Geography of Godfatherism in Nigeria (II)
The expectation of immediate gain is, therefore, fundamentally informed by the shared perception of unstable democratic governance in Nigeria since independence in 1960.
Godfathers operate in the Nigerian polity with impunity because of their immense influence. For instance, Chris Uba, one of the self-styled godfathers in Nigeria's Fourth Republic, once boasted thus "I am the greatest godfather in Nigeria because this is the first time an individual single-handedly put in position every politician in the state".
In a value-conscious society, he would have been painstakingly interrogated and if found guilty of committing massive electoral fraud, be punished as prescribed by the 2001 Electoral Act. Painfully enough, Chris Uba was instead rewarded with appointment as a member of Board of Trustees of PDP for successfully pushing through all PDP candidates in Anambra State in the 2003 general election.
Nobody has ever interrogated him on how he allegedly violated the integrity of the electoral process in the state.
This fits into the theory that godfathers manipulate electoral process to have their anointed godsons in elective public offices in exchange for protection and patronage.
The phenomenon of godfatherism in Nigeria fits into what Richard Joseph persuasively described as "prebendal politics". Joseph attributed the prebendal nature of politics to the excessive premium on political power which makes Nigerians to take the most extreme measures to win and maintain political power.
Most Nigerians have unfaltering faith in the belief that political power holds the key to limitless resources in the land.
This belief was reinforced and consolidated during military rule, which was characterised by irrational and obsessive acquisition of wealth through brazen corrupt practices.
This indeed provides the overriding motivation for godfathers to aid godsons get into elective public offices and use them for self-enrichment and to shield them against the long arm of the law.
By geography of godfatherism, we are referring to those states in the Nigerian federal framework where the phenomenon of godfatherism is very pronounced and has consistently threatened law and order. We attempt to locate in specific terms, states where godfatherism has played critical role in the electoral process.
In doing this, we pay close attention to the varying patterns of this phenomenon in some of the states of the Nigerian federation.
Since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic in 1999, godfathers have emerged in some number of states of the federation.
Some of them have been in the field for a longer period than others.
We must, however, distinguish between godfathers that exercise overt influence and those that exercise covert influence over their godsons.
In Anambra state, for instance, successive godfathers have exercised overbearing influence over their political godsons.
Chinwoke Mbadinuju had the heavy burden of contending with Emeka Offor, who supported him to "win" the Anambra State governorship election in 1999.
The governor expended more energy and time allegedly struggling to free the resources of the state from the predatory grips of his godfather than attending to critical issues of governance. The conflict between the former governor and his estranged
godfather got so pronounced that it crippled the machinery of government in the state.
Consequently, the state under the Mbadinuju recorded gross deficit of democracy dividends and this generated widespread dissatisfaction with the performance of government of the state. The government was voted out in the 2003 general election.
Offor, Mbadinuju's godfather, is a contractor with Siemen phone company and is believed to have made his fortunes from there.
He was also one of the leading proponents of the self-succession agenda of the late General Sani Abacha, allegedly for a fee and other incentives. When in 2003 his party denied him ticket for second term, Mbadinuju sought and obtained the Alliance for Democracy ticket to contest for a second term but was floored in a brazenly rigged election by yet another godfather.
Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Dr. Chris Ngige, was supported by Chris Uba, who allegedly manipulated the electoral process in favour of his godson, who is far older than him.
Preceding the so-called election in Anambra State, Uba had allegedly negotiated the most sinister agreement with Ngige. Uba used his money influence to have his godson returned as the Governor of Anambra state.
No sooner was Uba's godson sworn in than trouble started over who should propose people for what offices in the state.
While Uba wanted the immediate enforcement of the terms of the mutually accepted agreement preceding the election, Ngige, perhaps, upon reflection, fought back to save the resources of the state for the common good of the people of Anambra State.
Chris Uba had wanted to have 10 of his cronies out of the 17 commissioners to be appointed by his godson. In addition, he proposed the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor and Chief of Staff. When the godson declined to yield to any of these demands, the godfather allegedly demanded N3 billion as compensation for financing the campaign of Ngige.
For the first time in the political history of Nigeria, a serving governor was abducted for nearly a whole day, but was reluctantly reinstated by a court order. Strangely enough, the abduction of the governor was facilitated by Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. Raphael Ige. The AIG was subsequently retired from service. The puzzle here is, whose command was late AIG Ige discharging? The governor had his security withdrawn and had to make a private arrangement for his security as long as he occupied Anambra State Government House, Awka.
Dr Ngige's election was later invalidated by an Election Petition Tribunal in Awka. The verdict of the tribunal was challenged by Ngige at the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal, after a painstaking review of the case, upheld the verdict of the tribunal, thereby sending Ngige out of Government
House, paving way for Peter Obi of All Progressive Grand Alliance to take over as the validly elected Governor of the state in 2005.
