Revolt against godfathers

These are not the best of times for political godfathers in Nigeria. Cries of anguish and dislocation from quarters that had once appeared so much at ease have taken over the air. Pain and trauma are now the lot of demigods of just yesterday.

The godfathers would wish they are having a fleeting nightmare. Alas, they are dealing with a new reality. The godsons are revolting. Furiously. Maybe it has to do with Bola Tinubu and his political diablerie that has got every governor looking one direction as if enchanted. Maybe it has nothing to do with him.

The godsons appear resolute in their determination to break away from the yoke of the godfathers. They do not seem to care about yesterday or what may come. The yoke must have been heavy.

The agonizing thread of thought running through the mind of any of the frustrated godfathers at the moment can be imagined; ‘What did I do wrong?’ ‘Where did it go wrong?’ The godfathers in Nigeria’s political firmament firmly believe that they are omnipotent. A godfather’s control of his godson is total. The godson is more or less, a fish in a golden bowl.

When, therefore, a godfather wonders within him what could have gone wrong, what he actually means is, how did the godson find room to wriggle out of the bowl? No godfather believes his excesses lead to the revolt of the godson. After all, the godson was sponsored, bank-rolled and often rail-roaded into the lofty executive office. What right does anyone so spoon-fed have to complain of anything?

The present travails of godfathers have obviously been heightened by the dynamics of 2027 politics. Two potentates in two states personifying all that is crass about the phenomenon of godfatherism in the contemporary Nigerian political process.

The scenarios in Kano and Rivers States, where the state governors have respectively escaped from the leash and ended up in the pool of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are as interesting as most tales of escape from captivity.

Poor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. The godfather in the Kano political setting, an otherwise ebullient personality, seems quite confounded at the turn of events in his domain. He does not seem to know what to do with himself, or for that matter, with his godson, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who has declared independence and headed to the APC.

The revolt of the godson in Kano Government House surprised many. Unlike the other prominent case of revolt of a godson governor, Governor Yusuf’s parting of ways with Kwankwaso was not preceded by a rumpus across the spectrum.

It is either that Kwankwaso as godfather was subtle in exerting control, or that Yusuf as godson persevered in the face of suffering. The conflict in Kano was handled with impressive decorum till the end. The governor always came across as a lamb, a dangerous persona, quite often.

It bears noting that Kwankwaso spent the last one month or so, literally pleading and counselling Governor Yusuf not to defect from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) that elected him governor. Godfathers rarely plead. Kwankwaso’s anguish was manifest in his declaration of January 23 2025, the day Governor Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP as “Betrayal Day”. But Yusuf was not deterred.

The days ahead will be interesting in Kano politics, known for its volatility. How the Governor will cohabit with his predecessor and former antagonist, Abdullahi Ganduje, and how Kwankwaso will square up with the odd combination in APC, promise an exciting prospect.

In moving from the NNPP to the APC, Abba Yusuf was accompanied by 22 of 40 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, 8 Kano State members of the National Assembly and all of the 44 local Government Chairmen in the State.

His case was glaringly unlike his counterpart in River State, Siminalayi Fubara, a much more traumatized and stripped godson whose revolt was foretold. When Fubara left the People Democratic party (PDP) for the APC, he travelled alone. His lot has been that of a loner, having been stripped of any following from the onset. Fubara could not easily find a domestic staff answerable to him when he moved into the Government House. His own godfather is of the absolutist school.

The battle of the godfather and the godson in Rivers State crystalized very early as a zero-sum contest. Three years down the line, resolution is no nearer than on the first day. Matters seem finally to be coming to a dramatic head, though.    

The phenomenon of godfatherism in Nigerian politics reflects the impunity, greed and wilful disregard for the law, which characterize Nigerian politics. Matters were compounded by the judiciary abdicating its responsibility as a fair arbiter of constitutional contestations, the type that pitch former governors against serving governors.

Rabiu Kwankwaso and Nyesome Wike were former state governors. They ought to know better what the executive mandate of a governor implies. How anyone realistically expected that he will place another person on the seat of state governor and be dictating all his actions beggars comprehension.

The godfathers have not even shown any inclination to be flexible. There is no doubt that a 40-60 power sharing ratio in favour of the godfathers would definitely have spared the affected states the chaos and instability that trail the revolt of the godsons.

Now, that the foundation of Wike’s chutzpa has been shaken by the strong public statement from the presidency that he has been amply paid for his services in 2023 and should therefore, let Fubara be, he may now have to explore more civilized ways of living in peace with his neighbours in Port Harcourt. He may find better peace of mind thence.

It is possible in Wike’s case, that he looked at the ultimate godfather in the land, President Bola Tinubu, who determines even the buses that ply Lagos roads. But Rivers State is not Lagos State. Somehow, the stars align differently for people. As at the time Tinubu annexed Lagos and became an eternal potentate, no earlier governor of the state before him was alive or active. That aided the seizure.

In Rivers, two former governors, both Wike’s bosses at different times, are alive and well, functioning actively as veritable godfathers in their own right. Wike’s audacity to dare to bring Rivers State totally under his political control was bound to be problematic ab initio. Then there is his volubility and proclivity for absolute dominance. The model he may be coveting is more adept at manipulating while allowing those being manipulated a semblance of authority.

The revolt against godfathers is healthy for democracy in the country. If only the godsons of today prove steadfast and do not develop ideas tomorrow.