Mazi Nnamdi Kanu may not be too far from the truth when he proclaimed Nigeria a zoo. Don’t get the wrong impression. Most statements made by sages come in the figurative sense. Had he seen us as a jungle, that would have been more worrying as no order, no restrictions, whatsoever, exists in a jungle of the prey and the predator. In the zoo, every animal is in its own compartment, unable to reach out and devour the other even as it sees its prey and keeps salivating.
Some might pick offence at the assertion of the young revolutionary who is now serving a controversial prison sentence considered politically motivated. Yet, we forget that every society populated with human beings can be conveniently classified as a congregation of animals, judging by George Orwell’s implicit theory embedded in his all-time classic, Animal Farm.
That book may have mirrored the medieval Britain. It, however, made a prophet of the writer who raised figurative writing to the level that it exposed the fundamental weaknesses of the humans that made them animals as well. Back here in the African setting, we have our folklores, fables maybe, that are instructive on the daily occurrences in our political world.
One of the classic Igbo folktales is known as “Ụsụ na Ụmu Anụmanụ” (The Bat and the Animals) The fable goes thus: Once upon a time, a great war broke out between the ground animals and the air animals, literally speaking. The ground animals refer to the mammals while the air animals mean the birds that glide through the skies over and above any other creature.
The cause of the war? Nothing more than a political conflict. They were locked in the battle to decide between the “airforce” (the birds) and the “infantry” (the wingless ground dwellers) who was stronger and who would rule over all creatures. The brutal battle lasted for seven days, with neither side willing to back down or accept defeat. Sounds very much like what happens in the world of man, you might agree with me.
Rightly, it can be said that such a battle is natural. What is interesting, among others in this battle is the role of Ụsụ (The Bat). Whenever the birds seemed to be winning, Ụsụ reached out into the sky to fraternize with them and claim to be a bird. He had wings, of course. However, whenever the table turned and the ground animals seemed to be gaining the upper hand, Ụsụ switched sides with the swiftness of light, claiming to be a land animal because he had teeth and fur.
Battle-weary animals, at a point, realised that war was a curse, brought no dividends, all losses and no gain and indeed was an ill-wind that blew no one any good. They decided to make peace. On the negotiating table, Ụsụ the bat realised what it had done to itself by playing a deceitful and double-faced game during the war. He was despised for his shifting loyalties.
Disgusted by his cowardice and double-dealing, the animals placed a heavy curse upon Ụsụ. Today, the bat behaves odd, discharging waste through his mouth rather than the normal way. He stopped sleeping upright or lying down flat, choosing instead to hang upside down with his head pointing toward the ground. His movement was restricted to the nighttime only, hunting and feeding only in the dark while other animals were at rest.
Maverick Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike appears to be the super star of Nigerian politics who has everything going for him today. Rising from relatively obscure political positions in 2015 to become the governor of Rivers State, one of the most important states in the nation that goes by the sobriquet Treasure Base of the Nation, Wike is definitely a force to reckon with. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, perhaps the most transactional president Nigeria had ever had, knew even before he became president that the capture of Rivers meant the control of nation’s wealth. He holds the ace as long as the treasure base is secured in his pocket.
He, therefore, went about it by striking a deal with Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who was in the twilight of his governorship as the 2023 election approached. Wike later “delivered” the state to Tinubu, an All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, spiting Atiku Abubakar who flew the presidential flag for his party, the PDP. It was amid voter intimidation, harassment of ad hoc election commission staff, rewriting of election result sheets, and alleged rigging in a massive proportion.
We might not know the details of the Wike-Tinubu bargain, but certainly, thereafter, the former Rivers State governor was offered minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as soon as Tinubu got into office. We also know that, maybe strategically, the bat spirit took possession of him. Today, he is PDP working for APC, not a bird, not a mammal.
The bat spirit sounds sweet and smart. The question is whether it passes the integrity test. In all probability, no, even in the animal kingdom. The fable instructs that the bat spirit has consequences. As expected, Wike’s Rainbow Coalition which encourages split loyalty among parties in campaigns and elections sailed into turbulent waters as the APC governors gave it a deep thought. They came out fearing that it would weaken the ruling party’s grip in the grassroots and undermine official APC candidates for other elective positions in the 2027 general elections.
The governors also worry that the Wike model which backs Tinubu’s re-election while allowing alternative platforms for legislative and governorship races creates confusion in the minds of voters. According to them, disgruntled APC members who lost in the primaries might use the coalition to fight the structures in the states. These are genuine concerns. Wike, on the other hand, accused the governors of wanting total control of the incoming National Assembly, a legitimate ambition of every politician, anyways.
We are witnessing interesting times in the Nigerian politics, a period capable of challenging theorists in political science. Only in Nigeria do politicians gain popularity by how much perfidious they can be in the game. Actions that are ordinarily illicit and unethical are covered up with the euphemism, “political strategy.” All is fair in politics, so says the President, as all is also fair in the jungle.
Wike is not alone in the bat spirit. His happens to have survived the times just unusually too long, causing constant rifts in the Rivers State government, in both the APC and the PDP, as well as in the FCT where he serves. Some others who are possessed by the bat spirit might not be as explicit as Wike. They abound, however. Wike knows that there is an expiring date for what he is doing. An extrovert of a higher order, he has cried out that he would be in trouble if Tinubu does not win the forthcoming presidential election. Therefore, the fight for Tinubu, to him is like a fight for oxygen. Where such a fight leads us to, no one might fathom.
On a Candid Note, as political animals, going by the appellation given to man by Aristotle, should we live in the jungle or in the zoo? Should the bat spirit take possession of us in matters of politics?
Dr. Odu can be reached through [email protected] or SMS 07064052031
