The Good, the Bad, and the Politically Correct (Discussions With My Father #6)

I yank the starter and the generator roars to life. I straighten up and amble over to the switchover inside the house. I'm not in a hurry – it’s Saturday, and I know from the couple of months I had spent so far at my parents' home in Gwagwalada, Abuja that there would be no programmes on the TV tonight, except for or preachy, Christian ones. Preparing the mind for Church tomorrow, I guess.

I flick the switch, head to the sitting room and turn on the TV. Just as I had predicted, the first channel I tune to is airing a pastor delivering a sermon. I sigh. I have no problems with these programmes, of course. It just seems to me that the more religious the country became, the higher its corruption and crime rates rose – a sharp contradiction to how things are meant to be.

Outside, I hear the sound of our gate opening and closing. It's my father, returning from a church event. Soon, he joins me in the sitting room.

“Good evening, father,” I say. “Welcome.”

He sits on his usual couch and gives me a small smile, his eyes twinkling the way they usually do whenever he has just returned from a particularly enjoyable church activity. “Thank you,” he replies. “Is your mother back?”

I shake my head. Mother also went for a program in our church, but I'm sure she will spend at least half an hour chatting with her friend before returning home. Like most Nigerians, my parents are both very religious.

Just then, the TV programme breaks to air a short advert clip. It's one of a set I truly enjoy, mainly due to the hilarious performance of Chika ‘Chief Zebrudaya' Okpala, announcing to the entire country that Aba, the economic capital of Abia State, is ‘back on track'. The clip, in one comedic scene, showcases the city's new roads and cleaner streets.

My mouth twists into a sarcastic smile. “Campaigns have begun,” I say to father.

He laughs in response. With the entire country gearing up for elections barely a year away, we both know that the true purpose of the advert is to show that the Governor and his party have done a great job in the state and therefore, deserve another term in office.

For Aba, it's actually a good strategy. For as long as I can remember, Abia state has been ridiculed for its terribly bad roads, dirty streets and markets. It was always a terrible experience traveling by road through the state as I done for years, going from Port Harcourt to Abuja. Recently though, my drivers had taken a different route, preferring to go through Enugu state and the dangerously meandering roads known as 9th mile instead. If the roads in Abia had indeed been repaired, then the Governor's performance was commendable and I really couldn’t complain.

“You know,” I muse. “The problem with Nigerian politics is not the presence of corruption – that happens in politics everywhere, someway or another. What makes it so bad here is that persons seem to go into office with the sole aim of embezzling funds, without actually getting anything done! And the annoying thing is, you can do the job well and still get your pockets full, if that’s what you want. In fact, if there are enough achievements, no one would even care. But no, here we embezzle funds not even our grandchildren could exhaust. It's so sad. Even students' politics is all about how much one can get into his pocket, and later, you'll hear complaints about the organisation's declining welfare.” I shake my head. “Does anyone still go into politics with good intentions?”

Father smiles ruefully. “In politics, there are no such things as good intentions,” he replies. “There is only the game. If you don’t like it, then you leave.”

I wrinkle my nose. “The whole thing is just rotten.”

“No,” father counters. “Politics itself isn't bad. As a matter of fact, it's quite necessary. What’s bad is the way the game is played here. Of course good persons still venture in, but it's very difficult to stay in the game when you have a pure heart. The pressure to change is tremendous. And if you don’t, your own colleagues and friends will conspire against you and kick you out, because you’ll be causing too much interference in their schemes. Ploys that need cooperation from your office will be hindered because of you, and they can’t have that. In fact, the things you’ll witness are enough to push you slowly but steadily over the line. And the things you might have to do to get into power in the first place --- the deals and alliances you must make – they alone are enough to discourage the good man.”

He takes off his glasses and shifts his weight on the couch, and I know he's about to tell a story.

“There is a friend of mine,” he begins…

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Click here for Part 2, to read the story of Father's friend!

'Discussions With My Father' will be available in a complete ebook from July 2nd!

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