By Arthur Nwankwo
Emperor Nero’s emergence as Roman Emperor in AD 54 was greeted with wild jubilation and expectation especially among the plebeians, aristocrats and subalterns. Interestingly, he came on the scene at a point the*Dr. Nwankwo |
His childhood was moulded by freed slaves— a barber and dancer, before Seneca
was recalled from exile to be his tutor. Despite the over-bearing attitude of
Agrippina, his mother, Nero grew up a complex character— one who showed little
interest in understanding his surrounding; though he tended to pitch his lot
with the masses. His tragic family situation, his definitely over-powering
mother coupled with what was perhaps a weak character eventually produced a
highly unstable Nero. He was an addict to jesting and tended to secrecy. In the
course of time his character showed darker sides and unleashed the beast in
Nero. His dark sides would manifest in his many crimes like committing
thousands of murders including his mother, and abuse of people’s fundamental
human rights and practice of sodomy.
Prior to his emergence, Nero was noted for his limited
understanding of social forces that produced his emperorship and this lack of
understanding in turn produced a veritable outcome— gross suspicion of the
senators and even the praetors. His lame approach to the problems of the empire
would re-instigate the several agitations by various segments of the in places
like
Patriotic Roman senators and nobles voiced their concern and wondered why Nero
should be fiddling while Rome
was on fire. Petronius, who Nero had earlier regarded as his “arbiter of elegance” would eventually
call Nero “the incendiary of Roman Empire ”. Blinded by a rage to eliminate his
real and perceived enemies, Nero would go down in history as the monster and
evil emperor who fed his people to lions in the Roman coliseum. Though, Nero
was condemned by God and by Man, history is generous with instances of the
re-incarnation of many Neros in several climes and circumstances.
Over the years, Nigeria
has had its own fair share of maximum rulers in the mould of Nero. First was
Muhammadu Buhari in 1983, and Sani Abacha in 1995. And today Nigeria is witnessing the
re-emergence of another Nero in the mould of Muhammadu Buhari.
I do not intend to waste my time reflecting on Buhari’s many failures in the
past twelve months of his presidency. Failure is part of Buhari’s track record.
That he has failed is not surprising to me. If the reverse had been the case,
then I would be surprised. However, what is rather nauseating is Buhari’s
brazen audacity to entrench democratic dictatorship in Nigeria ; and even the warped and
mundane rationalization of such criminality by apologists of the Buhari
presidency.