By Joseph Suleiman (Manjoe)
“What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse” – Isabel Allende
There are two powerful things that mortals cannot handle correctly without grace: money and power. These two things do not confer humility on those who have them. I heard a folktale of a swine who was dressed by the owner with fine clothes and golden chain around the neck. It became proud and arrogant, and a passer-by saw it and rebuked it to be humble, the swine fired back and thunder,
“With all these on me I can’t be humble!” Those who have money seek power in order to have dominion over men and those who have power engage in primitive accumulation in order to subdue men under them, and to feed from them.
Thus if one is fortunate to have the two, there is always the tendency to play god. And playing god can be influenced by two factors:
(i) The desire to upgrade one’s ego, to assume that one is not ordinary but special in some respects different from others by privilege of position.
(ii) Devotion to an imaginary idealized self-image of deity in the affairs of men.
While people of low education and low economic status easily submit to men and women of power who are tempted to play god, educated people and men and women of modest means may strive to keep their honour and dignity and draw a distinction between fallible mortal and the infallible deity. This explains why most political leaders do not always want enlightened people around them.
This scenario is the crux of the Senator Natasha-Senate President Akpabio face-off.
Distinguished Senator Natasha is in the enviable class of the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Oby Ezekwesili, Okonjo Iwela, Aisha Yesufu etc., they are not ass-kissers. They have guts to stand up to men when it comes to cerebral issues and right to dignity of human person no matter the lures of privileges. These are women who dare valiantly to stand where men sometimes fear to tread.
Women who earned their reputations do not often bow at the altar of Baals and opportunistic leadership. Women who break barriers to earn their position are
different from those who are opportunists.
Senator Natasha, for example, emerged as a senator through the fiery furnace of persecution and afflictions. Such a character cannot easily submit to opportunistic men who want to play god with leadership. This kind of battle is not new to Natasha. My only worry is the unjust system we operate and the likely conspiracy of men in the upper chamber to see this fight as male versus female supremacy. I heard that her matter has been referred to the
Ethics and Privilege Committee of the Senate.
I personally don’t have issue with
that for according to Louise Slaughter, “The house cannot function without an open, accountable and independent ethics process…” but the manipulation of that process by the majority is an abuse of power that must not be allowed to stand in this case.
Let us not forget that Natasha emerged a senator from an opposition party that is
today enmeshed in a battle of survival with a party in power that is intolerant of dissenting voice.
Therefore, the senator needs all the support from her constituency and the minority bloc. So far she has represented her constituency so well to deserve an unsolicited support from all and sundry.
This support is imperative given the fact that justice is always in favour of men in power. Her constituency must insist on fair hearing and justice, and demand it as of right.
Already the upper chamber has given an induced vote of confidence on the Senate President; they have also sponsored Ethnic street urchins to demonstrate in support of the Senate President as if the issue has anything to do with ethnicity.
This is not a Natasha fight but a fight that all lovers of freedom of speech and true democracy must get involved so that this democracy may accommodate voice of dissent.
It was Rich Wilson who asserted that, “when authority is total, so too is the madness of the man who declares it, and the potential for abuse of power”. One would have expected the Senate President who once suffered the same change of seat to take it easy with Senator Natasha and accord her same respect he enjoyed under Senator Saraki’s senate leadership when
his seat was then relocated.
We must not allow anyone play god on our common destiny. Until learn to treat others as we will like them to treat us there will always be resistance and crisis.
Joseph Suleiman is an Ex-President-General of Ebira Youth Congress (EYC)
