Originally written by Prisca Sam-Duru and published in Saturday Vanguard
In Nigeria, events leading up to the 2027 general elections are already disgustingly disappointing. Politicians’ dance of shame laced with the unsatisfactory acts of the electoral umpire, INEC, and the three arms of government have been most blatant.
Recently, news about one honourable who distributed four-week-old cockerels to widows and other women in his constituency went viral on social media platforms.
Although the gesture was carried out with the pretense of a poultry empowerment project aimed at bolstering small-scale farming for women, everyone knows it was one of those political empowerment strategies Nigerian politicians employ to buy the hearts of voters before any general elections. The timing of that gift speaks volume!
That honourable may have served his people well but assuming he hasn’t, irrespective of whatever evil he had done, or how much he failed to deliver on his campaign promises, those cockerels are like hooks to the women’s necks; they must vote for their ‘benefactor’. The honourable now owns those women. Of all the things this honourable could have empowered those women with, he chose baby cockerels that may not all survive. What a shame to Nigerian politicians.
That story of women empowerment with cockerels takes us to another trending funny tale about how the former German dictator, Adolph Hitler, owned his own people like chickens.
The story may have been concocted by a creative person, but the message is crystal clear and appears to be a re-imagining of the pathetic relationship between Nigerians and those ruling them.
Hitler was said to have appeared at a “cabinet meeting carrying a chicken. He held the chicken’s head tightly under his arm. As he walked, he began plucking its feathers one by one. The chicken screamed in agony, struggling desperately to escape from Hitler’s grip. But Hitler did not let go, nor did he pay any attention to its cries – he just kept plucking.” Doesn’t that sound familiar? For almost 66 years since independence, haven’t the political elite been holding Nigerians tightly under their arms? If Nigerians were the chickens at the moment, are there still any feathers remaining? Have we not been struggling due to bad governance?
Have politicians not stolen this country dry and left the citizens impoverished?
Anyway, “A cabinet member said to him: ‘Don’t torture the poor creature like that. Let it go!’
But Hitler refused to listen to him. Finally, after plucking all its feathers, he threw the chicken to the ground. Then he took some grains out of his pocket and began feeding the chicken. In that state, the chicken, desperate for food, started looking towards Hitler’s hand again.” Chai!
The story continues: “Hitler called it closer, offering the grains. After a while, the chicken came and sat near him, eating those few grains. The same chicken that had been struggling to escape from Hitler all this time now sat beside him again – for just a handful of grains.”
That is exactly how politicians create poverty and then weaponize it to keep the people on their knees, looking up to them for crumbs.
Well, while Hitler’s action baffled onlookers, “Another cabinet member asked in astonishment: ‘What is the meaning of this?’
Hitler replied: “Voters are just like this. For four and a half years, we pluck their feathers. And then, in the last six months, we throw them a few grains. For those few grains, the voters forget all the injustices we committed over four and a half years – and they vote for us again.”
This story is as funny as it is pathetic and speaks to the dilemma Nigerians are facing.
Nigerians complain and complain about how bad governance is ruining their lives but end up campaigning and voting for the same unscrupulous politicians that created the quagmire they live in. Sometimes, when the pain of suffering and dying in the midst of plenty while politicians loot our treasury and ride in opulence become unbearable, you’d hear them shout ‘we are hungry’ like the chicken struggling for freedom. However, once they are offered one or two thousand naira, or cockerels, or the notorious rice, they forget their sorrows and vote in another four years of hell on earth. This is so pathetic!
The Hitler’s story may well imply that Nigeria’s problem could be solved by the followers and not leaders; that is, if only the chicken summoned courage and went searching for food elsewhere. That way, it would have the freedom to vote for its preferred candidate.
