Ekiti voters, Nigeria’s most sophisticated
Ekiti voters, Nigeria’s most sophisticated
NOVEMBER 20, 2014 BY ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN 2 COMMENTS
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Viewpoint illustration
When Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State needed to thank God for winning the governorship election held in June, he headed for a rather unusual place – the Deeper Christian Life Church. Unlike others, Deeper Life, as the church is popularly called, eschews politics, photo-ops with politicians and is unlikely to allow politicians dominate its proceedings. The church is restrained by its own ascetic message – shunning worldly affairs and focusing on the otherworldly. You would not expect much theatrics in such a place but Fayose is a drama queen who is never incommoded by sanctity of spaces.
He fell on the ground at the altar in praise to God, and claimed his return to office was some kind of miracle – an oratory calculated to enrol the sentiment of people who see Bible tales as metanarrative of God’s intervention in terrestrial affairs. Switching to a higher gear, he announced to the public he would be inviting 1,000 clergymen to cleanse the Government House – a manipulation of beliefs about metaphysical power to annihilate political rivals he already defeated at the polls.
Since then, Fayose’s fame whoring has exponentially increased. His swearing-in, for instance, was dedicated to pedestrianism. He had no grand vision but was vigorously applauded for such overflowing nothingness. He even instituted the now culturally entrenched vocabulary, “stomach infrastructure.” That move was a well-played hand – if Ekiti people were going to be mocked for their gastro-political choices, he gave ranters more reason to bellyache. He did not stop there. He not only made all the self-righteous noises about the wastefulness of his predecessor who loaded the State House with expensive -yet gaudy- furniture, he invited the citizens of the state to plunder the aristocratic facilities of the State House.
Already, I find Fayose’s frequent melodrama tiring but he is not about to climax. Really, if the histrionic art were to be expelled from his governance, there would be little left. You can curate an entire catalogue of Fayose’s activities since he won the election and the scales would tilt towards showboating than actual development activities.
The ongoing contest of wills between him and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, will fuel egos and create multiple gladiatorial shows. And in the coming months, the avalanche of criticisms against Fayose will also rain on the people who overwhelmingly elected him into office too. It will be a good season for sanctimonious and the uppity analysts whose every “I told you so” will be endorsed by the governor’s (mis)deeds.
One thing to consider is this: the choice Ekiti people made will perhaps be no different from the choices many Nigerians will make in the 2015 elections.
Day after day, Nigeria’s politics is not only reduced to “stomach infrastructure”, we also spend too much time debating bread-and-butter issues. The deeper and complex subjects about which direction the country is going and those major restructuring that will get us there do not get the deserved centre stage. Nigeria currently faces a major crisis of underdevelopment and for an economy that remains undiversified, clogged in the wheels by the shortsightedness of her greedy and myopic leaders, you can be sure we will run into a major trouble at some point. It is three months to elections and there is barely any promise of a breath of genuine fresh air – in the atmosphere.
In the midst of all these things, how do you criticise the mass of voters who do not have a luxury of choice, for electing falsehood?
I have found myself rethinking a few things. One is that no electorate anywhere in the world is as stupid as the elitist thinking sometimes makes it seem. In reality, people do not vote against their own interest (unless of course we arrogate to ourselves the power to legislate what people’s “interests” ought to be). At election seasons such as this, people face various complex calculations that do not easily boil down to the way we falsely dichotomise “logic” and “emotion.” What we call sentimental reasons for choosing certain candidates, like ethnicity and religion, for instance, are as logical to those who vote on that basis as the decision of those who vote a candidate based on his/her ideas on climate change.
The point is, we all see within the limits of our horizons and some people’s dreams are uncomplicated. What they want is just a candidate who hands them an “Okada” and allows them ride it everywhere without any harassment. Unlike the insatiable middle class who consistently groan about Nigeria not having become a Malaysia or Singapore, such people have no big picture to measure the state failings against and as a result, they are the ones more likely to queue hours in the sun on Election Day to cast their votes.
What most electoral choices boil down to, at the end of the day, is the power to select the lie that soothes you.
When you hear some Nigerians prattle, “I voted Jonathan, not the PDP,” you want to shake the sawdust out of their heads until you remember that what they have demonstrated is their power to choose one vapidity over another. The Nigerian political system, as it is presently structured, is designed to keep good people down and promote mediocrity and irresponsibility to the pinnacle. Nigeria’s leadership does not pretend enough that it owes the people and consequently, never fails to deliver nothing. When you have a situation where someone downgrades his presidential aspiration to governorship in a matter of days, you see a set of leaders who are not prepared for governance. If voters look ahead and do not see any competent diagnosis of existing national maladies, no ideological promise, but just a mere rehash of the same old odium, they should not be blamed if they decide to do the next best thing: meet their leaders halfway and join in the charade.
The image of Ekiti youths swimming in the State House pool at Fayose’s invitation struck me as some form of sadomasochism. These youths are perspicacious to recognise that governance is going to be a farce, and the road is too long and too tedious for them not to try to catch some fun out of it. So, yes, they join the spectacle because they love the script. Other voters will discount any long-term gains (whatever that might be) and quietly settle for candidates who hand them small bags of rice and branded Ankara.
Auctioning your vote to whoever promises enough entertainment to distract you from your existential reality, I conclude, is sophistication in itself. God bless Ekiti people for teaching me that. I know they did not rack up all their PhDs for nothing.
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Fayose a fit for Ekiti !
