Nearly ten years ago, I was approached by Dr Ike Neliaku, then a special adviser in the presidency, to be a part of the research team for a book project entitled: ‘7 Conspiracies of Power: Why Leaders Succeed, and others fail.’ I was excited to be a part of the team comprising Mr. Spenser Okoroafor, Dr. Simeon Alozie, Mr. David O. Abraham, Faith Akinola, and Barr. Paul Abraham. We met several times to formulate a background on the focus of the book, especially in understanding the dynamics of power in Nigeria, with specific reference on why political leadership fails or succeeds.
Pressure of work and numerous schedules would make it almost difficult to sustain the meetings and somehow, I thought the project, like many others before it, fizzled out. I was wrong. The man behind the project whose long stay in the corridor of power and intellectual prowess is most times shrouded in his taciturnity stood firm and never let go of the dream.
Towards the end of last month, I got an invitation to attend the formal presentation of the book which took place on penultimate Tuesday April 12, 2022 at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Abuja. The event chaired by the Chairman of Access Bank Plc, (Mrs) Dare Awosika, attracted distinguished prominent Nigerians from all walks of life.
Power relations have always intrigued philosophers and power players who in the past advanced various theories in rationalising why leadership fails or succeeds. It is on this basis that the quest in understanding the dynamics of power has refused to diminish in the history of mankind. The attempt to analyse power and the dynamics led to the writing of ‘The Prince’, a political treatise written by Niccolò Machiavelli, the 16th-century Italian diplomat and political theorist in 1513, shortly after he lost out in the power-play of his native Florence.
Neliaku’s ‘7 Conspiracies of Power: Why Some Leaders Succeed and Others Fail’, focuses on Nigeria’s political power-play and the symphony of theoretical postulations, laced with practical instances. The work is a seminal work that illuminates the path to the contextual understanding of power relations and how it has affected the successes and failures in programmes and policies of government.
Deploying theoretical and practical applications, this seminal book is founded on a 30-year old experience the author garnered from the corridor of power. Apart from serving as a reference material for policy makers, students of political science and international relations, public analysts and anybody interested in power and politics, present and future leaders will find in this book a companion to walk through the landmines of power relations.
The book is divided into 35 chapters that are arranged under nine sections. Section one, comprising chapters 1 to 5, serves as a prologue. In sections two through eight, spanning chapters 6 to 33, the author lays out the factors that interplay to determine the outcome of power, which he terms conspiracies, seven of them. These include:
In the last section, the epilogue, spanning chapters 34 and 35, the book discusses how the mix of Knowledge, Morality, Courage, Experience and skills as well as Mentorship-Discipleship can bring about optimal results in leadership. ‘7 Conspiracies of Power: Why Some Leaders Succeed and Others Fail’ is an expedition towards understanding the dynamics behind power relations in Nigeria and how dialectics of power revolve around these conspiracies for political power in Nigeria.
The former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan describes the book as providing “interesting perspectives and critical factors that determine the nature of political leadership foisted on the nation by the conspiratorial roles of various factors. Apart from providing understanding in the dynamics of the power game in the country, the former First Lady notes that Dr Neliaku’s book illuminates power relations as the country approaches yet another year for general elections.
Those who provided synopses of the various sections of the book were the Special Assistant to the Speaker on International and Inter-parliamentary Relations, Mr. ‘Dapo Oyewole; Principal Partner, Hamu Legal, Ms. Sa’adatu Falila Hamu, and the Executive Director, Development Spec Academy, Dr Okey Ikechukwu. Speaking on the conspiracies of aides and foreign relations, Oyewole commends the exposure by the author on roles of aides and foreign relations in determining the success or failures of leadership. According to him, ‘7 Conspiracies of Power’ as written by Dr Neliaku, vividly captures positive and negative mileage that can be attained by aides and dynamics of foreign relations for any country. Without the roles of these assistants thrown on political appointees, the roles of foreign relations played crucial roles in determining the effectiveness of policies and programmes of government.
Ms. Hamu, who reviewed the conspiracies of the clan and ego, notes that apart from providing insights on how ethnic and other societal classifications help to ensure the direction of policies and programmes, the ego factor that propels power-wielders remains an important influence. When someone from a particular clan or group assumes political authority, according to Hamu, such membership is bound to influence the direction of where the pendulum swings to. Ego of political appointees, as shown in the book goes a long way in unveiling the manner which ego plays in facilitating successes or failures of political leadership.
Dr. Ikechukwu, who reviewed the conspiracies of the elite, religion and environment, brought to the frontline dynamics that shape power equations and fallouts of political power. Considering the focus of the elite that is anchored on self-preservation, power-wielders, both covert and overt, remain crucial in determining the sustainability or otherwise of programmes and policies. The nature of the environment from where political leaders hail from and levels of exposure within remains an essential factor in creating successes or failures of leadership.
Comparing the administrations of President Olusegun Obasanjo and that of the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as captured in the book, the conspiracy of environment on both leaders are assessed, and thus a rational analysis arrived at on why certain events took place. For instance, Obasanjo, whose role in national politics attracted a national followership is said to have surrounded himself with persons from different ethnic and religious backgrounds for national leadership. Yar’Adua, unlike Obasanjo, is known to have suffered from crippling and debilitating non-exposure to other ethnic groups and zones in the country. He surrounded himself with a cocoon of Northern regional advocates whose attention and focus was aimed at enthroning regional hegemony.
Admittedly, it is indubitably clear that when political leaders are surrounded by members of the regions they hail from, the proclivity to pursue programmes for the interest of their immediate regions becomes an overriding single-mindedness.
On religion that has been aptly described as the “opium of the masses” by Karl Max, Neliaku’s book unveils membership of faith groups as a powerful tool in enhancing and deepening levers of power. The continued waging of religious wars and conflict in the name of religion is not strange to Nigerians. Many towns and villages, especially in the North, have a recurring history of clashes that have led to loss of lives and decimated once thriving communities. With religion becoming a powerful force to rally support for political advantage, rogue politicians that are only interested in accessing power have always resorted to religion for power.
Dr. Neliaku’s book, an attempt that provides fresh perspectives on the dynamics of power, gives an indisputable insight on the synthesis existing between theory and practice in Nigeria’s power equations. The author’s 30-year sojourn in the corridor of power empowers him with the requisite knowledge to rationalise the various power dynamics that have ruled and ruined Nigeria. This book, no doubt, should be a reference material for both present and future leaders committed to charting a new course for distraught citizens confronted with the rudderless ship of state on a high sea of limitless hope, while crippling despair ravage the citizenry in a Plato’s cave of hopelessness.
Originally published by Leadership