Pastor Sam Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Centre, has explained why there is godfatherism in Nigerian politics.
According to him, it is because people leave office without wanting to leave office.
Appearing on Wednesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Adeyemi pointed out that Nigeria is faced with the challenge of constructing a democratic system on the foundation of a monarchical structure, which does not involve the practice of holding elections.
He said;
“What we need to bear in mind is that in the monarchical structure, you don’t have elections; you leave office when you die. We are now trying to build a democratic system on that foundation.
“So, people leave office without wanting to leave office, so we have this godfatherism and all of that. Whenever I look at leadership within the context of Africa, I come to the conclusion that the average African has the monarchical structure of leadership in our DNA.
“It produces the same result in the family, in businesses, in government, and even in our religious organisations—we treat our leaders like kings.”
He also noted that Nigeria is deeply divided along ethnic, religious, and political lines, which makes it challenging to foster a regenerative form of leadership.
Adeyemi said;
“We are polarised along ethnic lines, religious lines, and political lines, and that makes it easy for the kind of leadership that we have had to continue. We need a total change in the leadership system, and that’s why I emphasise a lot the leadership culture.
“At a collective level, we are on a dangerous path when it comes to leadership; you will just notice we’ve been producing the same results. I’m not that old but in the few decades I have spent in Nigeria and Africa, we’ve been producing the same results over and over again.”
