FROM NOLLYWOOD TO BENDED KNEES
Media personality Rufai Oseni criticised Desmond Elliot’s viral kneeling video as an example of what he called the ‘politics of lickers’ in Nigeria. I strongly agree with him.
What we saw in that video is not just about Desmond Elliot. It exposes something much deeper and more disturbing about the way politics works in Nigeria.
I have always believed that part of our problem is the electoral system itself. In a system where elections are genuinely free, fair and credible, a politician’s greatest asset should be his record and the confidence of the people. If you have performed well, why should you need to worship a political godfather to secure another term?
Unfortunately, our politics often works differently.
Instead of returning to the people with a record of what they have achieved, politicians are sometimes compelled to maintain relationships with those who control the political machinery. You can win the people’s votes today and still discover that your political future depends on someone sitting in an office somewhere.
That is what makes the Desmond Elliot episode so uncomfortable.
Who would have thought that a popular Nollywood actor, a familiar face to millions of Nigerians, would one day be seen on his knees, apparently not acting, but pleading before a powerful political figure? Whatever the circumstances behind the video, the image is difficult to ignore.
And that is precisely why I find it disturbing — not merely because of Elliot, but because of what the image says about our politics.
An elected representative should derive his authority primarily from the people. His strongest argument for returning to office should be his performance, not his ability to remain in the good books of a political heavyweight.
Imagine a system where a lawmaker could simply say, ‘Judge me by what I have done for my constituents.’ If the system were credible and the people truly had the final say, competence would matter more than godfatherism.
But when political survival depends on pleasing powerful individuals, dignity can become the first casualty.
This is why fixing Nigeria’s electoral system is so important. We cannot keep pretending that changing politicians alone will solve the problem. If the system remains vulnerable to manipulation and political control, the same culture will continue to reproduce itself.
I am not interested in mocking Desmond Elliot. What troubles me is the system that can put an elected public official in a position where he apparently feels compelled to kneel before another politician.
That should concern all of us.
Because the moment an elected representative becomes more accountable to a godfather than to the people who elected him, something fundamental has gone wrong. We may still have elections, political parties and elected offices but the spirit of representative democracy is already being compromised.
A democracy where politicians must kneel before godfathers to remain politically relevant is a democracy that desperately needs fixing.
Okiwelu Azed P. writes from Asaba.
