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The Yoruba literature has a unique way of enriching the nation’s growing social and political lexicons. By using the word, ‘Gbewudani’ to characterize the positioning of the 2027 PDP presidential candidate, Professor Sandy Onor, as a placeholder, Rufai Oseni of Arise News, on Thursday September 3rd, stirred the hornet’s nest. And if not that Dr Reuben Abati, in his usual showy knowledge, interjected a cautionary advice to Rufai, during the ‘Morning Show’ live broadcast, Gbewudani would not have probably trended in the last two weeks. To add salt to the injury, Lere Olayinka, Nyesom Wike’s media hitman, who appeared on the TV show the next day, inadvertently blew up the storm in a tea cup to whip up opprobrium against Rufai before he (Olayinka) was deservedly shut out by Ayo Mairo-Ese. I now understand the sense in hosting the show by a triumvirate. Notwithstanding Olayinka’s humbling push aside and given that it is a season of intense politicking, the viral excoriation of Sandy Onor, who doubles as a former senator, had taken a life of its own.
Meanwhile, Gbewudani needs both anthropological and figurative explanations. First, it is a disparaging term for any man who is subservient to his wife. The inference is that in a patriarchal society like ours, it is an aberration for a man to kowtow to a woman. It shows that the man has lost his natural leadership. He is seen as a henpecked husband who can rarely stamp his authority over his household. The man may be confined to doing petty home chores like washing of dishes and inner wear – not on the ground of lovely partnership or, that the wife is sick, pregnant, or busy with other chores. It may include babysitting because of laziness while the woman hustles for the family’s upkeep and thereafter, pays the bills. Second, in the social and political contexts, Gbewudani is used to describe a man who is a stooge, puppet, lackey, and in some cases, a placeholder. Though he may be occupying a position, but in actual sense, it is known that the real authority lies elsewhere. A mere titular head whose words are usually all bark and no bite.
Be that as it may, in Nigeria, Gbewudani role is a big business. The route is more often than not taken for political and economic survival. Some people elect to wear the garb proudly. They prefer to act as Gbewudani and get economically empowered instead of dying inside in the cold comfort of personal integrity. Indeed, Gbewudani role can fetch juicy political appointments. Party tickets. Name recognition. High-visibility profile. Big contracts. Access to high places. Today, many political hustlers are willing to play such roles. They prefer to answer ‘woman wrapper’ and get political power instead of maintaining their independent-mindedness that comes with a cost. They may often rationalize Gbewudani role with questions like: Will challenging the President or the Governor put food on the table? Will it pay my bills? Can it change a rickety car or build a duplex for me? Unfortunately, most of those who ask these sort questions constitute the dominant section of the political class.
So, I see no sense in making a fuss out of it. Nigerians had been neck-deep in the enterprise without situating the emasculated political behaviour around Gbewudani. During the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s maximum rule in the late 1990s, we had a strange scenario where the five existing political parties endorsed him as the sole candidate in the proposed presidential election in 1998. The political parties were: United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP), Congress for National Consensus (CNC), National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN), Democratic Party of Nigeria, and Grassroot Democratic Movement (GDM). Consequently, the now late Chief Bola Ige (the Cicero of Esa-Oke) known for his fearless oratory, mockingly dubbed the contrived endorsement as “five fingers of a leprous hand.” If one may ask: Did the political magic above not represent Gbewudani role? The men had lost their manhood. They could not stand to be counted in the face of death threats and or mouth-watering political largesse. Wole Soyinka’s famous quote, “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny,” captures it succinctly.
In the current democratic experiment, one wonders whether it is not tantamount to Gbewudani, when the leadership of the National Assembly elected to checkmate the Executive excesses announced that the legislators will pass whatever the president brings to them. Besides, it is an open secret that Nyesom Wike’s assignment is to weaken the PDP from presenting a formidable opponent to Tinubu in 2027. And to be fair to Wike, he has almost achieved the task. But as implied by Olayinka, Sandy Onor belongs to the cadre of candidates who are on the ballot to merely tick the box. He is not contesting to win. As a flagbearer of one of the opposition parties, nobody has heard from him. No articulated vision for a better Nigeria. No media engagement to share alternative policy direction. Neither has he at any time taken a swipe at the incumbent government’s policy. And some people want Nigerians to take seriously the charade that fits the bill of Wike’s assignment. To my mind, Sandy Onor is not even bothered about the public perception quotient because he knows the script. He probably knows what is in it for him. Thus, the nation wouldn’t be surprised if he emerges as one of the ministerial nominees from Wike’s ‘Rainbow Coalition’ if Tinubu is re-elected. Therefore, Reuben Abati should not have reminded Rufai of a likely defamation lawsuit on account of what he meant by Gbewudani and its innuendoes.
But the larger concern is that a university professor who ought to be a moral compass is acting out a pawn in a façade political game. On the other hand, while I do not completely agree with Rufai’s cross-examination style of interviewing, his rare courage and sharp mind should not be allowed to fall victim of political marksmen who are bent on shooting down the remnant democratic torch-bearers.
