Rethinking deification, gerontocracy and clientelism in the Nigerian political space

Abstract

Up until now, blanket respect, loyalty and veneration have been given to ancestors, living elders and godfathers in all cultures in Nigeria and their celebration in politics has become worrisome. These practices derive from deification, gerontocracy and clientelism. Most of the existing works in African anthropological studies written by cultural apologists have romanticised these socioreligious practices and found them sacrilegious but only a few connect them to democratic milieu of the 20 th and 21 st centuries. Thus, more than historicising and romanticising these socio-religious beliefs, this paper employs critical discourse analysis to confirm, legitimate, reproduce and challenge their power relation with the Nigerian people. This paper argues that dogmatic acceptance of the unquestionable powers of these phenomena negatively impact on societal well-being. The paper consequently submits that only a few of these past celebrated personalities should be recognised and respected and that only the living and the dead who are not self-serving and whose interests as well as conduct are not diametrically opposed to societal good, deserve veneration. It is suggested that we must free ourselves from avoidable hegemonic control of seen and unseen powers. Key words: ancestor, living elder, godfather, power relations, socio-religious practice Ate ao presente momento, o respeito superficial, a lealdade e veneracao sao dados aos ancestrais, anciaos vivos e padrinhos em todas culturas na Nigeria e a sua celebracao em politica tornou-se preocupante. Essas praticas derivam da deificacao, gerontocracia e clientelismo. A Maioria dos trabalhos existentes romantizaram essas praticas socio-religiosas e encontraram nelas sacrilegios, mas alguns destes se conectam ao meio social democratico. Assim, mais do que historiar e democratizar estas crencas socio-religiosas, este artigo faz uma analise critica do discurso para confirmar, legitimar, reproduzir e desafiar sua relacao de poder com o dominado. O estudo argumenta ainda que, a aceitacao dogmatica de poderes inquestionaveis desses fenomenos tệm impacto negativo no bem-estar social. O artigo, mostra tambem que apenas algumas personalidades celebradas cabem no espaco de reconhecimento e respeito que, somente, os viventes e os mortos que nao sao serventes de si proprios e cujos interesses assim como conduta nao sao diamentricamente opostos ao bem social bem venerado. E sugerido que nos nos devemos livrar do evitavel controlo hegemonico dos poderes visiveis e invisiveis. Palavras chave: ancestral, anciao vivo, padrinho, relacao de poder, pratica socio-religiosa Article in English