200 MILLION MUMU (PART 3)
POLITICAL AVARICIOUSNESS
“3rd term” is a rallying slogan during the last days of Chief Olusengun Obasanjo the President of the Federal Republic Nigeria in 2010/2011. After ruling the country for eight consecutive years, Obasanjo who is expected to honourably step down decided to move a very selfish motion of third term. If not that the motion was completely rejected by the members of the National Assembly and also fell on the negative side of many influential Nigerians, Obasanjo would have contested for the Presidency for the third consecutive time under the civilian government. Lagbaja seems to be less bothered by the insatiable greed of these political leaders which according to him, is a normal thing for them to be selfish. He wonders if the Nigerians calling these ones unfair are actually fair themselves. His emphasis is on the communal imprudence that is rummaging the rational faculties of the people by calling them 200 million mumu (fools). He decides to paint a more vivid picture of the impieties of our leaders.
The removal of subsidy and other acrimonious policies of the government precipitate an era of severe economic hardship across the nation. As this insolvency increases, the economic gap between the rich and the poor widens rapidly. Politicians are boastful of their fat bank accounts while many Nigerians are turning the slumps for remnants with which they can sustain themselves. Overtly, for an individual to hanker for third term in government as if it is his household property suggests a community where mobocracy and anarchism is the order of the day. He is being sarcastic to inform the “do or die” politicians that God will soon bless them with their desires in no time. No doubt he is being ironic with that kind of comment most likely to imply the exact opposite of what he says. No wonder is it is said that “power corrupt power and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
SOCIAL RECKLESSNESS
Nigeria is rich in natural and human resources but the exploitative tendencies of the leaders and the cooperative recklessness of the people have aided the rapid decline of our society. According to Lagbaja, Nigerians seem to be untroubled with the avariciousness of their leaders even when what is naturally theirs are being misappropriated to foster private aspirations. Hauling some scatological satires at the Nigerian population, he believes that no matter how extreme the looting becomes, the people will still be as dogmatic as ever in their approach to things. It is pitiable that the government of our country is constituted by, rogues, kleptomaniacs, murderers, liars etc. and these ones divide among themselves the national treasures. The politicians therefore, find Nigeria as a fertile ground where looting is unimaginably easy. He parodizes the ecstasy with which the political leaders pilfer the citizens’ pensions, oil wealth, and agricultural dividends. Accentuating the porosity and permeability of Nigerian national account which is at the mercy of these addicted bandits, Lagbaja regrets the mutual idiocy that has eaten into the way of life of Nigerians.
It is assumed, just like what Karl Marx and Fredrick Engel proposed in Marxism, that as the marginalization between the proletariats and the bourgeoisies widens, the oppressed class will be compelled to revolt and overthrow the oppressors. However, this is not the case in Nigeria. No matter how appalling the situations of the country may be, Nigerians are at loose end in the place of self determination and are very malleable to the wiles of the sneaky politicians.
Lagbaja then turns to scrutinize the prevalent political tradition of nepotism. This implies the form of political bias and prejudice against those that are not connected to you and a preferential treatment for ones kinsmen. It is a conventional practice in Nigeria politics that a leader seeks to install his successors especially from the members of his consanguinity which is a total disregard for the people’s electoral power of choice. He depicts this by stating:
He critiques the shameless tradition of cartelization whereby the political patricians do not only plunder the nation but also ensure that the system of looting is handed over to the successive generation for continues misappropriation. Political power appears to revolve around close circles of associates and families in which they gratify their insatiable thirst for wealth with obvious impunity. Nevertheless, they will come out to present insensible speeches obscured by linguistic complexities which the average Nigerian cannot comprehend. Manifestoes, as well as, political addresses should be a platform to express the worries and concerns of the electorates rather than to impress them with high-sounding words that are irrelevant. He calls this linguistic narcissism “ito” (saliva) which is to point attention to the worthlessness of many political speeches. In fact, our leaders take pride in their international popularity as if knowing some international successful figures was enough to guarantee their own efficacy. Knowing such global icons like Toni Blair, Clinton and Bush Junior should have ensured some positive character formation in the Nigerians politicians in which the happiness and progress of humanity should be a top priority. However, reverse is the case. Lagbaja states:
