The Francis Arthur Nzeribe phenomenon
By
F.A. Nzeribe is human, all too human after all. But journalists in this country have generally succumbed to the love of the marvellous and have presented the Oguta-born politician in a larger than life image. Of course, part of this process of mystification of Nzeribe can be attributed to the actions of the man himself. Yet, when considered from the perspective of dynamical human nature - in fact, adult human nature, is extremely plastic -his characterology is not as markedly different as the press would have us believe.
What are some of those activities of Nzeribe that have elicited the exciting but fuzzy appellation of "evil genius".Only a few of them can be noted here. Several years ago, Nzeribe made a fool of Muslim faithfuls in Nigeria when he failed to show up in Kano for his much advertised conversion to Islam. The politician, knowing the gravity of his action, must have had a very strong personal reason for his "April Fool" on Muslims. Nzeribe, since his foray into the murky, stinking waters of Nigerian politics, has embarked on "projects" whose usefulness to alleviating the existential problems of the poor and downtrodden is highly questionable.
In 1993, for instance, Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), an association formed by Nzeribe succeeded, with the diabolical assistance of the military government in power at that time, to truncate irredeemably the transition programme of retired General Babangida. It is on record that before the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections, ABN was in the forefront of campaigns for the extension of Babangida’s tenure by four years. Now, when the deceased Leviathan, Gen. Sani Abacha came to power, Nzeribe floated another association, Union of Democratically Elected Representatives of Nigeria, UDERN, which championed the call for Abacha’s self-succession, on the gratuitous assumption that Nigeria would turn upside down if Abacha did not succeed himself. At the moment, after tabling a motion for President Obasanjo’s impeachment a year ago, "the chameleon" has MONAC to work for the adoption of the incumbent president as the sole presidential candidate of the three inchoate political parties in 2003.
According to reports, Arthur lived as a child with some Irish Roman Catholic priests who trained him to become a reverend father. This situation has a number of important consequences in forming the characterology of Arthur Nzeribe. He must have been affected by the orderly, serene and regimented life of the priests. Arthur’s austere aura is partly a reflection of inherited traits and partly a reflection of the austere atmosphere in which he was brought up by the priests. As a child living with Irish clergymen, he could not have enjoyed the loving warmth of doting parents, particularly that of a mother. Thus, he grew up basically unloved. In such situations, the impression is created quite early in a child’s impressionable mind that the world "out there" is cold and uncaring and that one has to rely on oneself basically for survival. This creates psychological tension because children naturally want to be gay, joyous and spontaneous, "without a care to the world".
An interesting aspect of our politician’s character trait leaps into bold relief when one considers his opacity to morality in taking basic business and political decisions.
The restless character of Nzeribe which is the product of the internal psychological tensions in his dispositions and stern regimented upbringing is manifest in his political decisions. Nzeribe understands very well the unsettled chaotic nature of Nigerian politics, and uses it and the flawed legal and constitutional basis of our political philosophy of "chop I chop" to full effect. Why has Nzeribe, in spite of his seemingly bizarre actions, usually succeeded in actualizing his plans? Making allowances for the part played by happenstance in the affairs of men, it must be acknowledged that Nzeribe is a sharp witted strategist who understands the whimsical dynamics of political life in Nigeria.
As I suggested earlier, he is very adept in exploiting the loopholes in Nigeria’s legal and political system to achieve his purposes. More importantly, he knows full well that the major dramatis personae in Nigerian politics are fundamentally unprincipled, people who are willing to sell their souls to the devil if the price is right. With his keen insight into the hollow spiritual core of most prominent politicians, Nzeribe recognizes that in Nigeria politics "money is might, and might is right". For an outsider to the psychic make-up of Nzeribe, the politician is just a mischief maker whose "antics" can be dangerous sometimes.
