International records / OpenAlex research

Rethinking deification, gerontocracy and clientelism in the Nigerian political space

Up until now, blanket respect, loyalty and veneration have been given to ancestors, living elders and godfathers in all cultures in Nigeria and their celebration in politics has become worrisome. These practices derive from deification, gerontocracy and clientelism. Most of the existing works in African anthropological studies written by cultural apologists have romanticised these socioreligious practices and found them sacrilegious but only a few connect them to democratic milieu of the 20 th and 21 st centuries. Thus, more than historicising and romanticising these socio-religious beliefs, t…