Behold The Mace of Demagogue By Osuagwu Kingsley, Abuja The cloud was bright as the sun shone ceaselessly and the rains would not drop. The first thought that comes to the mind is, are these elements in agreement to hold their peace and watch-on the activities of men? May be they are, but how was the man on the streets of Port Harcourt supposed to know that; how was he to know that unlike other days when he had gone about his business undisturbed, that day was going to be different? That is even though the notorious rumbling of thunder well known of Delta climates was awkwardly absent. As Okrika born mama Chinedu gathers together her plantain in her weather beaten basket for the near-by market, Opipawa who recently relocated to River State from neighbouring Bayelsa where he lived with his Ijaw kins’ men, wash off the previous days dirt from his motorcycle (Okada) in preparation for the new day’s business; they all prayed to the ‘Great One’ whose big throne is in the sky to keep the rain from making the day wet. Obviously, in answer to their prayer the sky bled not as the sun held sway! In every part of River State it was a similar case as true men and women whose survival depends on their day-to-day struggle kept faith in the Great One who sits in the sky. As they went about their activities trying hard to ignore the rancour between President Jonathan and their Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, a few others congregated in a citadel (the State House of Assembly complex) as lore has it, to deliberate on the state budget. Before this however, another group, say ‘Group B’ (their supposed comrades in law making) had other plans up their sleeves. In deference to all and sundry, whether law or reason, this group, ‘Group B,’ were determined to poison the drink of comradeship and execute a Caesar kind of waterloo on the speaker of the State House of Assembly. In this dance of Macabre, ‘Ikemefuna,’ a likely character akin to that in late Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” was to take the fall. With the help of elementary hindsight, the would-be ‘Ikemefuna’ was to be the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi. A man accused of challenging his ‘Chi’ (god) to a duel after a heavy meal. Rotimi’s crime was pathetic as it smears of recklessness and a product of ‘poor-thinking’ which opposite would have quarantined ‘good-product.’ As it truly turned out, his ideas was fine but they needed more than just an association with Jigawa State’s Governor, Sule Lamido, to bring them to fruition. And what ideas are we talking about here? Well! In a political system where liars are more celebrated than real men who have the courage to own up to their conviction (s), Amaechi allegedly had a fleeting or protracted romance with the opposing camp. For it, say he has the capacity for ovarian fertilization; he conceived an idea and gave birth (a premature anyway) to a vice-presidential ambition. No sooner had the baby been born than Aso Rocks’ ever willing lieutenants dashed out of their garrisons with glaring tooth, stern looks and sophisticated political weaponry to exterminate this ‘anti-Christ.’ For them, here comes Armageddon; the end of the beginning!! “Amaechi wan put sand-sand for we garri. We go show am say, say all lizards dey lie for dem belle no means say they no dey suffer stomach pain.” Wahala don wear kahki!!! And so began Amaechi’s journey into turbulent sea en-route the creeks of Bayelsa where only the state’s former governor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, can appease the gods of the sea to calm the boisterous wind and save the errant governor from imminent political doom. It would suffice to squall in horror as some who see the crystal balls from the side of conservative critics that the River State governors travail is the handiwork of advisers and friends who are stunted by ineptitude, distracted by power games and misguided by the pursuit of material comforts. It is in this storm that Albagra, the god of mischief in ancient Sanida mythology, made itself seen. Its presence manifested in the ‘go-for-kill’ at the River State Assembly where Michael Chinda unwittingly collected the wine of erotic desires with his left hand. According to this ancient mythology, receiving a gift with the left hand immediately attracts the wrath of Albagra who without delay, comes down heavily on the offender by causing immense swelling with purse oozing from the victims head. Today, Chinda is reeling from the wrath of Albagra who this time, in place of the known thunderbolt which heralds its wrath, chose the legislatures’ mace to punish its offender; perhaps, to remind those from the Sindawawa tribe of ancient Zulu kingdom that it is still very much alive, around and ever willing to visit evil on lawless men. Even if he did not know of it, the House Majority leader, Chidi Lloyd was playing the card of the god, Albagra. The way he raised the mace far above his head and with anger, his might and murderous intent, landed it on the head and body of Chinda, a member of the five man group of ‘legislative-renegades;’ was