By Michael .G
A psychological map of the Nigerian mind during election season captures an imagery of rioting colors for any careful observer.
I mean the careful observer who remains unaffected amidst the sensational headlines.
And why is this important?
Because making your way from one human activity to another from Streets, commute, social circles and corporate settings reveals one evident truth.
That sometimes and maybe most of the time we do not all want the same political outcomes.
Our emotions, preferences and silent wishes lie further afield from each other than we’d love to admit. As a result there’s never been a moral consensus large enough to save the nation.
The Nigerian mind has always been split into many tiny bits here and there all over the place.
Deep down we all feel at home in one of the following camps if truth be told as it should.
Power brokers: These are the 1%ers of society. Old hands and old boses who dangle their power and influence like a bunch of keys held up in the brightness of the sun. They grace our TV screens on occasion, for a little ego gratification now and again. A tactical approach in the African strong man politics of people domination.
Their expertise?
Winning elections.
By their sirens we know them.
Business interests: These are the quiet gentle giants of industry making a killing no matter the economic forecast, credit ratings or debt ceiling of the Nation. Mostly assured of quarterly earnings year after year they rule the corporate world like their private fiefdoms.
Civic action?
Not their thing.
Bare-knuckle enforcers: Tough, unyielding and unrepentant, these have been reared in dungeons of contested lordship, earning their stripes in an unbroken code of guts and glory. The flesh and bone people behind the area boy legend of the Nation. They are the unofficial youths of Nigeria. The “sons of the soil”. Community vanguards right at the base of local power structures nationwide.
Their job?
Election commerce.
The cocoon crowd: These are the middle class cool heads who wrap themselves in creature comforts from head to toe. They live in a make-believe Paradise as means to paper over the many cracks replete in affairs of state. Status conscious and tucked away in high scale neighborhoods, they’ve become the Nigerian ideal for millions.
Politics or elections?
Count them out.
The unpredictable currents: Making up a sizeable mass of the population, this group packs a punch that’s always felt right after elections. Uninformed and exploited, they are swayed in their hundreds and thousands to trample the hopes of a struggling Nation on election night. On short notice, election after election they swing things in any direction carelessly. For them campaign jingles are Christmas bells and election time is Christmas season loaded with free rides, free lunches and end of year sales.
Their mantra?
Grab what you can on election night.
Clannish patriots: For a nation administered along ethnocentric lines these are a mirror image of that system. A complex bunch in the Nigerian crowd. They are rooted in foundations older than the nation itself; the tribe. Their allegiance goes beyond the flag deep down into that herd instinct found mainly in wolf packs. They command a magnetic pull like no other.
Their style?
Answer the ethnic roll call.
The politically disinherited ones: At times guilty of wishful thinking and bad strategy and forever seeking an ideological home, this group eyes the fruits of nationhood regardless. The hopes and promise of democratic life, keeps them waiting and lurking at the edges of governance for a rare chance at leadership. As political outsiders, the feeling of being locked out of their own nation is unbearable so they persist.
Their goal?
Fair representation.
In conclusion, projecting your values onto anyone is akin to treating them like blank slates even if you both suffer government malfeasance.
But still, the naive reformer keeps making this mistake while been fooled again and again with a skill so well honed in Nigerian society. The act of mirroring. You see, the english language is borrowed tongue so over here many don’t speak it from the heart.
My point?
Many don’t mean what they say and don’t say what they mean. For example, among the populace there seems to be a common ground on issues with governance when people talk. But then at the same time, everyday behavior says otherwise almost always. Like, large swaths of people would moan about abuse of power while belonging to sections of society that hate checks placed on unbridled power.
For this reason, many friendships, partnerships and alliances happen to be just a melting pot of strange bedfellows. Where saboteurs thrive unnoticed within the ranks of genuinely good people. A strange relationship between those who feel we’re in this together and those who make them feel so.
In this part of the globe where the political Kingdom holds all the “keys” as we’ve come to believe – The searchlight hardly ever falls on the crowd and it’s many sections in such a revealing way.
P.S The goal here is not people bashing or vindictive characterization on my part.