By Sogbeye R. J. Douglas
You must be familiar with the name now; of Citizen Joachim Iroko Chinekwe who recently ignited the nation to a form of political sociology I have subjectively called the politics of namatives. A form of trolling another name- not in social media that tends to derogate or bring names of people you feel don’t share the same political views with you, out rightly calling them names of animals to bring them to ridicule and indignity. Citizen Chinekwe according to the police impliedly called Pres. Bu**ri a dog. Citizen Chinekwe was arrested and put in protective custody before he was charged with conduct. The social media bought into the perfidy and escalated it to viral proportion in the internet. Political joke stars are usually victims of indoctrination, political sentiments, bias or primary political belief systems and orientation. They are usually blinded with cloud of a subjective world view that they hardly contemplate the likely consequence of their ribaldry and antics on others and themselves.
In the early 16th century, the King of England, King Henry V111 wanted the Pope to annul his marriage so he could take another wife. For various reasons the Pope refused to annul his marriage; instead the Pope sanctified his position by promulgating a Bull- law or Holy order against Henry V111. This matter became a heated public debate dividing the society between the supporters of the Pope and the supporters of the King. An over indulged political commenter went public with the news with the sarcastic ribaldry that ‘The Pope’s bull holds up the kings balls’. Before you could say Jack Robinson, the Jokes Star was arrested and beheaded for blasphemy and disrespect to the King.
In the second republic, there was a journalist of Igbo extraction in the Satellite Newspaper. This journalist was so enmeshed in the politics of the time that he became a thorn in the flesh of the ruling party NPN and the President of the second republic Alhaji Shehu Shagari. The grouse the journalist had against the NPN was that it had an Igbo Vice President in the Person of Dr Alex Ekweme. Political parties at the time organized themselves and drew their membership along regional lines. Although, the NPP Zik’s Party for the Igbos as it was perceived was able to win Plateau state under Solomon La as its governorship candidate. Jim Nwobodo was the Governor of the old Anambra state, publisher of the Satellite news paper. The ruling party and authorities then could hardly do anything about the journalist. He was very sensational and caustic about the president, his NPN party, the North and Hausa- Fulani. He never saw or wrote anything good on any of the aforementioned. The NPN was working hard with Dr Alex Ekweme to penetrate Igbo politics but this journalist was using the Satellite newspaper with instances drawn from the civil war, the pogrom, ethnic cleansing, the house-Fulani oligarchy, oppressions and what have you as reasons why the Igbos must not join the NPN. I was one of his faithful readers. I can’t remember the journalist’s name but I can remember the title of one of his articles: ‘Did Shagari say Ibo penny? ( Igbo kwenu).
This article was his response to the NPN Presidential campaign in the old Anambra State in 1982. The journalist created all sorts of fabrications to justify his claims that during the war Northern soldiers after killing Igbo soldiers, to ascertain if they were actually dead will jingle coins in their year and say Ibo Penny. His thrust was that the NPN campaigns of 1982 did not bring any political good will to the Igbo people rather, Pres. Shagari had only used the campaign to re-emphasize preconceived stereotype of the Igbo love for money by proclaiming Ibo penny instead of Igbo Kweni. Pres. Shagari is a Fulani man so his language of primary linguistics orientation fufulde? lacked the required phonology to pronounce Igbo words properly. In the elections, the NPP lost to NPN with C.C. Onoh as its governorship candidate. This journalist was the first collateral victim of that defeat. His problems did not end there; though he was not a politician the military after the 1983 coup arrested him on grounds of national security and he was dismissed from the Anambra State civil service. There is a blogger Mr. Omojuwa who called Pres. Jonathan a pig and Mrs. Jonathan a hipoppotamus. What type of belief system and political persuasion will make a citizen to call his president a pig? Journalism will have to re-event itself to save itself from bullies and trollers. The lesson to take home is that political jokestarism, nametive trolling, and personality bullying are too tied to the quick and shifty dynamics of social and political changes with a very short life span for its practitioners.
Mr. Chinakwe’s misdemeanor as a personality troller and bully have been debated extensively in the social media in cultural, political, philosophical – individualism, and social context. His action did not speak for Igbo people as some northerners wanted us to believe in the conversations. But his intended hubris represents a type of Ariaria and Main main market neo Biafra nationalism which has beclouded authentic, mainstream Igbo nationalism. However, when did true Igbo nationalism die; to be resurrected on its ashes the present day Plebian, hoi-polloi Biafra nationalism of MASSOB and IPOD? In the contexts I have highlighted above, the Igbos are the pride of Nigerian in republicanism, even may be our humanism but they are painfully constrained- tied to the stake of Nigeria’s unitarian drudgery and bayed by many enemies in their own mind set. Such that individual soloist and pseudo nationalists groups stray into gaps with actions and statements that are usually mistaken for the authentic Igbo conversation. Where is the taproot of this free fall nationalism- the nationalism of Citizen Joachim Iroko Chinakwe against his president?
