Sacred cows and yellow cards

Sacred cows and yellow cards: how the nation is held hostage

Have you ever wondered what the color "yellow" represents? Yellow is the middle passage in the affairs of things. It is the "to-be-or-not-to-be" in the evolution of events. According to Sven Tito Achen in his definitive book "Symbols Around Us" (1981), "The dual and contradicting symbolism of yellow is connected with the fact that both the sun and gall are that color. Strangely enough, the latter seems to have made the greater impact. The ancient Greeks believed that a person's humor, character, and personality depended on body fluids. Important among these was gall. An excess of gall was the principal reason why people became choleric (the word means "having too much gall"). This in turn led to a number of other adverse characteristics, it was thought. The theory of "the temperaments" was a significant factor in the Middle Ages. The yellowness of gall came to symbolize envy and jealousy, spite, malice, guile, deceit, heresy, faithlessness, treachery, and several other forms of infamy or wickedness. Yellow became a mark of disgrace, badge of ignominy. Impostors, perjurers, and false witnesses were condemned to wear yellow hats. In art, Judas, the arch traitor, was portrayed wearing a yellow cloak; Synogoga, the personification of Jewry, likewise. In 1215 the Church decreed that Jews should wear a yellow badge. Some seven centuries later, Hitler did the same. Yellow was the color of prostitution and more recently would seem to have carried a veiled allusion to homosexuality. In English-speaking countries "yellow" is synonymous with cowardice.

Yet, none of this can conceal the fact that the sun and gold are yellow (the two words have the same root). Yellow stood for the king of metals, for wealth and splendor, as well as for the light of the world, for glory and sanctity. In classical times, yellow was the color of the sun god Apollo, and today (with white) it is the Pope's color. Yellow stands for divinity and royalty and, from these, generosity, magnanimity, nobility, and wisdom. So, it was with the white race, and it is little wonder that yellow enjoyed at least as much respect with yellow people. In China yellow was the most distinguished of all colors, in certain periods reserved to the emperor. He alone was allowed to wear the color."

Consider, however, that in the hurly-burly world of today, wherever yellow appears, it is a prelude to downtime happenstance. For instance "yellow traffic signal" is a warning of an impending "red light" that traffic must either cross immediately, prepare to stop, or stop dead. To ignore yellow light is to tangle with trouble. The trouble could be expensive, if not fatal. In the same token, when a referee in a football (soccer) game "shows the yellow card" to a player, that player, upon a second yellow card, was next to ejection from the game.

Nowhere is a "yellow card" more devastatingly used as in politics. It is the deadly weapon of ruthless political operatives. In Nigeria, for instance, it is the perpetual Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of many in public office; it rules the world like a monarch with the power of life and death. If you have wondered why there are so many "sacred cows" in Nigeria, in politics, military, civil service, etc., cease wondering. This is because of the power of the deadly arsenal of "yellow cards" that sacred cows wield in society, by threatening those who attempt to step on their toes.

To become a dreaded political operative, military or civilian (the word in Nigeria is "political stalwart" or "political chieftain") with a sacred cow status, one must have engaged in a wide-ranging research to unearth the secrets of fellow political sojourners, especially those at the helm of affairs like the president, governor, local government chairman, and anybody else in authority. Everyone of these officials, without exception, has ugly skeletons in their cupboards. They will give a leg and an arm to keep their secrets secret, especially if there are documented evidence like photographs, signatures, tape recordings, etc. Such skeletons include evidence of secret foreign accounts, criminal records of years ago, photographs in a compromised position with a wife or wives of well known persons, forged educational record, foreign record of criminal nature, shady business deals, membership in secret and clandestine cult organizations, birth secrets, murders, prison records, etc.

Political yellow card operatives are the quintessential smooth operators. They reveal their weapon to their victim in what they deceitfully refer to as "courtesy visit." This visit, they will insist, must be held behind closed doors and only between the operator and his unsuspecting victim. The smooth operator makes his victim to believe that he was there to "protect" him, while in reality surreptitiously installing himself a leech in the bloodstream of his "host." He is there, he says, to advise him regarding a grave danger that his victim is facing, and to see what could be done to avert it. He then reveals his blackmail documents and his victim is black and blue. He misses a couple heartbeats, and perspiring profusely. The operator knows that his victim is now in his net, and proceeds to lay on him the blackmail trigger by assuring him that he has "managed" to contain the situation for now. He assures his victim that he has extracted assurances from those who gave him the documents that they will not reveal the secret to other people, including their wives, of course. His victim is full of gratitude and promises to "cooperate." From that time on the office holder is a zombie in office and incapable of being his own man for ever.

Of course, the mission of the yellow card operator is threefold: to overawe his victim; to secure sacred cow status for himself; to hang a Sword of Damocles over the head of his victim. Thus, if a politician, with great bravado and braggadocio, during an election campaign boasts that "there will be no sacred cows," he soon realizes, upon taking office how naive he was. Should he ever try to step out of line thereafter, he will get instant "yellow card message" which consequence will be unmistakable. If he values his job and name, it is time to beat a retreat. This scenario is playing out in Nigeria, even as we speak. Babangida, like J.Edgar Hoover, former CIA director, is the master of "yellow card game" and he plays it with deadly effect. If you didn't have secrets, Babangida will create one for you after he must have "settled" you and thereby placed a yellow card trigger on you.