Ekiti voters, Nigeria’s most sophisticated
Ekiti voters, Nigeria’s most sophisticated
NOVEMBER 20, 2014 BY ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN 2 COMMENTS
print
Viewpoint illustration
When Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State needed to thank God for winning the governorship election held in June, he headed for a rather unusual place – the Deeper Christian Life Church. Unlike others, Deeper Life, as the church is popularly called, eschews politics, photo-ops with politicians and is unlikely to allow politicians dominate its proceedings. The church is restrained by its own ascetic message – shunning worldly affairs and focusing on the otherworldly. You would not expect much theatrics in such a place but Fayose is a drama queen who is never incommoded by sanctity of spaces.
He fell on the ground at the altar in praise to God, and claimed his return to office was some kind of miracle – an oratory calculated to enrol the sentiment of people who see Bible tales as metanarrative of God’s intervention in terrestrial affairs. Switching to a higher gear, he announced to the public he would be inviting 1,000 clergymen to cleanse the Government House – a manipulation of beliefs about metaphysical power to annihilate political rivals he already defeated at the polls.
Since then, Fayose’s fame whoring has exponentially increased. His swearing-in, for instance, was dedicated to pedestrianism. He had no grand vision but was vigorously applauded for such overflowing nothingness. He even instituted the now culturally entrenched vocabulary, “stomach infrastructure.” That move was a well-played hand – if Ekiti people were going to be mocked for their gastro-political choices, he gave ranters more reason to bellyache. He did not stop there. He not only made all the self-righteous noises about the wastefulness of his predecessor who loaded the State House with expensive -yet gaudy- furniture, he invited the citizens of the state to plunder the aristocratic facilities of the State House.
Already, I find Fayose’s frequent melodrama tiring but he is not about to climax. Really, if the histrionic art were to be expelled from his governance, there would be little left. You can curate an entire catalogue of Fayose’s activities since he won the election and the scales would tilt towards showboating than actual development activities.
The ongoing contest of wills between him and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, will fuel egos and create multiple gladiatorial shows. And in the coming months, the avalanche of criticisms against Fayose will also rain on the people who overwhelmingly elected him into office too. It will be a good season for sanctimonious and the uppity analysts whose every “I told you so” will be endorsed by the governor’s (mis)deeds.
One thing to consider is this: the choice Ekiti people made will perhaps be no different from the choices many Nigerians will make in the 2015 elections.
Day after day, Nigeria’s politics is not only reduced to “stomach infrastructure”, we also spend too much time debating bread-and-butter issues. The deeper and complex subjects about which direction the country is going and those major restructuring that will get us there do not get the deserved centre stage. Nigeria currently faces a major crisis of underdevelopment and for an economy that remains undiversified, clogged in the wheels by the shortsightedness of her greedy and myopic leaders, you can be sure we will run into a major trouble at some point. It is three months to elections and there is barely any promise of a breath of genuine fresh air – in the atmosphere.
In the midst of all these things, how do you criticise the mass of voters who do not have a luxury of choice, for electing falsehood?
I have found myself rethinking a few things. One is that no electorate anywhere in the world is as stupid as the elitist thinking sometimes makes it seem. In reality, people do not vote against their own interest (unless of course we arrogate to ourselves the power to legislate what people’s “interests” ought to be). At election seasons such as this, people face various complex calculations that do not easily boil down to the way we falsely dichotomise “logic” and “emotion.” What we call sentimental reasons for choosing certain candidates, like ethnicity and religion, for instance, are as logical to those who vote on that basis as the decision of those who vote a candidate based on his/her ideas on climate change.
The point is, we all see within the limits of our horizons and some people’s dreams are uncomplicated. What they want is just a candidate who hands them an “Okada” and allows them ride it everywhere without any harassment. Unlike the insatiable middle class who consistently groan about Nigeria not having become a Malaysia or Singapore, such people have no big picture to measure the state failings against and as a result, they are the ones more likely to queue hours in the sun on Election Day to cast their votes.
What most electoral choices boil down to, at the end of the day, is the power to select the lie that soothes you.
When you hear some Nigerians prattle, “I voted Jonathan, not the PDP,” you want to shake the sawdust out of their heads until you remember that what they have demonstrated is their power to choose one vapidity over another. The Nigerian political system, as it is presently structured, is designed to keep good people down and promote mediocrity and irresponsibility to the pinnacle. Nigeria’s leadership does not pretend enough that it owes the people and consequently, never fails to deliver nothing. When you have a situation where someone downgrades his presidential aspiration to governorship in a matter of days, you see a set of leaders who are not prepared for governance. If voters look ahead and do not see any competent diagnosis of existing national maladies, no ideological promise, but just a mere rehash of the same old odium, they should not be blamed if they decide to do the next best thing: meet their leaders halfway and join in the charade.
The image of Ekiti youths swimming in the State House pool at Fayose’s invitation struck me as some form of sadomasochism. These youths are perspicacious to recognise that governance is going to be a farce, and the road is too long and too tedious for them not to try to catch some fun out of it. So, yes, they join the spectacle because they love the script. Other voters will discount any long-term gains (whatever that might be) and quietly settle for candidates who hand them small bags of rice and branded Ankara.
Auctioning your vote to whoever promises enough entertainment to distract you from your existential reality, I conclude, is sophistication in itself. God bless Ekiti people for teaching me that. I know they did not rack up all their PhDs for nothing.