Because of his restless cynical disposition, Nzeribe is virtually incapable of trusting anyone completely. I conjecture that he does not have what one may call a "true friend". His preference for hotels and inability to maintain a nuclear family in the conventional sense bear out my hypothesis. Nzeribe is not a man who can stomach for long the physical and psychological regimentation of conventional family life. His experience of regimentation as an orphan in the hands of Irish priests must have imbued in him right from childhood a strong aversion for restrictions attendant with conventional family life. Over the years, Nzeribe has created some kind of barrier around the dynamic processes of his ego such that it would take something very much like a religious experience to penetrate that very barrier. I would not be surprised if Nzeribe is a member of one (or more) of the esoteric societies devoted to spiritual engineering and "higher" knowledge in his quest to provide anchor for his restless ego.
In spite of the deep-seated psychological roots of the Arthur Nzeribe phenomenon, and of the fact that Nzeribe at 63 is almost completely set in his ways, one would wish that the Oguta-born politician can play down his cynical self-assurance and concentrate more on how to alleviate the sufferings of his people. For now, he has concentrated too much on using his manipulative intelligence to support powerful Nigerians whose leadership has worsened the degradation of the quality of life in Nigeria.
Nzeribe hardly ever supports his "projects" with arguments showing that the leaders he promotes have provided more food, shelter, better education and health care, etc. for the populace. His arguments are usually based on pragmatic and opportunistic considerations. Sometimes, too, the plausibility of his rationalizations depends on equivocations and forced analogies. A text book case is his recent volt-face on Obasanjo. Arthur Nzeribe had in April last year brought a motion to the Senate for Obasanjo’s impeachment. Presently, he is in the forefront for the latter’s second term, not because Obasanjo’s administration has improved the lives of suffering Nigerians, since his impeachment move, but, in his words, "one day is like a century in politics, politics is not static. It is dynamic and it is real ... (Obasanjo) is now a better president." The metaphor "one day is like a century in politics" suggests that unexpected events within a short time can alter political decisions and outcomes. But such decisions must be structured and consistent within a clear ideological framework, not ad hoc, in order to be intelligible. Put differently, Nzeribe’s metaphor is true of politics in countries like Nigeria where solid traditions, institutions and ideologies that inform political praxis are virtually nonexistent.
In more rational and mature democracies, politics is dynamic, but the dynamism is much more structured, focused and principled than what obtains in Nigeria. In Nigeria, as Nzeribe has clearly understood, "anything goes" in politics, so long as you have the money and are clever enough to exploit the lacunae in the legal system. And when Nzeribe says Obasanjo is a better president presently than he was last year, he must be using the word "better" in a sense known only to Nzeribe alone, because things have gone from bad to worse for most Nigerians since April last year till now.
Regarding the prediction that there would be problems in 2003 unless the incumbent continues in office, Nzeribe is probably right, because of the factions and ideologically comatose nature of the three political parties we have now. But should we acquiesce just like that? Afterall, predictions in socio-political phenomena merely indicate trends of impending events: they are not certainties. I believe that there are Nigerians better qualified than President Obasanjo to rule Nigeria at this time. Arthur Nzeribe can use his enormous wealth to support such people to offer themselves for service. However, it is much easier, and certainly more potentially rewarding to promote the cause of a non-performing incumbent president than to embark on the more tedious task of identifying and promoting better qualified Nigerians to run for 2003 presidential elections.
I know that Nzeribe is at liberty to spend his money the way he deems fit. But the ontological emptiness in his being can only be filled when he concentrates more on using his wealth and intelligence to help his people. He can award scholarships to his people, he can establish small and medium-sized industries to reduce unemployment in his home state. A man of Nzeribe’s intelligence and financial standing is a very big asset to Igbo people. The Francis Arthur Nzeribe phenomenon can be a veritable tool for the enhancement of Igboland if the man himself turns away from futile alienating political adventurism and focus on things that are more beneficial to the suffering masses of Igbo nation. The time for change, Chief F.A. Nzeribe, is now!
May 2003