However, the picture is not as straightforward as it is painted here. A Nigerian political operator is as cunning as a fox. It is difficult to ditch him. This is because whatever his opponent has on him, he too may have or two on his opponent. It is a symbiotic relationship; a Catch 22 tango. It is like the animal called "Ikiri" when it is caught in a trap, it turns around and holds the trap, they engage in a classic game of survival to see who will blink first. Godwin Daboh of Benue State put it rather starkly to Joseph Tarka, his erstwhile Nemesis: "if you tarka me, I'll daboh you." Theophilous Danjuma put a different twist to it: "if Obasanjo is not president, I'll leave the country."

Consider that almost all Nigerian heads of state, governors, and all those who worked with them left office unceremoniously. They left behind, secrets they rather would have cleaned out had they left ceremoniously. Abubakar, the late prime minister of Nigeria was killed in the middle of the night in the first military coup d'etat in Nigeria. He had no time to shred secrets or remove whatever he did not wished known by others. Aguiyi Ironsi, who succeeded him captured those secrets in tact. In turn, Aguiyi Ironsi was murdered by Theophilus Danjuma and Gowon took over his office and captured both Aguiyi Ironsi and Abubakar's secrets. Gowon was overthrown in his absence by Muritala Mohammed, who captured Gowon's office in tact, secrets and all. Mohammed was in turn killed and Obasanjo captured his secrets. Obasanjo broke the circle by being the only one to relinquish office ceremoniously and was able to clean out his secrets, yet a lot of it was known by his colleagues. Shagari had the same unceremonious departure from office, except that he was lucky to be spared his life by Buhari who captured his secrets and the secrets of others which Shagari kept. Buhari was overthrown by Babangida and captured his and those before him in tact. Babangida may have, like Obasanjo left office with ample time to shred all secrets, but many of his misdeeds stick out a mile. Abacha's life was switched off by sudden death and Abubakar II captured his secrets.

So, it has been, a veritable musical chair and a festival of secrets between and betwixt everyone who had ever served in office since Abubakar I, thus creating a multiplication of yellow cards in the arsenal of rampaging political operators or operatives who hold sway the affairs of the nation. This scenario is playing out right now in the present administration. Omo Omoruyi demanded "Obasanjo should tell the nation what secret pact he entered into with Babangida and the North." Prince Okogwu of Asaba categorically stated "Obasanjo, Babangida, the generals, the North, and the political parties had a secret pack." In most Nigerian states, governors are held to ransom and local government chairmen are being daily harassed by their "sponsors." A classic wool was pulled across the eyes of a nation of "blind men and women" as Obasanjo looked the nation in the eye and said "if you see Babangida's loots, show me, if I don't do something about it, no say no be Obasanjo born me." Here we don't know if the nation and Obasanjo are seeing the same things, like Babangida's multi-million dollar house, or not.

It calls for a crack, hard-nosed investigative writer who can unearth in an epic publication and movie, a web of political intrigues, blackmail (deck of yellow cards), double crossings, dirty tricks, international money laundering and transfers, massive property buy-ups in foreign countries, contract swindles, illicit sex, adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, cultism, murder, racketeering, drug dealings, assassinations, plots and counter plots, espionage, scams in high places, pen robbery, bank liquidations, embezzlements, frauds, etc. that are going on among Nigerian political operatives and their use of a mountain of deck of "yellow cards" that accompany them which harbor a sordid subterranean Nigerian underworld phenomenon. These questions must be asked and answered: Who bankrolled whose elections? What secret deals did presidential, gubernatorial and local government chairmen candidates get into in order to be elected? Who is in the pocket of who? Who is blackmailing who? Who are those remote-controlling the treasury? Why are the Nigerian people short-changed and the nation destabilized, because of these secret deals? Why are sacred cows flashing their "yellow cards" right, left and center? Why are development and progress held up? Nigerians want to know. The world wants to know why a nation richly endowed with every imaginable human and natural resources, has been held hostage and rendered prostate. If Nigerian writers cannot do the job, then let foreign writers unsheath their pens and get into journalistic geology in Nigeria.

As Wole Soyinka said: "the time for sideline commentary and analysis should give way to hands-on involvement", so that, as the Igbo would say "we find out how water got into the stem-pipe of ugbogiri vegetable." The story may be more gory than "The Godfather" or "Al Capone" or even The Scarlet Pimpernel and all such underworld epics." Wole Soyinka, in a moment of fleeting triumph declared: "if we cannot hang them on the next lamp post, I can at least hang them on stage." His latest play "King Baabu" may very well point the way to this inevitable landmark story in book and movie.

Ogaranya Uju Nkwocha Afulezi, Ph.D.

Duru Akwukwo III of Umuohiagu