The Ritual of Masquerades and the Lessons from the Past
In my community, masquerades are considered sacred beings that do not partake in the same daily activities as humans. They are believed to come from another world, and their presence is treated with deep reverence. In Yorubaland, these masquerades are said to arrive through the ‘Igbale’ forest and return to the land of the ancestors via the same path. Their journey is strictly accompanied by those who have been initiated into the tradition. There are certain rules that initiates must follow in the presence of the uninitiated, ensuring that the sanctity of the ritual is preserved.
One memory that stands out is the visits of the family masquerade to my father. As the eldest living male in our family, he was always honored with a special visit from the ancestral representatives once every three years. These visits were moments of great significance, marked by rituals and respect.
Madigbol’esu, a particularly fierce and feared masquerade, would make his appearance with great fanfare. When he came to the earth, everyone knew. Before his arrival, my father would prepare drinks for the elders. Once ‘Baba’ arrived, all the children and my mother would move to another part of the house. My father, his brothers, and Madigbol’esu would then go into the sitting room, where the doors and windows were securely locked. Everyone knew the drill, including the dancers who accompanied the masquerade.
The PDP: A Party in Disarray
For years, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been known for its chaotic gatherings. Elders, initiates, and novices often spoke at the same time, hurling sacred things at one another in public spaces. This pattern of behavior has continued, and I find it alarming. The PDP masquerade is now eating in the open, just as it used to, and I am warning them again, as I have done many times before. “Awo ko gbodo t’oju ogberi da’fa nu.” It is time for the party to reconsider its approach.
Why is it so difficult for the elders of the PDP to go into a room, secure the doors and windows, and share the drink of the elders? Why are they fighting in front of the uninitiated? Why are the PDP masquerades yanking each other’s masks in front of women and uninitiated men? Do they need an oracle to tell them that an unmasked masquerade is no longer a masquerade? He is just like me or the next guy. Am I supposed to respect that man even if he still attempts to speak in a guttural voice?
These disrobed individuals have held many conventions over the 16 years they were in power. Each one had its own colorful drama. But I thought that meant these elders came away from each convention with a lesson. I thought the PDP would have learned at least half a dozen lessons, from which the APC would have to borrow half a dozen leaves. But no, the lessons are still far away, unlearnt.
The PDP’s Unwise Decisions
The PDP and its colorful ways never disappoint. Please, who started this idea of printing one, only one nomination form, for an elective position? I know that it was in PDP that I first heard of it years ago. Is this not supposed to be a democracy? PDP is the People’s Democratic Party. The party, I thought, had planned a peaceful convention. Then it decided to print just one form for the office or position of the chairman of the party!
A party that is afflicted on all sides decided to court more affliction. If there is no consensus, how can there be a consensus candidate? Now, the single form has been obtained, filled, and submitted. Alhaji Sule Lamido is asking for a form, or he will go to court. Won’t that muddy up the already troubled pond? What will PDP do now, call in deliverance pastors for prayers, reprint another form, or fish out a photocopy someone is hiding?
I remember a gubernatorial primaries for a South-East state that was held in another South-West state. The ‘wuruwuru’ event was held after one name had already been sent to INEC. The winner of the evening market ticket brandished his black market ticket and celebrated it like he would be sworn in the following morning. All kinds of drama followed without a happily ever after.
The PDP’s Legacy of Chaos
Who remembers the days when PDP gave one aspirant the ticket and another the flag? The occupiers of the party secretariat carried on like Lagos Omo Onile, who would sell one plot of land for 10 people and watch from afar as the ‘landlords’ tore one another’s agbada. Old men and women, they promised to feed the multitude with food they didn’t have.
For us in the newsroom, through those 16 years of PDP in power and in office, the stories were interesting. The game provided great headlines. But even as the media houses smiled to the bank, they knew PDP was dancing at the edge of a cliff. We all knew it would not end well. We just did not know when it would end. And when it did, it was thunderously deafening that fall.
So, why is PDP, which is supposed to be scrambling to its feet, doing this again in 2025? Why is the party claiming there was a consensus when all was not well? And why is this break in the ranks coming from an elder like the former governor of Jigawa State, a respected politician and leader? What does this mean, really? With so many governors and senators gone to APC, days to its much-awaited convention, can the PDP afford this new drama?
Years ago, I spoke with one of the elders of the PDP on the morning of the party’s convention. I asked if it was not possible to do the PDP convention magic and still elect their officers. When he sounded more unhappy than confident, I knew the masquerades were on their way to the market. And the trip was short. With windows open, doors ajar, the masquerades went for one another’s throats, the women and children watching in shocked silence. Each elder had to prove that he was a bigger elder. A community where there are no leaders is a community on its way to extinction.
The Call for Change
The grey hairs on the heads of PDP elders must begin to count for something from here on. The old men must sit together and stop behaving like children. The way they are all dragging their umbrella, it won’t be long before what remains of the PDP covering finally peels away. And when the harmattan comes, the man who wears only his underwear will know the true meaning of cold.
So, will the much-awaited convention of the PDP be its end? Will the PDP masquerade find its way back into the sacred grove? Now that the uninitiated have seen the mouth of the ancestral being, can the masquerade still claim that he is not a mere man?
Are the APC masquerades learning anything?
Egbemode, a former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, writes via egbemode3@gmail.com
