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The Gods Aren’t to Blame: Nigeria Must Beware the Fate of King Odewale

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Nigeria is a nation of ceaseless prayer. From dawn vigils to midnight supplications, Nigerians call upon God with unmatched fervour. Yet, despite this spiritual intensity, corruption, misgovernance, and civic irresponsibility persist. The paradox is stark: Nigerians pray to God like no country, but the gods are not to blame for our stupidity.

Ola Rotimi’s classic play The Gods Are Not to Blame offers a haunting mirror. His play, a Yoruba retelling of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, centres on King Odewale, who unknowingly fulfils a prophecy to kill his father and marry his mother. Despite attempts to escape fate, his downfall comes not from divine cruelty but from human failings, such as anger, ignorance, and denial. This literary lesson deepens the critique of Nigeria’s political and civic culture.

In the tragedy of King Odewale, fate sets the stage, but human failings, such as ignorance, pride, rashness bring ruin. Nigeria’s political and civic failures echo this lesson: our decline is not divine punishment, but the consequence of choices made by citizens and leaders alike.

Vote Selling and Buying: The Marketplace of Tragedy

In Rotimi’s play, Odewale’s ignorance of his true parentage leads him to unwittingly fulfil a prophecy. In Nigeria, ignorance of civic responsibility leads citizens to sell their votes for rice, cash, or fleeting favours.

  • Analogy: Just as Odewale traded destiny for blindness, voters trade their future for a bowl of porridge.
  • Implication: Politicians see the electorate not as citizens but as customers in a corrupt transaction.
  • Ethical Dimension: Selling votes is complicity in one’s own oppression.
  • Consequence: Poverty deepens, hospitals remain unequipped, schools decay, and democracy becomes a marketplace of tragedy.

Allegiance over Patriotism: Tribalism as Blindness

Odewale’s pride blinds him to warnings, just as Nigerians often cling to tribal or party allegiances over national unity.

  • Analogy: It is like passengers on a sinking ship fighting over cabins while ignoring the rising water.
  • Inference from Rotimi: Pride and misplaced loyalty hasten downfall.
  • Consequence: Patriotism is sacrificed, unity fractures, and the nation drifts toward ruin.

Decampment after Bribery: Opportunism over Integrity

In the play, Odewale’s rashness and anger drive him to choices that seal his fate. Nigerian politicians mirror this rashness when they decamp from one party to another, not out of conviction but for personal gain.

  • Analogy: Like a footballer changing jerseys mid-match, they chase the highest bidder.
  • Inference from Rotimi: Human weakness, not divine decree, drives tragedy.
  • Consequence: Integrity collapses, citizens lose faith, and politics becomes mercenary.

National Assembly Inaction: Silence as Complicity

Rotimi’s plague devastates the land until truth is confronted. Nigeria’s “plague” is corruption, worsened by legislative inaction.

  • Analogy: A watchman asleep at the gate while thieves ransack the house.
  • Inference from Rotimi: Inaction is itself a choice that perpetuates suffering.
  • Consequence: Discipline erodes, responsibility is abdicated, and the nation drifts without anchor.

Citizenry Gullibility and Dread: Ignorance as Tragedy

Odewale’s ignorance of his origins mirrors the citizenry’s ignorance of their civic power. Nigerians often act out of fear or superstition, following demagogues blindly.

  • Analogy: Like sheep led to slaughter, citizens surrender agency.
  • Inference from Rotimi: Ignorance is not innocence; it is complicity.
  • Consequence: Fear breeds nihilism, politicians exploit dread, and cycles of manipulation persist.

The Larger Implications

  • For the People: Poverty, insecurity, and despair deepen.
  • For the Country: Institutions weaken, unity fractures, progress stalls.
  • For Politicians: Like Odewale who blinds himself in shame, leaders eventually face moral and historical reckoning.

Ethical Reckoning

Rotimi’s tragedy reminds us: “The gods are not to blame.” Fate may whisper, but human folly shouts. Nigeria’s decline is not divine punishment but the result of choices, votes sold, allegiances misplaced, integrity abandoned, responsibility shirked.

A wise elder once said, “God will not come down to fix Nigeria. He gave us hands, minds, and conscience. If we refuse to use them, we are the architects of our ruin.”

Conclusion

Nigeria prays like no country, but prayer without responsibility is empty. The gods are not to blame for our stupidity. The bait is ours; the trap is ours, and the consequences are ours. Until Nigerians confront their own complicity, choosing integrity over bribery, patriotism over tribalism, consciousness over gullibility, the nation will remain trapped in a self‑inflicted tragedy, echoing Odewale’s fate: undone not by gods, but by human folly.


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