When our oppressors fight, we take sides

But for the universality of justice, a quarrel between a governor and his erstwhile deputy or a spat between contending forces in the ruling house should not bother us. Indeed, when we were in secondary school, we used to implore satan to add fuel to the fire of such squabbles for spectacular effect. In Nigeria, […]

But for the universality of justice, a quarrel between a governor and his erstwhile deputy or a spat between contending forces in the ruling house should not bother us.

Indeed, when we were in secondary school, we used to implore satan to add fuel to the fire of such squabbles for spectacular effect.

In Nigeria, when oppressors fight the oppressed take sides.

Sometimes we even put our lives and age-old friendships on the line.

We should be calling brimstone and fire on those whose antithetical interests have run a potentially great nation aground.

Non-Nigerians must wonder why this happens.

It’s because we perpetually suffer from Stockholm syndrome described as a psychological retort in which victims of abuse bond with their abusers.

Although it was coined after a bank robbery incident in Sweden in 1973, Sweden has hardly recorded anything close to that in the last four decades.

Since it is a daily occurrence in Nigeria, it should be baptised the Naija syndrome.

We are the only people left on this planet who jump to the defense of our oppressors.

Check those now excoriating the ruling class for picking teeth while they die needlessly and you’ll see that if another election is called today, they’ll do the same thing – put religion, region and ethnicity over and above projects and programmes.

Nigerians subconsciously jump to the defense of their ruiners as the latest two crises would attest.

The shenanigan in Edo State between Godwin Obaseki and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomole, is one.

Before leaving Government House, Benin City, Oshiomole declared that he had uprooted godfatherism from Edo politics.

He meant he had buried the powerful influence of the Igbinedion political dynasty.

What he did not tell his fans was that he was replacing it with one of his own.

In publicly anointing Obaseki as his political begotten son, Oshiomole recounted how he, an economic illiterate, pressured Obaseki to return and help rescue the state.

He flatly denied that Obaseki had problems with his University of Ibadan degree.

He should know; he appointed him chairman of his economic strategic team among other posts.

As Yagba elders say, a quarrel turns a praise song into a proverbial one.

Lately, the APC chairman has lapped his own vomit by openly querying the authenticity of the same educational credentials he once vowed were genuine.

Last week, a screening committee found Obaseki unelectable based on that charge.

In practical terms, the incumbent lost his right of first refusal.

Osagie-Ize-Iyamu, Oshiomole’s new bride was a man he once lampooned.

In lands with conscience, the chairman would recuse himself on all matters affecting the state he governed for two terms.

Even at that, questions would be asked about how he managed to appoint a man of questionable credentials for two terms.

The party that fielded a man with dubious credentials would need a lot of explaining.

There would be earth-shattering resignations and long inquisitions.

Electoral officials and their counterparts in the security that screened and passed these candidates would be answering to criminal questions.

In Nigeria where anything goes, opinions are divided between gratitude for endorsement and expediency.

Even the opposition party cannot wait to see the incumbent decamp – no principles, no scruples.

People would vote anyhow, according to access to the Naira.

Godfatherism is dead in Edo State, long live godfatherism!

Obaseki is now a pilgrim, consulting his peers and asking for a tete-a-tete with the president who is the de-facto leader of the ruling party.

He believes the president has the final say. Indeed, he does.

But Buhari has his own fish to fry.

His ethno-religious base is virtually on fire following unprecedented attacks there.

The wife he once said belonged to his kitchen, parlour and the other room shows she no longer visits that other room.

Or how else does one explain the war in the villa reported in Vanguard and the Punch over Madam’s attempt to force a presidential hire who broke inter-state travel ban to witness his wife give birth in Lagos.

An unconfirmed report alleges that the president’s two daughters broke the same curfew to pay homage to a dead relative of one of them but refused to self-isolate on returning.

In traditional marriages, these issues are resolved over dinner.

The husband who is the uncle of the appointee would have the courtesy of asking his cousin to stay away if there is such need.

Taxpayers would now pick the tab of a promised investigation into the matter at a time Nigeria has better things to do with scarce resources.

But it didn’t end there; Mrs. Buhari took to her social media handle to campaign for the IG to release her ADC and other staff members picked up by the police for interrogation.

Madam Buhari, a non-elected official, wants to interfere with a legal matter or, to put it bluntly, wants to control the nation’s chief security officer.

This embarrassment would make the president resign in other climes.

When a breach within the presidential villa leads to gunshots, it is a serious one.

When the president is hardly aware of such breaches, it is difficult to blame him for the appalling level of insecurity elsewhere.

Toxic masculinity and the Nigeria syndrome have divided the camps.

One is miffed at the disrespect of the president’s wife, while others wonder why she’s perpetually at loggerheads with her in-laws.

Nobody looks at her attempt to influence the cause of justice or to take the laws into her own hands.

Public officials and their spouses are expected to subscribe to a minimum level of decorum.

When they break it, the institution is belittled.

This is why elected officials keep their relatives away from public office.