clearly the hallmarks of the god. For those who may not know, Albagra strikes with might and gross murderous intent like Lloyd did. That Lloyd quickly dashed to a clinic and lay down pretending to have been battered, goes a mileage in underscoring that he was unwittingly doing the dictates of Albagra. For when the god strikes, it leaves in its trail clear indications of mischief. Beyond that, it is more surprising that the victim (Michael Chinda) only sustained mortal injury. Ordinarily, the victim of Albagra’s anger and wrath does not live to tell the story. Since antiquity, those who received the god’s punishment end six feet below the surface of the earth. It is only in rare cases that they are found among humans. And even when the god chose to live them alive, it does so in order to instil its fear and reverence in the minds and hearts of the living. To think that the renegade state legislator survived the ordeal beggars questions. What does Albagra intend to achieve by keeping this man who together with other members of his group, obviously committed sacrilege against democratic principles by attempting to hijack the functions of a legally and constitutionally recognized state institution? Does the god have more in stock than it is showing us? It seems so after all the storm is still building. Good students of Igbo-African mythology will quickly recall that he who the gods want to kill, they first of all make deaf. But the trouble here is that Albagra has treacherously refused to show its hands in this case. In the past, the god dispatches a priest (its mediator with mankind) to announce its trajectory on a case. In this case however, either for want of a priest or due to assumed modernization and the increasing tendency of many Africans to forget their ancestry, there appears to be no clear cut trajectory as to which of the warring factions (Governor Rotimi Amaechi or President Goodluck Jonathan) will invariably receive the brunt of Albagra’s anger. The situation is made more tragic with the ignorance of more persons who are allowing themselves to be drawn into a war orchestrated by a mischievous by very vindictive god who will stop at nothing until all players in the game receive their due recompense. The recent visit by the Governors of Jigawa, Kano, Niger and Adamawa States as well as Prof. Wole Soyinka, may appear to the cursory observer as a mere solidarity call. It could be misinterpreted as a close political calculation by a section or region of the country along with a representative of a region which people are regarded as ‘veteran hypocrites,’ to divide the ranks of another region against the 2015 presidential elections. But it is more than that. It is for the initiated who understands the mischief of Albagra, a carefully orchestrated ploy by the god to create a pool of humans who will have no justification to avoid its wrath. This is Albagra’s handiwork; it’s very potent strategy in creating a web of victims. Today the River State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is worried that the visit by these folks will further aggravate the already deteriorated situation in the state, that is even though they did not express similar concern when the ‘First Lady,’ Patience Jonathan (whose visit to the state left behind more rancour than peace) visited the state for a supposed wedding ceremony of Hon Evans Bapakaye Bipialaka, alleged leader of the fathom ‘legislative-Coup-Plotters.’ Perhaps the biblical story of the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob may find place here. But the PDP need not to worry especially since Albagra has made it easy for them to be able to withdraw the security details of the governor at the time of the crisis. After all, in every generation Albagra has always operated with certain degree of candour. Here in River State the god has being magnanimous to leave for the party, the state Commissioner of Police who has repeated being fingered as an active part in the journey to Albagra’s calculated ‘collateral damage.’ One thing remains sure among historians, and that is that very soon Nigerians will come to realize that the dance of shame in River State which without doubt reminds one of the characters in T.S. Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral”, where four knights heard the king speak of his frustration with Thomas Becket, Archbishop of the Canterbury. They interpreted that as an order to kill Becket, accused him of betrayal, and killed him; will soon be settled not by the players but by the metaphysical. But when it does settle, it is only in the powers of Albagra to leave behind on earth, any of the players. It is not just about 2015 elections. It is more than that. It is ancient Sanida mythology playing out in Nigeria with the various characters in the script totally oblivious of what role they are playing and the expected climax or anti-climax of the play. In any case, the play is about to round off! Here is the end in the beginning!! An Armageddon!!!
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 16:02:27 +0000
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