The most discouraging part of the issue is that even the poor downtrodden masses have embraced these dastardly acts as being normal. In the case of “Godfatherism”, you hear people using making real asinine statements like, “why e no go settle the man, no be im put am there.” A real defeatist and compromising attitude towards a situation that is simply undemocratic and outright unacceptable. Settle him yes, but don’t open up the treasury to him. Appoint some of his people to your cabinet, but not the entire cabinet. Ask for gratuities and even contracts, but don’t give a bill for an ungodly amount for just sponsoring a guy.

In every society the existence of sponsors or godfathers is well accepted and is seen as part of the political fabric. In USA for example, in 1978 Bill Clinton of Arkansas was helped into office of governor by the Arkansas poultry farmers. The then young governor came into office and was at loggerheads with the same farmers who helped him get elected; the farmers didn’t form a kangaroo court and impeach the governor. They went home planned on the next election and made sure that Clinton was not reelected in 1980. Now here is the real show of political savvy and maturity, Clinton didn’t go about crying or looking for someone to kill, instead he went back to the same poultry farmers and struck a deal with them. He was reelected in 1982 and was the governor until he ran for President in 1992. The important issue here is that, godfathers need to work with their candidates not just to steal and plunder but for the development of society at large.

Why can’t the Nigerian Godfathers allow their candidates some breathing space instead of preferring that they become cronies or robots to be pushed at their whims and caprices? Anambra State was robbed and pillaged by the Mbadinuju administration just because he continued to pay homage to his Godfathers. Then there was the mess in Kwara where the Saraki family really showed us who owned the State. In Edo State Anenih and Igbinedion had their own infighting which I don’t know what their status is. Nwobodo and Nnamani had their turf wars in Enugu State which at some point could not even be settled by church leaders. In all these cases, the one who claims to have “made” the other would not let his product act on his own.

Again, in 2003 this phenomenon reared its ugly head in Anambra State, where another godfather by the name of Chris Uba was so desperate that he tried a kidnap/ coup and failed. He tried assassination and was unsuccessful. He then proceeded to destroy the state owned infrastructure just to spite the governor for not “settling” him. Even our President, a man whose morals belongs to the gutter, asked the Anambra governor to “settle” this would be plunderer of state owned funds. What other country could this happen in other than in Nigeria where corruption is king? Only in Nigeria, a country of immense human and natural resources where the same cabal has virtually misruled the country since independence.

Here we are in 2005 and the so called “majority” of retards and morons in Oyo State house of assembly unconstitutionally removed a sitting governor. Ladoja’s impeachment was nothing short of a slap in the face of the Oyo State people in particular, and Nigerians in general. Here, the godfather Adedibu, decided to remove the “father” part of his title and declared himself “god”. To hear that our President was bowing and prostrating to this jackass of a man is even more deploring. Yoruba tradition aside, who the heck is Adedibu? I guess he must be a very serious juju man for all these people including our President to be afraid of him. Now that the courts have ruled, will the “other governor” Alao Akala obey the law and step down? It remains to be seen. What with our outright disrespect and disdain for our judiciary.

What steps do we as Nigerians take to curtail the excesses of godfathers? What measures do we take to truly elect our leaders? There are really no true democracies anywhere on the face of the earth. It’s a fact that with the human factor involved lying, cheating, stealing and rigging always factors in. The major difference between our elections and those of the developed world is that they have measures to curtail their rigging. In Nigeria, its open season for the parties to see who will rig more than the other. The party in power manages to outdo their opponents by murder, mayhem and intimidation.