OYO101: Makinde And The Case of Inflated Ego | Muftau Gbadegesin
OYO101: Makinde And The Case of Inflated Ego | MuftauGbadegesin.
EGO IS THE ENEMY is a book written by an American author, Ryan Holiday. The book tells a compelling story of ego and its adverse effect. That ego is dangerous, destructive, and deleterious is an instructive reminder to anyone embarking on an ego trip. The book is especially useful in politics where leaders assumed they know it all until they lead their party to defeat and downfall.
Quite interestingly, the book walks readers through the curves and contours of excessive self-centeredness and concluded that traveling the long and tortuous path of ego doesn’t worth it. “Ego is the sense of superiority and certainty that exceeds the bounds of confidence and talent” the author quipped “It’s when the notion of ourselves and the world grows so inflated that it begins to distort the reality that surrounds us”. And as Richard Feynman famously declared “the first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool”.
In a way, most politicians fool themselves a lot. But foolishness isn’t essentially peculiar to politicians. Anyone who thinks only about himself all of the time is a fool. When you think the world revolves around you and your jangled worldview, it is time to embark on ego detoxification! Ryan Holiday further argued that most of us aren’t “egomaniacs,” but ego is there at the root of almost every conceivable problem and obstacle, from why we can’t win to why we need to win all the time and at the expense of others.
In another brilliantly illuminating book titled Give and Take, Adam Grant, Wharton organizational psychology professor marshaled a scientific and data-driven argument to contend that the secret to getting ahead in life is reflected in our ability to think of others as much as we think about ourselves. He argued that becoming highly successful is anchored more on our ability to productively collaborate and corporate with others even when it is exceedingly difficult to do. Partly because those who think of themselves all of the time end up disappointed about their personal and professional accomplishments. It’s simply hard to be satisfied with life when all you think about is yourself and nothing else! Back to the pacesetter state.
After coming under heavy-shelling, hard-hitting and excruciating defeat from APC in the last week’s presidential and national assembly election, the Oyo state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party has been shopping for a scapegoat. It is in human nature to look for an excuse. To rationalize and justify defeat and rejection. Only those who critically examine and evaluate themselves after life’s inescapable setbacks learn faster and smarter about success and failure. But those who wallow and languish in self-pity hardly make headway in their endeavors. At first, Oyo PDP argues that the electoral defeat is immaterial and inconsequential to the re-election bid of governor Seyi Makinde. But when it became obvious that such a watery argument is both counterintuitive and counterproductive, the party quickly backtracked. It asked members to focus on the task ahead and let bygone be bygone. For the record, Oyo PDP wanted to blame anyone for its colossal defeat but not the real architect. How do you deal with the biggest masquerade in the yard without dragging it through the mud? How do you accuse your leaders without spitting on their faces? It is especially hard when you have leaders who are carelessly ignore your informed opinions about certain critical matters.
Frankly, many have tried albeit unsuccessfully to advance for different reasons for Oyo PDP electoral waterloo. But silently, the majority have blamed the governor. Strangely, many otherwise party loyalists have taken to different platforms to vent their anger and express their frustration. They have refused to be cowed and caged. Electoral defeat can be dispiriting, disorienting, and discouraging. To stem the ugly and destructive tide from spiraling further, governor Seyi Makinde is believe to have initiated a powerful fence-mending effort, what many described as campaign after election, efforts that are likely to hit the brick wall. For many, the choice of the governor’s presidential election was telling. But that is just one part of the slice. For the governor to simply engaged in anti-party activities, many of his mobilizers now contend that he has no moral justification to stop anyone from working against his ambition.
Unsurprisingly that the underrated Oyo APC is still basking in the glow of its newfound victory, optimism, and confidence, while most supporters and followers of Oyo PDP continue to sulk, wail, and cry their eyes out after their humiliatingly embarrassing electoral loss. Oyo PDP members’ frustration and anger are couched and evident in the series of viral video and audio clips that are scattered across various social media platforms. For instance, one of the latest viral videos is attributed to Bolanle Sarumi, a chieftain of Oyo PDP who lamented that the poor and self-centered leadership style of the governor cost them a huge defeat. Additionally, the former governorship candidate faulted governor Makinde’s indifference to the ambition of serial presidential hopeful, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar saying his selfishness led to the electoral loss of his brother, Lanre Sarumi who was trounced by Ibadan North Federal constituency rep-elect, Olaide Akinremi.
Of course, the governor was extremely mindful and careful not to publicly declare support for a particular presidential candidate, but many interpreted his gesture to mean the height of a double standard: he wanted to eat his cake and still have it. Governor Makinde calmly and confidently appears indifferent to the ambitions of his party candidates for the national assembly positions even though he largely funded their campaigns. He joined others who felt they can make and mar the chances of their presidential candidate at the poll. Those who christened themselves as G-5 appear to be among the biggest losers in last week’s poll. One of them, Samuel Ortom of Benue state had publicly declared support for Peter Obi – only to lose his Senatorial bid.
Two more went into the poll without a clear choice of whom to back only to emerge from the election defeated and humbled. The smartest of them delivered, Nyesom Wike of Rivers state delivered to the APC presidential candidate while not sacrificing his national assembly candidates. To the surprise of many observers and analysts, last week’s election is probably one of the most breathtaking in the history of the country’s democratic trajectory. Full of twists and turns, shocks and surprises. Rather than emulate governor Nyesom Wike of rivers state who understood the yin and yang of politics, governor Makinde approached the last poll with unpopular candidates who lacked the political clouts that can win elections in a pluralistic society like Nigeria.
But it is unfair to blame most of the candidates for their lack of solid political strategy and tactics when you have a governor who has frittered away with every goodwill that helped propelled his emergence as the chief executive officer of the state. The stark reality is that Oyo PDP is thin and lean. The only place where the party is strong, vibrant, and formidable is on social media. As the last week’s election results have shown, Oyo PDP is going to struggle to bounce back in the next poll. Of course, the party’s lot is depleted and fractured. The spirit and morale of its members are down and depressing. But hopefully, they will prove doubters wrong!
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about Issues affecting Oyo state, published on Saturdays. He can be reached via @TheGMAKing on Twitter, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com and 09065176850.
