How Far Can ‘Calm Down’ Brand of Politics Go?

By Ike Abonyi.

“ _It’s better to be violent if there is violence in our hearts than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence_ ”-Mahatma Gandhi

The two operating English words ‘calm down’ leading our conversation this week, were made popular in Nigeria by a four-year-old boy, Oreofeoluwa Lawal who became an internet sensation in 2020 when he passionately pleaded with his mother in a viral video not to flog him with a whip in her hand for the wrong he acknowledged he did. “Mummy, calm down,” the boy pleaded with the mother in a way that showed strong feelings enough to drown his crime.

Since then, these two words have remained in common use in our society while pleading for mercy against wrongs. Most naughty pupils/students have often jokingly used it in trying to mollify the minds of the disciplinarian teachers in their various schools.

The issue settling and disarming words have even crept into the political space in a twisted form as injured victims in the polity are persuaded to calm down and not react violently to injuries done to them, but to take their grievances to the law court where justice is supposed to be delivered. Unlike in the young boy's instance, where the calm down plea is from the wrongdoer pleading to the person executing the punishment, in politics, the calm down is from the offender to his victim to endure the pain and not react violently. Even law courts where aggrieved are usually directed to, end up not giving any justice, resulting in no expected benefits to compensate for the person calming down.

After the 4 a .m bizarre announcement of the Presidential election on March 1st, 2023, the tension in the land was palpable. The then President and commander-in-chief, Muhammadu Buhari, sensing that what went wrong was capable of causing an explosion in the country he quickly appealed to the aggrieved to calm down and go to court. The supporters of ATIKU Abubakar and Peter Obi, the two front runners mostly hit by the electoral robbery, looked up to them for direction on what to do on the electoral thievery, but they agreed to calm down and approached the court in search of justice.

Even when the anticipated justice failed to come through the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court despite being inundated with overwhelming evidence, the people remained calm. That attitude has been interpreted by many political watchers to mean weakness, helplessness, and inability to react in the face of visible injuries. This also gave the ruling APC the impetus to deepen the injury knowing that nothing was going to happen.

The impression is strong that the inaction of the two main opposition parties, PDP and Labour Party in the face of multiple electoral slaps from APC in 2023, and the subsequent three off-season polls in Imo, Kogi, and Edo states has energized and emboldened them to do even more as already hinted and further underscored by the National Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.

After the 2023 controversial polls and the bizarre judgments from the various levels of the courts, it became very clear that those who calmed down gained nothing as they lost everything. The famous saying that civility costs nothing but buys everything does not apply to Nigerian politics. A patient dog in Nigerian politics never gets any bone talk-less the fattest.

All the judges and justices who delivered the bizarre election judgments got elevated, and the inglorious INEC Chairman and his group stayed unperturbed; nothing pricked their conscience as they continued their electoral malfeasance in the off-season elections in states. As already confirmed by the APC National Chairman, the same template will be applied in subsequent polls in Ondo state later in the year and Anambra state in 2025. This calm-down disposition has led the opposition party Governors, especially the first-term ones, to scamper to do business with the ruling APC because their party cannot save them, and if you cannot beat them, you have to join them. After Governor Godwin Obaseki’s do-or-die declaration and still getting the Ganduje treatment, who can survive the grab-and-run brand of politics?

Nigeria has, therefore, based on the empirical evidence from the three gubernatorial off-season elections, entered an era in her politics where a calm-down brand option is not viable. What has been adequately fertilized and is growing well is an era of brigands in politics. That’s why the likes of Nyesom Wike, Hope Uzodinma, Adams Oshiohmole, and the Kogi white lion  YAHAYA Bello are the stars of this era. Calm down politicians only win elections in the heart of the people, not on the ballot boxes or at the collation centers.

Even as two out of every three Nigerians desire that Tinubu and his APC party give way in the nation’s political life, the truth remains that a calm-down brand of politics cannot achieve that. If the people and the opposition desire to end APC’s misrule, they must devise a means outside the gentleman’s calm-down approach. After all, American polymath Benjamin Franklin encourages us to note that ‘rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God’, And former American President John F. Kennedy reminds us that those who make peaceful revolutions impossible will make violent revolutions inevitable. 

The continued iniquities of the INEC and judiciary leave no other option to the people to get things right. It has become clear that God treats politics as a game of two ambitious groups like in football. At the start of any game, each team prays for victory, and even those who would want to score with their hand or through an off-side system pray to God that they should not be seen by the referee or the VAR. At times, God looks away and allows the worst team to win fraudulently. So it is in politics, especially in the case of Nigeria.

As the opposition In Nigeria plays calm-down politics and is often in disarray, Tinubu and APC are digging deeper and deeper, setting the stage for more brigands. They have installed their choice Inspector General of Police breaking all the rules to enable his tenure to terminate in 2027, not a voice from the opposition was heard, the new Chief Justice of Nigeria of his choice who dethroned PDP in IMO state and made APC governor of IMO state from number four to number one position came for screening and she was asked patronizing questions by the PDP lawmakers. The new CJN is to retire in 2028, a year after 2027, the Head of DSS, and the NIA are all from the same ethnic group. The incoming INEC Chairman, who will continue the unfitting and indecorous job Mahmoud Yakubu will be leaving behind, is also likely coming from the same ethnic group.

Ahead of 2027, INEC, Police, DSS, Army, NIA, and Judiciary are to come from the same ethnic group as the President, and somebody is dreaming of winning the election with calm politics; how would it happen?

Let’s go and ask Godwin Obaseki, who started shouting the do-or-die election in Edo on the eve of the election when he sat down and watched his political enemies send their choice Resident Electoral Commissioner and the Police Commissioner to him but he failed to foresee. And they have been asked to go to the court where the seats of those to serve in judgment may have long been assigned.

Where civility in politics is encouraged is where respectful, courteous, and constructive dialogue, debate, and interaction among politicians, policymakers, and citizens exist or even when disagreeing is in practice, not where grab and run is the vogue.

In our country today, every effort is being put in place to portray those who play civil politics as weaklings and wailers who are bellyaching even when they have abundant evidence showing that the hearts and minds of the people are more with them. In Nigeria now, against the norm, popular politicians struggle in a confrontational political landscape.  

The fact that those having their way are not the ones wanted by the voting populace leads to dissatisfaction within the political system.  

How do we reverse this dangerous trend that is affecting voters' participation in democratic activities? To reverse this trend, it's essential to address the underlying issues driving distrust in politics. This includes promoting transparency, accountability, and civic engagement. We need to support politicians who play by the rule and we also need to advocate for systemic changes,  create a more inclusive and representative political environment, but the leaders must stand up to be counted as great political Generals who lead from the front, not from the rear.

Aggressive and violent-prone politicians often gain power due to a combination of factors like the exploitation of social dynamics, where they use emotional appeals to shared identities, such as  ethnicity, region or religion, to mobilize support. This can lead to a sense of group threat, triggering deep anger and a desire to defend one's identity.

What makes political brigands  like Wike and Oshiomole shine and emboldened to act with impunity in our climes is because of the poor law enforcement or biased institutions. In some instances, they deliberately provoke violence, knowing that they control security.

If democracy must develop in Nigeria, there must be a way to prevent aggressive and violent-prone politicians from gaining power, and to achieve that, it's essential to address the underlying social dynamics and institutional weaknesses. This includes promoting and encouraging cross-party dialogue and strengthening law enforcement and institutions. By doing so, we can create a more inclusive and peaceful political environment. For now and in the not-too-distant future, civility and calm-down brand of politics will not go far in approaching the elusive power being held by the brigands, desperados, and highwaymen. God help us.