The Queen and I, By Odi Ikpeazu
Despite being a sworn Pan African – in fact exactly because I am a sworn Pan African – I reserve a lot of respect for the tyrannies, monarchies and oligarchies that forged Western man into civic obedience, ultimately equipping them with the single-mindedness and unity of purpose, which enabled them colonise Africa and hold world hegemony till this day. I am not at all ashamed to confess that I wish the shoe was on the other foot and that we are the ones who’s got the whole world in our hands.
My personal logic leads me to conclude with little fear of contradiction, that the irony of Western democracy lies in the fact that it is a direct result of Western autocracy. This is because at the root of classic democracy lies the recognition of a Grundnorm and the resultant social obedience to it, a grand habit ingrained in Western man by centuries of enforced mental conditioning ensured by ancient and medieval autocracy.
This automatic, relexive, tendency by the general society to obey constituted authority is the single greatest reason why democracy appears generally workable in the West. The absence of this reflex in Nigerian society on the other hand, is the explanation for the ludicruous nature of our so called democracy, which amounts effectively to anarchy in other words. Our attempt to suddenly metamorphose from a virtual state of Nature into a Western pseudo-democratic state without the requisite intervening period of civic conditioning, makes our present disastrous leadership probably understandable, the miserable followership quite comprehensible and both of them collectively pitiable and possibly even forgivable. A shepherdless herd of cows in Birnin Gwari might as well be pointed in the direction of Onitsha and told to get themselves there.
I therefore view with disdain some of the gleeful sadism with which a number of self styled African intelligentsia have been greeting the passing of the Queen of England. I find it largely unnecessary, in needless bad taste, a waste or misdeployment of emotional energy and even perhaps an indication of a terminal strain of inferiority complex. I neither love nor hate the British Queen but am rather indifferent enough about her to empathise dispassionately about her death as I would with any human being that I am acquainted with. She never harmed me directly, neither did I necessarily find her harmful to others. If anything, she was a naiive, pretty young woman, who grew into a sweet, grand old lady. She was the product of an ancient ruling system that I wish my own ancestors had invented or emulated, instead of spending ALL their time on superstitious shenanigans. Yes, I am actually jealous of Queen Elizabeth but just not in a demonic way and derive no pleasure spitting on the grave of a beautiful woman.
My Pan Africanism is not of that cantankerous sort. My main beef is not totally with the Queen’s ancestors, who did undeniably look out for their own people and plotted their common good. My real angst is extensively with our own African progenitors, who perfected a narrow vision of the future for their children that still persists among their descendants. I will not be so unreasonable as to blame all my woes on Western slave importers while effectively exonerating the hard working African exporters who contributed equally to the once booming industry.
- Ikpeazu, is a public affairs commentator
