In the just concluded gubernatorial election in Edo State, the influence of godfatherism came into play when the ruling PDP featured a different candidate in place of the incumbent deputy governor to contest under their umbrella. 

The rest is history, now that the results are released. Both the PDP and APC featured candidates that will be under their tutelage. Adams Oshiomole (former governor of the state) supported the winning candidate while incumbent governor Obaseki supported a new PDP candidate. The APC winning candidate should be expecting demands immediately he is sworn in as the governor of Edo state.  

Let us look at the situation in Rivers State where Wike supposedly installed Fubara as the governor. Fubara is finding it difficult to meet the demands of Wike and this is causing a lot of problems in that state. Do you remember those days in Oyo state when Chief Lamidi Adedibu installed High Chief Rasheed Ladoja and because Ladoja could not meet the demands of his godfather he was removed from office through a kangaroo House of Assembly. Tales of godfatherism will continue to remain till Nigeria is no more. 

In Africa and other developing countries like Nigeria, godfatherism has become the central point of political vandalism. This is as a result of the overconcentration of authority and power of politicians which explains the ascent for the control of the structures and organizations by the political class. 

This struggle, and the resulting values have obstructed significantly on society in various ways. Politics of godfatherism has featured prominently in the political history of Nigeria. The problems arising from godfatherism are myriad and it is one of the greatest glitches facing the Nigerian political system. The problem is such that the god-son oftentimes is a stooge of the godfather and it is said that he that plays the piper dictates the tune. The failure of the god-son to meet the demands of the god-father is often punished with impeachments or denial of re-election or unstable government. The politics of godfatherism has affected the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria. 

Democracy in Nigeria has not been fully established and the phenomenon of godfatherism has endangered democratic process and the socio-economic lives of the citizenry. Political godfatherism is a condition in Nigerian political process influencing against the democratic establishment in order to satisfy their selfish interest.

They are even ready to manipulate the democratic body and its mode of operations, by overpowering public office holders. The activities of these political fighters have deprived the electorates of voting for their preferred candidates. This has directly affected the political arrangement and the national economy of the nation. 

Nigeria is one of the largest nations in Africa and probably the most populous black nation in the world that is blessed with human and material resources. With all these features, yet Nigeria is characterized with politics of godfatherism; this is as a result of the majority and minority domination and poverty that are artificially created by the politicians among the citizens to subjugate them to lower class. 

Political godfatherism in its simplest form can be generally seen as a practice which involves the sustenance of a kind of social and political relations in which the inferior looks onto the superior for the dissemination and self-actualization of firm roles, desires and connections which unite both together or in which both have equal pole but with the greater influence of what the inferior gets in the process.

Godfathers in some nations are inspired by their resolution to regulate public policies in favour of their concerns. For instance, in Nigeria, the primary motive of political godfathers is to control the treasury of the state. The godfathers in Nigerian politics are primarily concerned with appropriation of government contracts, political or public appointments and plundering the coffers of the state.

They are in advantaged positions to decide the political confidence of candidates to political offices and as such those that are not only seen but confirmed to be loyal, cannot be given ticket to be the flag bearer of the parties. This is to ensure that the godsons will be answerable to them when they are elected into power. Because of these conditions, some contenders defect to other parties where they do not have such influential figures that would aggravate them from their political ambitions. 

Normally, democracy should be seen as a competition among the contestants for control and entry to state power. However, it is contended that in Nigeria the disaster of democracy can be traced to the failure of the political elite, as a class.

Since inception of the republic, there has been a fusion of the elite such that political elite also institutes both the economic and social elite. To be sure, the emergent political elite since Independence have dominated the political territory to the exclusion of new candidates.

The old elite has to control the political passage such that where they are not opposing for political positions, they desire to constitute themselves as the power behind the curtain, thereby, leading to the phenomenon of ‘godfatherism'. Looking at this, it is understood that politics of godfatherism has eaten deep into Nigerian politics. 

Politics of godfatherism has become part and parcel of the political condition of actualizing the political dreams of many contestants in Nigeria. Several issues can be observed as a cause of politics of Godfatherism. The central argument is that in the Nigerian politics, Godfatherism has become the major problem to many candidates to win or fail in an election.

Godfatherism is extensively practiced in all parts of the country; it is observed that to contest for any political post it has become necessary to have strong political godfather before considering and running for any elective office or even political appointment. This is because many contenders cannot win an election without the support and influence of the godfather.

So also, many individuals cannot get appointed without the support and influence of the godfathers that decide the faith of the state. With the support and influence of godfathers, many aspirants contest and win the election because of the power of the godfathers and incumbency. 

The power, influence, and incumbency have created a serious problem between the contestants and the electorates, and by extension affecting the socio-economic development of the nation. This is because most of the candidates dance to the tune of their godfathers not the general populous. And it is the godfathers that are dictating to the candidates what to do and not to do. This problem of the dictatorship of the political fathers has created a wide gap between the contestants and the electorates. 

It is understood that all the positions won or appointed because of the influence of godfathers cannot yield positive development, because the political godfathers asked contestants or appointees to sign a treaty to ensure that they agree with all the promises that they had entered with the godfathers. This has always led to a political crisis between the aspirants and the godfathers, by extension between the citizens in the states. 

This political crisis has created a wide vacuum between the godsons and the godfather. The experience witnessed in Kogi, Rivers, and now Edo States glaringly showed that godfatherism is a corruption that has eaten deep into the economic development of the affected States in Nigeria. Goodluck to those who are off the hook of godfatherism in Nigeria. Those that are still hooked should find a way of getting their freedom.  

God Bless Nigeria!!!