In our political arena, almost everyone is a wolf. In our political space, to get to the top and lead, you have to be ready to eat the dogs on your path. It is not a sin or unjust to eat weak men in the eyes of the men in this field. Eat or be eaten is the code and a good politician is that student of Niccolo Machiavelli who has broken moral codes, destroyed bonds, destroyed nations and done the most evil just for personal gains. In politics, this is the good politician. If a politician in this arena is genuinely loved by an intelligent and morally upright people outside politics, it is either that he is a very bad politician with personal ambition dwarfed by the ambition of the people he governs and represents or he is naive.

That is how bad (Bad? That word is only relevant outside the political circle) we play the game of politics and unfortunately, we have never had a ‘bad politician’ as a leader. The cistern, sorry system, is so perfectly structured that good men who dare invest their lives must be contaminated to experience a bounty harvest. They must have their holy cloaks rumpled and become mad and soulless to function effectively. They must strive to become wolves and have their edges sharpened. They must kill their conscience or master how to pretend their conscience is out of existence. They must be taken through rigours of cleansing on the mental, psychological, spiritual and physical level to become ‘good politicians‘ so that they can operate with the men running the show without experiencing any moral battle within.

They must be so contaminated that any thought of recanting and becoming a ‘ bad politician ‘ — the politician of the masses — is met with great blackmail that will render useless everything they spent their whole life accumulating. Hundreds will die on their watch and they are not moved. Thousands will wail into their eardrums and they act mute. Millions will crawl and beg but they won’t act because they have become the hands behind the hands that control the moves. They have become gods and if any god is going to be for good, then he will wilfully act in a way contrary to slave owners. But we are dealing with a slave owner here.

There are two types of Wolves in politics. There are the Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing and there are the Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing. The Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing are the politicians who are bad, who don’t pretend they are bad, who can’t employ great tricks to deceive the masses they serve. They are blunt with their evil utterances and actions, they don’t hide their hatred for the poor, they say it as it is and damn you to severe the consequence if you can. Studying their position on the moral scale is easy because they made it easy. They tell you they will destroy you and they go ahead to destroy you. They tell you they don’t like you and they show you they don’t like you. They tell you you must be punished for your sins and they go ahead to punish you for your sins. Men like the Fuhrer of the Third Reich, Adolphus Hitler (a good orator and evil genius) of Germany, Joseph Stalin of Soviet Union, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Donald Trump of the United States of America, Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and Idi Amin Dada of Uganda fit this profile perfectly. They don’t attempt to hide their form. They are not even good at it and woe to you if they lean on the other side of the argument you are proposing. They are men with ideologies that have been molded into rocks and there are no hot lavas around good enough to create any crater in them.

The Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing are smarter and will be killing you while consoling you at the same time. They have mastered the art of seduction and deception and it takes a great eye to observe their handwriting. They are orators and skilled with the power to convince with words, to convince with looks and they have the mannerisms of a civilized modern man. They are the sort of leaders the masses want to be like and their charisma is infectious.

While they look quieter, calmer and more understanding than the Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing, they are more dangerous. They have the uncanny ability to make a genocide appear like a skirmish. They have the skill to create death and credit it to an enemy. Literary speaking, they can turn wine to water. They cause destruction at the basic, microscopic level and only few alert minds can discern. The majority are usually absent here so they only see the macroscopic works of these Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing which seem noble. These men have mastered the Sun Tzu. You’d find here Barack Obama, former President Of The United States, Hillary Clinton of United States of America, Rochas Okorocha Of Imo State, Nigeria and Nigeria’s current Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo.

President Buhari is a Wolf in Wolves’ Clothing. He doesn’t hide the fact that he disdains certain sections of the country. He doesn’t pretend to love Nigerians equally. He doesn’t pretend to be more national than tribal. He has said so many times in the past that his desire for Nigeria is that Sharia be spread all over the country. He has created tsunamis with words and has not once docked from those nasty old utterances. He still thinks, even after outstanding evidence, that, Abacha, Nigeria’s worst dictator, didn’t steal. The only good news here is that you can defend against such wolf. You know where you stand and from his own view you will only look better, underground, without a cranium.

He doesn’t pretend about his position on Herdsmen killings. He doesn’t pretend about his disgust for the rule of law. His position on various subject matters is obvious for anyone who is really thinking and he knows this but…he doesn’t give a dime. Do your worst! That’s real. At least you know where he stands and how to handle someone like him. Osinbanjo is the exact opposite. The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. A classic man with an intelligence and compassion of the good gods. A pastor and legal practitioner makes for a good cover but we’ve learnt how to uncover such men.

He was chosen to pacify the two fonts his boss created doubts. One. Buhari has been known to give the law the same type of respect he showed the Oputa panel and Osinbanjo by his side will help prevent a further journey through the path and win voters confidence. It worked. Two. What better way to check Buhari’s religious extremism than getting him a candidate with a different religious belief? It worked and people stroke out religious intolerance. What could be better than an anti corruption czar who picked a pastor and Law Professor as assistant? But like a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, he was none of these in the logical sense.

When the judges’ homes were shattered at midnight by the men of the Department of the State Security Service, he said nothing. When bail conditions were given to the alleged looter, Colonel Sambo Dasuki but disobeyed, he said nothing to uphold the law. When 347 Shi’a Muslims were butchered for simply blocking the roads, he said nothing. When youths from the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, were killed for celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, he said nothing. When the same youths were killed last year in the Army’s Operation Python Dance, for protesting with sticks and stones, he said no one should try to divide Nigeria. When the Northern Forum, Arewa, asked the Igbos to leave the north before October 1st, he spoke of civil war and hate speeches without condemning or doing anything. These were the legal reasons for which a law assistant was chosen as Vice President. He was supposed to be eyes of the judiciary but he failed. That’s not all.

When Southern Kaduna Christians were massacred on Christmas eve, he said nothing or did anything to defend Christian lives. When Evangelist Eunice, a member of his church was murdered for preaching in Zuba, Abuja, he did nothing. When another Christian woman, Mrs Bridget, was murdered for requesting a man not to perform ablution in front of her store, he did nothing. When catholic priests were killed in Benue by Herdsmen, he did nothing. He betrayed the reasons for which he was chosen. He was chosen to serve as a buffer to religious killings and madness but he only became the Minister for Burial Sermons.

He was chosen to check the treatment of Christians but he prefers speeches in burial ceremonies. A Christian would have resigned if he can’t influence better reactions from the President but a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing wouldn’t. A man who truly respects the law would have resigned if the government he is part of can’t follow due process but a Wolf masquerading as a lawyer wouldn’t. Look around you. Who is your friend? Who is your leader? Who is your hero? Who is your mentor? Is he a Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing, a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing or he is another creature entirely? What is this creature’s name?

By Rey Alaetuo,

The author is a conscious Poet and health care professional living in Lagos, Nigeria.

Courtesy: Mortal Poet.