In Oyo, one of the South Western states, the godfather fell out with the godson allegedly on account of not being paid his appropriate due after having invested much to get him to Oyo State Government House. Chief Lamidi Adedibu, widely reputed as the strongman of Ibadan politics, accepted to play the role of a godfather to Lam Adesina in 1999 when the latter expressed interest in the governorship of the state. Adedibu allegedly used his vast experience in the art of rigging elections to return Adesina, who contested on the platform of Alliance for Democracy, as the governor of the state from 1999 to 2003.
Shortly after the swearing-in of Adesina, trouble erupted between him and his political godfather, Adedibu.
The governor expended the greater part of his time slugging it out with his estranged godfather, who probably felt short-changed by his godson. Even though the governor managed to complete his tenure of four years, the godfather denied him a second term in the 2003 general election.
Having discarded Adesina in 2003, Adedibu adopted Rashidi Ladoja as his new godson and anointed him. Ladoja, as the godson of Adedibu, sought and obtained the ticket of Peoples Democratic Party for the governorship election in Oyo state.
With the backing of the strong man of Ibadan politics, Ladoja was returned as the winner of the 2003 governorship election in Oyo state.
Adedibu started making some frivolous demands on the newly sworn-in governor of Oyo State.
The demands allegedly ranged from the inclusion of the godfather's cronies into the godson's cabinet, award of juicy contracts, to payment of huge sum of money on monthly basis. Ladoja felt he was losing his powers to Adedibu and decided to fight back.
The disagreement culminated in the "impeachment" of Ladoja, who had clearly become a political orphan. Adedibu's alleged grouse was that he was not getting enough returns from his investment and blamed this on his godson's uncanny greed.
The once cordial relationship soon degenerated and pit godfather and godson against each other and as usual, the godfather succeeded in relieving the governor of his coveted seat and put in a more pliant godson as Ladoja's successor. It puzzles one to note that Adedibu could determine, single handedly, the direction of Oyo politics.
Incontrovertibly, Oyo state is one of the few states in Nigeria with heavy concentration of well educated elite in the country, with Adedibu deciding on behalf of the people, who to govern.
In Borno State, the same scenario played out, where Governor Malla Kachallah, who was supported by his godfather, Modu Ali Sheriff, was ousted by the latter in the 2003 general election.
The godfather personally challenged his godson in a political contest. The Borno experience was an exception because godfathers would always want to cultivate surrogates because, as Jibrin argues, "they are either not directly saleable to voters or would want to protect themselves from liability should they later demand that the surrogates engage in illegal activities".
Sheriff, who contested against his godson, won the election in Borno.
As we have said in the preceding, Borno experience presents a unique scenario.
One possible explanation for this could be that the godson he cultivated in 1999 and supported to win election as governor of Borno State, failed to meet the expectations of the people in terms of delivery of dividends of democracy.
This below expectation rating might have made him unpopular among the people of the state.
In Kwara State, located in the North Central part of Nigeria and which is widely referred to as the Saraki dynasty, the phenomenon of godfatherism is deeply entrenched. Olusola Saraki, a medical doctor based in Lagos in the 1960s, had made so much money from medical practice.
He astutely used his wealth to cultivate the goodwill of the people of Kwara State by providing social infrastructure, which government was unable to provide.
This philanthropist gesture endeared him to the people of the state. This was to later translate into political capital for Saraki, who has been influencing the choice of governors for Kwara State since the Second Republic.
Indeed, hardly can any politician in the state contest and win election without maintaining any form of connection with Saraki. In 1999, he adopted Mohammed Lawal as his godson and made him a governor on the platform of the then All People Party (APP), which was later re-christened All Nigeria People Party (ANPP).
However, towards the twilight of his first term, a fundamental misunderstanding developed between the godson and the godfather.
The disagreement festered to such a point that anarchy was let loose in the state as 2003 election year was fast approaching.
Lawal lost out in the political fray between him and his erstwhile godfather.
In 2003, Saraki defected to People Democratic Party on which platform his son, a medical doctor, contested for the governorship.
Lawal became orphaned as a result of this development and consequently lost the governorship contest to Dr Bukola Saraki.
Even though there could be some peculiar regional patterns, the common denominator is that godfatherism negates the principle of electoral justice in Nigeria as the case of Anambra would vividly show.
The influence of Uba as political godfather in the 2003 governorship election in Anambra State robbed Obi of the All Progressive Grand Alliance of his victory initially.
It took a painstaking legal process to return the gubernatorial candidate of APGA as the validly elected governor of Anambra State.

•Gambo is a Senior Lecturer, Political Science Department, University of Jos.