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Bello, Ododo, and the Energy of Loyalty in Nigerian Politics.
By Abdul Mohammed Lawal.
Loyalty in politics performs a key position in fostering belief and unity in management. It tells of a person’s dedication to a political occasion, chief, or trigger. In Nigeria, nonetheless, loyalty typically diverges from this ultimate, shaped as an alternative by energy struggles, private ambitions, and shifting alliances.
From the colonial period to the current day, political loyalty in Nigeria has developed underneath the affect of energy struggles and survival. For a lot of the political class, loyalty has develop into synonymous with private achieve fairly than a dedication to beliefs or values. Whereas politicians ceaselessly change events or break alliances, just a few notable cases have proven how real loyalty can profit the nation.
These successes, nonetheless, go away urgent questions unanswered: Does loyalty in Nigerian politics foster stability, or does it breed mediocrity? Can leaders steadiness loyalty to their allies with the necessity to prioritize nationwide pursuits?
This piece explores the influence of loyalty on governance, occasion politics, and public belief. It examines why loyalty in Nigerian politics can function a optimistic power fairly than a legal responsibility, with the success of His Excellencies Alhaji Yahaya Bello and Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo as a case research.
Let’s delve into historical past a bit!
Throughout colonial rule, loyalty was largely centered round ethnic and regional teams. Nigerian leaders sought to guard their communities’ pursuits within the face of British management. This sample continued after independence in 1960, with political alliances shaped alongside ethnic and regional strains. Leaders akin to Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Ahmadu Bello constructed followings primarily based on regional loyalty, which outlined early political events just like the Nationwide Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), the Motion Group (AG), and the Northern Individuals’s Congress (NPC).
The navy period (1966–1999) additional influenced the idea of political loyalty. Below navy rule, loyalty was typically enforced by way of worry and coercion, with leaders counting on trusted allies to keep up management. Political loyalty throughout this time was much less about ideology and extra about survival in a extremely unstable atmosphere. The period was outlined by “acceptance underneath the gun.”
Within the democratic period, loyalty shifted once more. The rise of influential figures who help and management politicians, grew to become a defining function of Nigerian politics. These godfathers count on absolute loyalty from their protégés in change for monetary and political backing. Whereas this method has helped many politicians rise to energy, it has additionally led to conflicts and betrayals when protégés really feel they’ve outgrown their mentors’ management.
The notable fallout between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar tells how loyalty can disintegrate when ambitions conflict. Equally, the dynamic between His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and Akinwunmi Ambode in Lagos exemplified these tensions, regardless of the state’s notable advantages from the godfather-protégé system.
However in all once more, loyalty typically helps to maintain relationships between politicians robust, particularly within the Nigerian system the place belief is proscribed and alliances are frequently examined.
In occasion politics, members are additionally anticipated to stay loyal to their political events and leaders. Nonetheless, this loyalty is characteristically shaky attributable to inside disagreements, management struggles, and private ambitions. More often than not, Nigerian politicians go away their events after they see higher possibilities of private success elsewhere, displaying that occasion loyalty is commonly primarily based on alternative fairly than precept.
These politicians overlook that their leaders construct these techniques rooted in ideologies designed for long-term implementation. When confronted with disloyalty and distrust, leaders prioritise trusted people for key positions, even when they don’t seem to be the preferred selections. Simply as Asiwaju demonstrated in Lagos that each workforce member is certified to steer, Bello has adopted the same path with Ododo in Kogi State.
In F-GYB’s Kogi State, loyalty in political alliances is grounded in long-term objectives and shared values. Many politicians who have been as soon as seen as decisive and initially offered short-term stability finally performed themselves out when their self-serving actions threatened the system that constructed them. The selection of Ododo as a gubernatorial candidate stands out as among the finest political choices in Kogi’s historical past.
Just like the wisest of educators will say, there was this endless battle between loyalty and competence in Nigerian politics. Many positions are crammed primarily based on loyalty fairly than benefit. Whereas this ensures belief, it typically leads to essential roles being occupied by people who lack the required abilities to carry out successfully. This apply can result in poor decision-making and inefficiency, however Yahaya Bello provided a distinct perspective on this narrative.
Whereas there have been persistent makes an attempt to create unfavorable perceptions about his selection of successor, Bello demonstrated a imaginative and prescient that went past loyalty by recognizing Ododo’s unusual dedication to service.
These assaults aimed to erode belief in authorities and frustrate progress, however as an alternative, they prompted individuals to ask questions and be taught extra about their new governor.
Below Ododo’s management, Kogi State has made vital progress, together with citizen and worker welfare, improved roads linking villages to cities, and youth coaching applications which have created job alternatives. His clear, people-focused management has additionally strengthened public belief, proving Bello’s knowledge in selecting a successor who really represents the “Reformed New Course.”
The final eleven months have undoubtedly been essentially the most spectacular begin any governor has had in governing Kogi State. This was “Bello’s dream.”
Whether or not explicitly said or not, loyalty offers stability and ensures that leaders can depend on their groups to attain their visions for a affluent Nigeria. With out loyalty, leaders could face resistance or sabotage from inside. Nonetheless, a robust ideological basis can stand up to such challenges and maintain a thriving political system. Lagos has demonstrated this repeatedly, and Kogi State is now on the same path, telling its personal story.
With clear values and long-term objectives, alliances could evolve and adapt, inching nearer to perfection. This stability has a optimistic influence on governance, occasion cohesion, and the nation’s total progress.
As a Kogite, do you continue to blame His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, for his selection of successor, His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo? Do you continue to imagine the choice was purely about loyalty, or was it a narrative of competence discovered within the camera-shy chief servant of the common Kogite?
I select to imagine within the “New Kogi State.” The place do you stand?
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