According to Prof, Chinua Achebe in ‘There Was A Country’, they- Igbos fear no god nor man. Everybody is a voice to be heard. They have no kings or queens. This freewheeling republicanism posed a problem even for the colonial authorities to govern the Igbos because they did not meet centralized and functional traditional institutions on ground. So to govern them, the colonial authorities constructed the warrant Chiefs institution for them. How do you govern a people without centralized authority, without kings and lack of formal respect and submission to central authority and institutions? They fear no gods. Their gods are not to be worshipped. Their gods and oracles are ‘servant’ deities. They are supposed to attend to the material progress of the community.
Any deity that deviates from his ascribed roles is usually discarded and thrown away. ‘In Things Fall Apart’ when Okonkwo’s father Nnokam who died bankrupt asked the oracle to tell his son Okonkwo to sacrifice a goat for him; Okonkwo rightly retorted that the oracle should ask his father Nnokam if he had a fowl when he was alive. The Igbo min set is too individualistic and alienated from authorities both spiritual and temporal. In Igbo nationalism and politics the individual strength has for long overtaking the communal strength and the individual strength is a liability now. Join any of the groups on facebook with interest on the civil war, Biafra, Buhari or APC you will be acquainted with thousands of Joashin Chinekwe there. They call Nigeria Nizooria, Bu**ri is Zoohari. They are never short of expletives for opposing views. The social media or IPOD-MASSOB collectives as I call them, their first victims are Igbo politics and mainstream nationalism. Mainstream Igbo intelligentsia should share some of the blames. Most of the post civil war literatures exalted traditions of goats and denigration of tribes and people they did not agree with. The Saudana is said to be bleating like a goat when faced with death. Chimamanda Adichie was innocently misled to craft the goat motif into her book ‘Half Of A Yellow Sun’. In a multi ethnic society like Nigeria, the driver of any nationalism is friendship not isolated individualism. Other’s nationalism begins where your nationalism ends.
Ascendancy of individualism, excessive and solo longing for freedom of the Joachim Chinekwes need a body for centralized control- with a code of message and code of strategy to achieve that message in moderation. If not, the tendency is that soloists will obfuscate the authentic message and make it more difficult to materialise. A supremacist nationalism, individual or collective, where others will be goats and dogs and we the wise Jews of Africa will makes us perpetual Sisyphus in our longing for liberation and independence.
There are two sides to every coin, Keep sentiments apart, it is beyond public decency and social decorum for the citizen of a country to use the name of his president to name his dog. Is it because of his love for his country, or there are certain qualities and symbolics he admires in the president that he wants to ascribe to his dog? After all, dogs are our best friends and they are very jealous about our security. Buhari is a decorated General. He is now president and commander in Chief (chief security officer) in fairness to Mr Chinekwe, dogs and security are synonymous. He had not told anybody that he meant president Buhari. It is the police that is making that association and the social media that is blowing the incident out of proportion. Mr. Salihu Umar who reported the matter to the police said the name belongs to his father (Pres. Buhari is the political father of the nation).
According to the United Nations languages are international assets that are borderless- no tribe, country can claim ownership of any language and nobody can prevent any body from learning or speaking any language-these apply to names. Is Mr. Joachim Chinakwe speaking a language? If so in which language was he speaking and who are his intended audience are and what message is he trying to pass? Will his message make or mare public peace? Will it derogate, defame- compromise hard earned reputation. Did he actually intend to ridicule the president? If so what are his reason for carrying his bitterness to such an inexcusable end?
This is one cultural ideology of republicanism, individualism and daily frustration carried too far. We all are the Joachim Chinekwe’s of this country at different levels of frustrations arising from despicable political misconducts. Our day dreams for an equalitarian, egalitarian and inclusive democracy is frustrated. Our dreams for Justice and peace are truncated. A part of the country owns and controls the resources that belong to other parts of the country. The call for fiscal justice and true federalism is esoteric and offensive to some ears. The pursuit of freedom and independence for a section of the country had been met with a brutal scotch earth policy of genocide. In the country of Citizen Chinekwe, about three hundred school girls were abducted and two years after the parents of these girls are still in agony.
One of the Kings, Emir Sanusi had just revealed to the citizens that ‘some more equal’ citizens collects dollars by making mere phone calls to the central bank and sells it at the black market at tremendous profit. In the country of Citizen Chinekwe, Kidnappers are hand in glove with politicians. Citizens pay as much as Thirty million Naira as ransom for freedom, while government and security agencies look the other way. Citizen Chinekwe’s country is on the precipice to cross the Rubicon’ into the abyss of a failed State. Nigeria, Citizen Chinekwe’s country is one big theatrical stage where the political satires ‘Animal farm’ and ‘1984’ by George Orwell are performed on daily basis. Citizen Chinekw’s , is a voice of free speech against this satirical political drama of eternal absurdity.
