibadan.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:20:20 +0000
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