In Julius Caesar , Act 1, Scene 1, the tribunes Flavius and Marullus confront the Roman plebeians who have rushed into the streets to celebrate Caesar’s triumph. In frustration at their fickleness and blind adoration, Marullus thunders: “You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!” ( Julius Caesar , Act 1, Scene 1) It is a rebuke not only of the people’s forgetfulness but of their willingness to surrender their agency to spectacle and power. Shakespeare’s line, though centuries old, echoes eerily across the Nigerian sociopolitical landscape today. The Nigerian Political Class and the Roman Illusion Nigeria’s political elite often behave as though the masses exist solely to applaud them. Their motorcades demand instant reverence. Their speeches assume unquestioned loyalty. Their campaigns rely on the predictable choreography of crowds, dancing, chanting, waving flags, and lining the streets like the Roman plebeians who abandoned their work to celebrate Caesar. Th...
They argue about his worth; they debate his work; but the people chant one name - Iheọma! Iheọma! Iheọma! Iheọma!
Introduction “Iheọma adịghị onye ọsọ,” meaning “No one rejects goodness.” It is one of the simplest truths in Igbo philosophy: a truth sung, danced, and passed from generation to generation. This truth was immortalized by The Oriental Brothers International Band , the legendary highlife group that emerged in the early 1970s, just after the Nigerian‑Biafran War. Their music became a cultural balm for a people rebuilding from trauma. Through rhythm, proverbs, and communal storytelling, they reminded the Igbo nation, and Nigeria at large, that dignity, hope, and goodness were still worth striving for. In their song, they proclaim: Toyota Motor: who would reject it? Mercedes Benz: who would refuse it? Honda 175: who would say no? If your father were a king: would you dislike it? If your brother prospered: would you not rejoice? The message is simple and universal: Goodness is desirable. Goodness is human. Goodness is for everyone. Yet in today’...