It is ironical that the police that has its own challenges of name and image should be the first responder in this case of name calling. Politics is a game of name calling- politicians, branding and re-branding each other. During the 2008 general election in the US, Hillary Clinton thought Barrack Obama will be a walkover. Before she realized she had a battle in her hands it was too late. She was so distraught and frustrated; she stood before the American voters in one of her campaigns and indulged in a name calling of her own; shouting Barrack Obama shame on you!! Barrack Obama Shame on you!! Barack Obama shame on you!!! However, before the campaigns ended both of them jaw jawed before the American voters in one of the debates. When he won the democratic nomination, she endorsed him and when he won the presidential election, he appointed her his Secretary of state. From jaw jaw they got to tête-à-tête in the White House. Now Obama is her campaigner- in- chief and before the very American voters, they are now dancing passionate blues. Imagine that you are the police and you arrested Hillary in 2008, how will you feel today seeing Hillary and Obama in a blues before the very American voters? Politicians have no dignity and honor. Their political manifestos, agenda, program are never bonds. They are mere name calling- a means to engage the voters and dupe them for votes.
The police should consider this scenario; in 2019 Pres. Buhari finds himself in a political party that has a dog as its party symbol. He won the nomination of that party and also won the presidential election. Don’t be surprised to see citizen Joashim and Pres. Buhari in the same party that has dog as its symbol. They will even be clutching puppies in their hands during the campaigns. Also don’t be surprised to see Citizen Joachim trekking from Abeokuta to Abuja in empty stomach, tattered dress and worn out shoes and clutching a disoriented dog in his hand going to greet Pres Buhari in support and solidarity and the state house pres falling over them for photographs. How will the police be proud of itself then. In 2019, Joachim can even drop the Dog for the broom. The most fervent critic of Pres. Jonathan and his wife use to be Reuben Abati. The same Reuben Abati threw principle to the dogs and become an adviser to Pres. Jonathan. Politicians don’t have principles or names to protect; they only have stomach and ego to satisfy.
It is not part of police duty to fight for good name for politics or politicians. However, the police have cleverly read conduct- of breach of public peace into the matter. But that is an open trick. Their main intention is to protect the name of pres. Buhari and other would be victims of political nametives. Politicians feed on votes not on good names. If vote is involved a politician can answer any name. They answer Broom, Umbrella, Corn, House, tree etc. Even in the so called advanced democracies, answering animal names, elephant, horse, kangaroo etc is the norm. My state governor answers Grassroot, the governor of Bayelsa state answers Ofirima (fish) pepper, a politician in my local government answers Seki- Crocodile. There is another politician in my local government that answers Kiko ( scrotum or akpa amu). Politics is infatuated with tittles and praise names.
The presidency will never be impressed with the notice seeking action of the police. After all man is a political animal and animal qualities and names are his second name in politics. If I call Pres. Buhari Broom and former Pres. Jonathan Umbrella in 2015, I will only be making a valuable political statement for them. They will happily wave back at me. Even if their parties emblems are Dog, Goat, Kangaroo etc it is their name. Any symbol you identify with is your name, you should be ready to answer and defend it.
It is police duty to protect lives and properties of politicians but not their names or fight for good names for them. They have more resources than the police to defend their names or earn themselves a good name. The police has been too compromised in name calling; Corruption, wey your particulars, wetin you carry, wey your receipt, bail money etc. It is better the police engage its scarce resources to engage robust image laundering for itself. Politicians are part of police problem. What they put in the budget for the police is not what the police gets as budgetary allocation. Politics is padding the budget annually with packages for the police welfare running into Billion of Naira that is removed into private pockets while the police remain impoverished and under supplied; hindering their capacity to render quality service deliveries. When politician lose election, they accuse police as having aided and abetted the opposition to rig and win. The police should be very mindful how it dabbles into the politics of nametives. A name, e.g Buhari is a public identity asset. It belongs to nobody, but it belongs to all of us.
According to Garba Shehu, Pes. Buhari’s spokesmam ‘He –Buhari enjoys cartoon and likes sharing them. The ones he enjoys most are those that make caricature of his name’. Garba continued; ‘The president must be having a good laugh over this whole thing’. This is a very dangerous revelation. If a president becomes too addicted to cartoons and caricature, the tendency is for him to see and interpret reality even matters of state impotence as caricature and cartoon characters. This should serve as a job description for the police next time when they see politics and name come into conflict. Already Mr Eleanor Whitehead The Economist correspondent for Nigeria has already passed his own verdict declaring the police guilty and calling Nigeria a ‘Police State’
