An emergent feature of political parties and by extension politics in Nigeria is the phenomenon of godfatherism. As a result of the political class’s corruption of the electoral process and governmental structures, electoral politics and state power are skewed towards satisfying the self-serving interests of the dominant political mentors otherwise known as ‘political godfathers’. Relying on their wealth, they secure party nomination for candidates of their choice, sponsor their election, including manipulating the electoral process.
This scenario which has been part and parcel of politics in Nigeria since independence reared its ugly head once more in the just concluded party primaries in Anambra State. Careful review of the processes that led to the emergence of candidates point to the direction of favoured aspirants being declared winners of the polls at the detriment of more qualified aspirants. This cuts across all the parties.
For instance, Dr. Chris Ngige, the flag bearer of All Progressives Congress, APC, was fostered on the party by Senator Bola Tinubu, the undoubted imperial leader and godfather of the party. Mr. William Obiano, the winner of the All Progressives Grand Allaince, APGA, is a well-known ally of Mr. Peter Obi, the state governor. Obiano was a former staff of Fidelity Bank Plc, a financial institution largely owned and controlled by Peter Obi. Obiano was prevailed upon by Obi to resign his plum job as Executive Director of the bank to contest for the APGA gubernatorial ticket. The manner in which he got the party’s endorsement is less than transparent, if not to say manipulated. In the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Tony Nwoye is highly regarded as the preferred and chosen candidate of the PDP national chairman, Bamanga Tukur. The continuous insistence of the party leadership on his candidature despite court injunction has become a course for concern. This is despite the fact that there are other qualified persons for the post.
The Labour Party candidate, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, even with little education, and smattering English, was ‘unanimously’ chosen by the party chairman at a make-belief primary in Awka last Wednesday. Reliable information has it that two other aspirants were disqualified to pave way for Ubah’s emergence, but not without some ‘settlement’. Other political parties are not exempted from this malaise. But where does this leave the electorate in Anambra State?
Suffice it to say that in present day Nigeria, god-fatherism is one word that opens narrow doors when it comes to deciding who gets what in the political scene, including appointments to public offices. But the danger is that it mars the chances of potential candidates in any given contest. In fact, the concept of godfatherism is gradually establishing itself as a guiding principle in contemporary Nigerian politics. The concept has even extended to women who have begun to have godmothers playing similar roles among the female gender as the men.
The concept of godfatherism has its origin in Christianity. However, the term became popular following the film “THE GODFATHER” directed by Francis COPPOLA. The film debased the original meaning of the term but the Nigerian political scene has taken the term deeper.
Ordinarily, godfathers are seen in Nigeria to be men who have the personal power to determine both who gets nominated to contest elections and who wins. The political godfather phenomenon is not new in Nigeria. It started during the First Republic when the forefathers of the nation (Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa-Balewa, Ahmadu Bello amongst others) influenced and controlled political activities in Nigeria.
However, there are lots of differences between the ideological godfatherism of the First Republic and the crude form that is currently in place in Nigeria. The series of political imbroglio experienced in some states of the country has exposed the negative impacts of crude political godfatherism in Nigerian politics.
Like other forms of political corruption, it is a big threat to Nigeria’s democracy because it prevents people from participating unfettered in the political process. This problem is one of the biggest challenges that should be resolved for sustainability of democracy in Nigeria. There is no other time to stop this anomaly other than now