If they maintain such social cliques with lauded men who have contributed immensely to the advancement of their respective countries, the artist wonders why they are not imitating their western counterparts in their own countries. Nigeria is, of course, an active member of the United Nations and African Union which accord our leaders the opportunity of relating with great leaders from the first world countries. It is then unfortunate that our leaders are not motivated to emulate these leaders but are rather bent to remain strong custodians of the system of looting. They are concerned first about the size of their own pockets and not the wellbeing of their people. They confine themselves in the palatial mansions of the Government Reserved Areas where they enjoy 24 hours uninterrupted power supply while the other parts of the country are in total blackout forcing many foreign investors to relocate to other neighbouring nations. They fly in expensive aircrafts across the length and breadth of the country while potholes of neglected roads are claiming several promising lives. They drink highly sedated water while our rivers are being polluted by the intoxications of oil spillages which have endangered lives of men and marine animals. At every slight indication of ailments, they are flown abroad to be treated by the best physicians in the world while our medical sector is totally underdeveloped. This intrinsic selfishness is the modern-day tragedy that Lagbaja tries to criticize. Nevertheless, he ponders how Nigerians are responding to this concentrated wickedness thus:
The word “rape,” “kill,” and “assassinate” in the above extract has specific literary implications which are to codify the terrible heartlessness of Nigerian leaders. Nigerians are subjugated to several forms of hardship as a means of gratifying the greed of our leaders. They try to maximize every opportunity to plunder the country with little or no attention to how painful this affects the people. The tradition of political intolerance and misappropriation of public funds is visible even to the international audience. However, the question is still what are Nigerians doing to redeem the country from swampland of anarchism? The artist, at this juncture, identifies some of the unproductive responses of Nigerians to the culpabilities of the leaders. They express their grievances on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. The radio and the television stations provide them the platforms to also express their disagreements and analyze the obnoxious policies of the leaders. Scholars and academics also resort to political criticism and critical essays as a means of unraveling the menaces ravaging our peaceful and progressive existence. Lagbaja castigates the ineffectiveness of these responses due to the fact that they have not actually accomplished their desired goals. Despite the many internet ranting, radio and television interviews, and political criticism, the state of things in the country is still as stagnate as ever and the system of corruption is still very much alive as ever. He believes that Nigeria is unprogressive because of the shared foolishness running through the vein of most citizens.
SUGGESTED REMEDIES
Moreover, he suggests some steps which he believes are relevant to the redemption of our society from the malady of failed leadership. He believes that except godliness is restored into the psyche of Nigerians and we predicate our activities on the basis of truth and integrity, we will forever wander within the vicious circle of devastation. According to his view in part one, he mentions:
The question at this point is not the genuineness of this suggestion but its feasibility. If the only way out is a nationwide revival of moral values and a resuscitation of our spiritual consciousness, it will take a miracle to happen considering the religious diversity, large population and traditional differences of the country.
Another way out he proffers is that of revolutionary movement of the electorates to overthrow the political oppressors. This is implied when he says:
Although Lagbaja has some points here but how practical is a national protest. How will Nigerians be incited all at once to revolt against the system of tyranny? As that ever happened in any country in the history of humanity? Lagbaja concludes on a sober note with a reflective question thus:
He envisions a time in the future when things might have totally gone out of hands in such a way that the shamefulness of our political system can no longer be hidden or managed. He wonders what explanation will be given to posterity and what excuses will be given to our children if we are asked. Are we going to give them the sad intelligence that things have gone so awry because of our collective recklessness and shared imprudence?
In conclusion, it is obvious that Lagbaja has been able to identify the various roles played by the citizens which have directly or indirectly aided the continuity of the system of corruption. Although he admits that the leaders are selfish, he nevertheless criticizes the electorate for the communal moral decadence which is leading us further into depression.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page I-II
Certification III
Dedication IV
Acknowledgements V
Abstract VI
Table of Contents VII-XI
Music, Literature and Society 1-4
CHAPTER TWO
SECTION ONE
Music as A Means of Entertainment 16
Music as A Means of Education 17
Music as an Instrument of Socio-Political Criticism 18-19
SECTION TWO
SECTION THREE
CHAPTER THREE: THE THEMATIC APPRAISAL OF 9ICE’S AND ASA’S SONGS
A Critical Appraisal Of 9ice’s Musical Style 32-34
PETEPETE
Post-Colonial Disillusionment 35-36
Social Recklessness and Its Effects 37-38
THERE IS FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
Political Instability and Insecurity 43-45
Cultural and Moral Decadence 47-48
IYA NI
Sociopolitical Servitude 51-52
CHAPTER FOUR: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LAGBAJA’S SONGS
An Appraisal of Lagbaja Musical Style 53-54
The Roles of the Citizens in a System of Corruption 55-57
Relevance of His Masked Tradition 57-58
Criticism of the Social Culture of Scapegoatism 58-60
Restoration of Moral Values as the Way Forward 60-61
200 MILLION MUMU (PART THREE)
Political Avariciousness 62-63
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion 69-70
Recommendations 71
Works Cited 71-74
Appendices 75-83WORKS CITED
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