Babatoncracy

 Today one thing that is undisputable in the political affairs of Nigeria is the craziness that has engulfed the minds of our self-proclaimed patriots. Many of them seem desperate, some are frustrated, some are ready to use violence for violence in the coming "election or selection", some have even publicly stated that 2007 is a do-or-die afffair. A prominent among them went further to say that certain people will not become the next president even if they won election. If such declaration is not treason, I wonder why many are being held for treason.

Their uterrances and body language do not bother me anymore. I have known them for who they are. No other tragedy surpasses a government using the breathing State apparatus to intimidate and oppress those it supposed to protect. Such mode of acting is – to say the least – a betrayal. But let them destroy, let them assassinate, let them blackmail, let them carry out whatever pledge they have secretly made. Let them do whatever seem good in their eyes. Let them be who they are. Their punishment will come before our very eyes. Soon.

The thing that worries me however, is the reaction of Nigerians to this madness. It seems my people are still showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile. Swindling them of their inheritance for several years might have made them powerless and unable to function. My people have been asking and talking about revolt since I was a toddler, but would not accept any drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving.  Many a time they have even failed to see the symptom of alteration.

Each time crazy warriors made some move for a drastic change, my people always wanted a smiling ruler. They would say "these are mad warriors…give us normal people". My people think the crazy ones are those the gods have destroyed. They do not know that these are the people that the gods have elevated to a higher level. There's pleasure in being mad but only the mad man knows. My people cannot think beyond. They cannot see that their society needs a mad man to cure our abnormal functioning. My people do not realise that a toad does not run in the afternoon for nothing; something must behind something. 

Even when God and gods have sent the message to them, they are still snoring in their blissful sleep. They jumple their words in order to confuse. They even trick the deities with their warped manner of loud and confound and empty talk. Their inattention or sheer ignorance is now driving away the messiah. Instead of embracing the opportunity of a political fight of all time, my people's pebbles are still embedded in the silt. Would they find it? This is my cry. Because if they fail to read the brief communication that is written or signaled across their communities at this moment, then the substance will elude them – for another century.

When this king who knows everything about his kingdom proclaimed political warfare, I assume he knew exactly what he was saying. When his Balogun also declared publicly that the king was about to annihilate a resource community, I also presume he knew what he was talking about. The king and Balogun are two powerful people. They are expected to be knowlegeable, full of wisdom, moral soundness, and unbroken completeness. They do not engage in rumour like their subjects. Meanwhile, when the king, his Balogun, and the palace chiefs start drumming the drum of war, the rapt listeners have already decoded the message: Babatoncracy. That seems to be the system of government in today’s Nigeria.

Yet majority of my people are busy thinking about who is going to tuck them to bed. They love to sleep. Some of them who are fully awake, instead of abruptly waking their comrades, begin to sing the praises of the one that butter their bread. Those who are half asleep could not tell the king the truth for fear of being buried alive. Even when a former king who also wants to be crowned again, accused the king of squandering #200 billion oil money; that the king has already rigged the next coronation before the D-Day; that the reigning king is sleeping with their mothers, daughters, and sisters – my people are too chicken to be filled with aversion.

If only my people would wake up as I have woken up. If only my people would read meaning to this dog fight between the king and Balogun! If only my people would become superstitious for a while. If only my people realise that kings and Baloguns don't usually fight, but when they do, its fight to finish. If only my people realise that it is the gods that have made our king and his Balogun mad, so that both won’t know what exactly is coming from their mouths. If only my people would understand that the provocation being caused by these two powerful men is a metaphor for what they have been waiting for; what they have been chewing like kolanut – all their entire lives. But my people too dey afraid.  

@2007 mysmallvoice@yahoo.com    

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 21.02.2007 13:28