Political Virus
By Olaosebikan
Virus in politics is something that has gradually come of age. From a life described by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in their postulation on states, governments and governance, its origin has being short, nasty, and brutish. Politics, politic and politicking have evolved among mankind.
The issue however in this write- up is the virus dimension seeing the good, not too well and the ugly sides needing rectification.
The World and Politics today…
Precious time may not, for now, be spent on a storytelling about our world which has been estimated to be several millions of years old. Interestingly, the aspect of its governance or administration by mankind is worth examining. Even if the world is under the threat of some other forms of catastrophes, natural and man-made, spreading fast like virus nearly heralding to mankind the end of all things, the way of our politics and body politics should be looked into in the Literatures. Growing inequalities, neo-colonialism In the face of globalization, a world of one super-power state, world policing, economic instabilities and recessions, political lock jams, growing tension for change as well as political tsunamis enveloping some hitherto “domesticated – and docile worlds” like Arabian countries among others.
Many others are still in the pipeline though, not necessarily in similar versions. But basically, the quest for change by the people, self – determination, assertion, participatory government, better condition of living and the like are all indicators that a growing virus is spreading in the body politics of the nations of the world.
This is the virus bug spreading now. It is presumably good but equally accompanied by many other debacles.
The Virus: The Pin in the Ass now
If the virus now spreading is only of the positive changes of the participatory and universal democracy, constitutionalism, accountability and probity, equality before the law and respect for the dignity of the human person, welfare and improved standard of living, high level of literacy and many more, there will be no noise but the fact remains that everything is in the other way round.
Taking Nigeria as an example, it is saddening that Nigerian illiterates are among the highest in the world as attested to by various Literature and that the income per head and per day on the United States of America one dollar per day estimate in Nigeria is still low. The trillions of dollars netted by the country from black-gold sales over the years have not translated into good calorie intake for Nigerians. The energy crisis is no news again while the illiteracy rate keeps increasing due to many school drop-outs or early school leavers as Omolewa (1986) will prefer to call them.
The rate of unemployment is on the increase coupled with a high level of inflation amounting to stagflation. Uncertainty in the economy, loss of confidence in fiscal and financial regimes of the policymakers make the divides more compounded and everything moribund.
The Virus Manifest…..
When people can no longer bear it, they revolt. Evidently, Syria, Egypt, Libya among others is a good example at hand now. Peoples’ consciousness is being awakened derailing Paule Freire’s observation in the Literatures of people having been sunk into the “culture of silent Information and telecommunication superhighways”, it appears when people are ready for change, it will reflect in politics, economy, and the social-cultural aspects of life as it manifests among others. The die is cast and deeds done. Change is the only constant feature of life; it comes whenever it will, irrespective of lands and peoples. For body polities across the globe but more important in developing economies and states like Nigeria, the virus for positive change is being desired and quested by the people is mounting. It is unstoppable. The best thing to do is to fall in line and embrace it. However; we should all remember from the Literature that ‘those who make peaceful changes impossible make the other alternatives inevitable.
Author
