THE ILLS OF GODFATHERISM AND THE POLITICAL ELITE

Any time I hear the word godfather, what comes to mind is the
Christian position of true mentorship on the one hand and what
transpired between Senator Chris Ngige, a former governor of Anambra
State and his estranged godfather on the other hand. In Nigeria today,
no politician can come out and declare himself a good mentor.
Most times, I ponder on why godfather/godson relationship never end
well as a result of incessant fallouts where the godfather engages the
said godson(s) in bitter fights. Among the most prominent macabre
dances of these political giants and their political sons was that of
Senator Chris Ngige and Peoples Democratic Party financier, Chris Uba,
of the Uba political family who engaged themselves in bitter political
fight in the name of who should control the state's treasury.
With the foregoing, I have come to believe that godfathers cause more
harm than good to the nation's polity. Suffice to say that Senator
Ngige who was allegedly kidnapped on the orders of his estranged
godfather has since dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to
embrace another godfather, Sen. Bola Tinubu, the national leader of
All Progressives Congress, APC.
Godfatherism can be said to have its origin in Christianity when
God-parents helped to raise Christian children to become God-fearing,
law-abiding adults. This cannot be said of Nigeria of today, where
many politicians beg to have godfathers even when they know that what
they are actually begging for will only come back to haunt them.
This is because the so-called godfathers are always dominant
individuals in the politics of an area or geo-political zone and are
capable of determining who win elections in that area or zone.
I remember vividly when I was preparing for my first son's baptism and
the officiating priest made it clear to us that we must provide a
godfather for the child. In the process, the priest actually made us
understand who a god father should be. I had no choice but agree with
him.
The rest is now history. But this cannot be said of political
godfathers whose only aim is to recoup all monies expended in rigging
their godson into power. Though godfatherism is not a novel idea to
politics neither is the phenomenom going to disappear from the
nation's political landscape in the nearest future.
Generally, godfathers are expected to sponsor or support their godsons
and give them advice on how to excel in their areas of assignment but
the reverse seems to be the case in Nigeria. I have always believed
that Nigeria's kind of godfather has only one aim, which is to recoup
all monies expended in rigging their godsons into power. And as we all
know, godfatherism is now permanent resident in the nation's political
landscape since an average Nigerian politicain is incurably greedy.
And this the godfathers exploit, as ruthless benefactors, shylocks
indeed.
I have watched with dismay in Nigeria today, that hardly can a
political green-horn win election without the support of a godfather.
It is also the same thing at party primaries where candidates are
'selected' instead being elected. And this has never in anyway helped
in the development of the country, rather it has in a every way led to
bad governace. This is a monster that must be that must be nipped in
the bud. 'Selected" governors, for example, after being sworn in open
the state coffers to repay the godfathers with tax payers' money. This
is nothing other than looting with impunity.
Apart from politics where godfathers and their godsons continue to
steal from the common purse of the state, the ills of godfatherism had
continued to stare us in the face with no remedy in sight. Civil
servants, those in the private employ, and even teachers in remote
villages know that having a godfather helps put food on the table, and
move up in the social strata of life.
As I have come to observe, everybody knows that many of our problems
come from the politcal class, and this is mainly where the godfather
phenomenom comes into play.