RULING CLASS VERSUS RULING PROLES AND PROSTITUTES: LESSONS FROM THE ‘CONVERSION’ OF FIVE GOVERNORS TO APC

My less than a year old SERIOUS public concern has made me search seriously for the ROOT of Nigeria’s problem. The more I beam the search light the more I am close to concluding that the problem lies generally with the RULING PROLES AND PROSTITUTES that assume the enviable status of RULING CLASS in Nigeria.

SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF

The Ruling Class in serious countries is characterized by people with principles informed by considerably consistent ideology. Their loyalty is first and foremost to justifiable ideas and ideals. A good example of this could be seen in the doggedness of the echelons of Labour Party and Conservative Party in the UK as well as those of Republican and Democratic parties in the US. Stories of decamping are very rare there!

The recent event of the ‘conversion’ of 5 PDP governors to APC and the near unanimous CONSENT of political elements in the states is an indication to the ominous fact that RULING CLASS hardly exist in Nigeria. What we have in place is rather ruling proles and prostitutes. People I can best describe in Hausa as “‘YAN TANYA SHANU CIRI” or “’YAN AMSHIN SHATA” (Simply translated to English, yes men). I borrowed the term ‘proles’ from Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ to describe these so called politicians. Read Orwell’s description of the attitude of proles verbatim:

“All that was required of them was a primitive patriotism which could be appealed to whenever it was necessary for them to accept longer working-hours or shorter rations. And even when they became discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontent led nowhere, because being without general ideas, they could only focus it on petty specific grievances. The larger evils invariably escaped their grievances” Orwell (1949) pg 55.

 BARRISTER MUNTARI SHAGARI: MAKING THE NECESSARY DIFFERENCE

Few days after the decamping of Sokoto State Governor to APC, his Deputy, Barrister Muntari Shehu Shagari organized a press conference in which he reiterated his loyalty to PDP.  The reason of this former Commissioner of Justice Sokoto State and one time Minister of Water Resources was that he was not consulted before making the decamping decision and the subsequent declaration that everyone has joined the band wagon (Kowa yabi in Hausa). In my view, this reason is valid enough for Barrister Shagari to decide the way he did.

I strongly believe that many other politicians were not ADEQUATELY consulted before the decamping mantra. I wonder how the major reason for being in a political party by influential people like Senators and National Assembly Members is that their Governor subscribes to the party!       

 I’m afraid, in Nigeria, shall a Governor convert faith (religion), he would be joined by many including the ruling proles!