Book Review
Title: The Last Buttocks on the Throne
Author: Habib Yakoob
Publisher:Kraft Book, Ibadan
Pagination: 163
Year of publication: 2024
Reviwer: Henry Akubuiro
The sit-tight African autocrat sees himself as a messiah in an idealistic universe populated by stoic subalterns and placid mannequins. He can tinker with the constitution, gag the press, eliminate perceived enemies, throw caution to the wind, make everyday a bacchanal and get away with murder. With braggadocio, he envisions the modern state as an empire where the king rules supreme with an iron fist. Like a hyena bandit in the wild, he arrogates to himself the right to appropriate the commonwealth. For him, absolute power is the be-all and end-all of existence.
Last Buttocks on the Throne, a novel by Habib Yakoob, is a mimesis of an African despot in power whose reign lends credence to the abuse of power and a vapid soul. We have seen this ilk before in Nigerian literature: in Wole Soyinka’s power plays, King Baabu and A Play of Giants; Chinua Achebe’s Anthill of the Savannah, to mention a few. Habib Yakoob’s Last Buttocks on the throne, in its fictional representation of an African dictator, re-examines authority in the postcolony and how society reacts to this strange visitation. The book details two kinds of responses. While the press and civil society present themselves as a freedom bulwark, the political class is chiefly preoccupied with who gets what. As long as their pockets are lined, they are undisturbed by the ways of King Herods.
The work is set in a contemporary, imaginary Zeebaria nation in Africa. It’s ruled by the despot, His Excellency Professor Doctor Balaolumadu, who wants more than two terms in office, against the constitution of the land. Thinking that the president will retire at the expiration of his term, his aides and political associates plot to step into his shoes. From praise singing to spinning a web of lies, they struggle to outdo one another in mischiefs and intrigues. The rivalry between Katenge, Bagu and Mutula, the vice president, is taken to a ridiculous dimension. This is emblematic of the reality in some sub-saharan democracies, where politicians wear opportunistic togas concealed under a saintly ensemble. For a megalomaniac like President Balaolumadu, power is feudalistic – the protection and benefits you enjoy from the state is tied to your unalloyed loyalty. The novel is a deliberate attempt to parody sit-tightism and groveling politics at the top.
In Zeeberia, the politics of perpetuation by His Excellency Balaolumadu is kept under wraps. Even Zeena, the First Lady, is misled into eyeing to become the next president of Zeeberia – in fact, the first woman president. This, however, does not go down well with the old man. “Generally speaking, I think power is too serious a thing. It is not to be left in the hands of women and kids. There are things women can do better. Things like making love. Like cooking delicious meals. Like taking care of children. Like gossipping,” says the president, to which Zeena sneers: “You are really irredeemable.” The author here echoes a male chauvinist whose perception of women and power approximates to strange bedfellows.
Bruising the ego of the dictator is considered a big crime. The destruction of the statue of the Zeeberian president attracts caterwauls. The saga is used by Katende, the president’s loyalist, to rubbish his rivals and partners in “crime” eyeing the throne. The incident leads to the setting up of Special Presidential Panel in which Katende’s comes up with an incredible 50,000 page report on the incriminating Kalom (the Senate president), Utula and Bagu, whom he accused of conducting the sinister operation “the same night they visited Black Power House” (the seat of power). But the president directs him to abandon the old report and indict the US and UK for masterminding the act, accusing them of being “the enemy of the black man.” In actual sense, the western powers are opposed to having a sit-tight in power and the increasing league of tight buttocks occupying various government houses in Africa.
The novel beams light on press repression. President Balaolumadu admits Adam Gogo, the coordinator of Let the Old Die and the Young Live movement should be dealt with ruthlessly. Journalists and human rights activists protesting bad government and writing negative stories are locked up at will. One of the closest aides of the president, Jomordu Karl, is saddled with the every morning ritual of reading the newspapers aloud to his boss. President Balaolumadu is also a randy old man. His liaison with a female secretary is awash in the media, and you pity his media aide with his troubleshooting efforts for a swashbuckling hard sale. At home, it riles his wife, leading to a scandal.
The author allows the main character to introduce a tenure elongation bill to stoke the embers of conflict in the novel. There is a reported invasion of the assembly to scupper the move. Mutula, the VP, is accused of mutiny. When men surrender their self worth in exchange for crumbs from the master, it leads to one-way exploitation, like in the case of Katenda, whose wife, Maedeno, is coveted by the president. For compensation, she is made the Special Adviser on Feminine Matter.
The novel also addresses the issue of medical tourism. African leaders, especially Nigerian leaders, are given to travelling abroad for medicare when there are hospitals in the country. This expensive medical tourism is often financed with taxpayer’s money. Now a sick man. The Zeeberian president dreams about erecting another statue of himself, “one that, this time around, will live forever; that will rise so high to kiss the sky and remain untouched by the selfish ambition of one man or any being at all; that will enter the Guinness Book of World Records…” and a fourth term.
Told in a second person point of view, The Last Buttocks on the Throne limns a society in the grip of a behemoth. The satire disparages despotism and the hubris of its protagonist, using humour as a tool. It reminds us of the Mugabes, Amins, Sesesokos, Nguemas, Eyademas, among others, who rode roughshod over zombified citizens. The novel offers a variety of topics for researchers and students of African literature and beyond.