Cabals & godfathers In Nigeria: Are they doing more harm than good to our country?

The act of political godfatherism can be defined as a situation where a more experienced individual usually a past public office holder takes on an incumbent or aspiring office holder under his wings and paves way for him to get his desired office which often involves him directing or running the affairs of that constituency, state or country he has been elected to rule. While a cabal refers to a group of elites usually senior citizens and past political office holders who select political candidates, help oversee the election process and partake in the overall running of the state or country. Cabals are often involved in just federal affairs because they are usually a group of a few godfathers who align together either because they have a similar parties or they just happen to move in the same circle.

The advent of political godfatherism in the Nigerian partisan politics dates back to the first republic when members of the three major political parties Northern peoples congress (NPC), Action Group (AG) and National Congress of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) subtly and carefully cultivated godsons whom they thought were most suitable for top positions. This method was handed down to the next generation of leaders and the next after that. Although its prevalent in Africa, the issue of political godfatherism exists in almost every part of the world and has been going on as far back as the mediaeval era. As it is done in monarchy, a king passes down his crown to his son or in some cases most deserving son but in elections, since it wasn't a family thing anymore, there was still a need for the outgoing sovereign to give some kind of approval or blessing to the incoming one. He is meant to receive certain royalties because he tell his experience and gives advice to the new ruler which helps in times of dilemma. Although they aren't as old as godfathers, Cabals also existed from way back. They were known as kibg makers of the kingdom. They existed in Persia, Rome and Athens. They were made up of past kings, nobles and knights who came together to decide the next person worthy of the mantle of leadership. As time went by, many other kingdoms and nations adopted the system, not only using them to install rulers but some used them for the influence and affluence they clearly had which they used to acquire wealth, defeat rituals from other kingdoms and support the economy of the nation or kingdoms to which they belong. We still have some of these cabals around the world although their activities are alot more discreet now. There's the Italian Mafia, Mexican Cartel, Russian Mob, Japanese Yakuza e.t.c.

Now we gotta ask, or should I rephrase by saying a lot have been asking if these godfathers and cabals are still necessary or are they just instilling fear in the minds of citizens through their never-ending sovereignty and control over public affairs. There's really no need to steadily have an elder figure showing an elected leader his left and right because anyone who is elected into office should be smart enough to run the affairs himself or at most set up an advisory committee rather than count on past leaders to keep enforcing their already failed strategies on the young blood. The aim of electing younger folk into offices to handle these tasks would be defeated if at the end of the day its still the older ones that run the show from behind the scenes. However, every decision or method has its advantages and disadvantages so this issue won't be an exception. Yes, I agree that the young leaders should be allowed to rule and given a chance to use their jet age, well advanced knowledge and technical know-how to tackle issues but at some point the elders would still be consulted for their opinions because it's been said that "what an elder sees while seated, a young person wouldn't see even if he climbs to the top of a hill". Hence the past leaders and elder statesmen can drop their 2¢ents on issues but like I said 2¢ which is clearly a small figure. No more running of the whole show!  The young won't learn if he/she isn't allowed to try new things, make mistakes and learn from them.