How does "His Excellency" come into play in Nigerian politics? ---Yimika Ilori

Photo Source: www.sanchiaalasia.blogspot.com

On a cool Friday evening, everything was set for the commencement of a political red-carpet event and the guests trooped in one after the other to grace the glorious commemoration until all invited guests were sited on dedicated comfy chairs. The uninvited ones were there too, standing and cheering as if they were in a football stadium. Then, the master of ceremony (MC) took position for the announcement of the names of invited guests. But the cheering grew louder immediately and the MC, put on an awkward grin as he introduced an eminent politician whose name is, His Excellency...

Of recent, I have been baffled by a series of acknowledgments, especially in a typical Nigerian ceremony wherein to introduce a political guest, the expected prefix added to his name is "His Excellency..."

I will definitely understand if the phrase "His Excellency..." is addressed to a King. But to address a political leader who was elected into office within a democratic system is quite disturbing. I believe such a phrase should be used to address a King, Queen or other members of a royal family. However, it seems to me that the wisdom portrayed by the perpetrators of this ideology, is in sync with the belief that the position a politician hold is the same as that of a king. This is seemingly ridiculous.

On the other hand, I could have been a strong advocate of this "His Excellency..." ideology if the originators of democracy grafted such into their awareness during its inception. Just imagine introducing an ordinary statesperson of the United States of America as "His Excellency?" Wouldn't that be awesome? But that is obviously not the case. So, why on God's green earth are we using this prefix redundantly? Oh, could it be that by trying to be unique among others, we came up with this? Of course not!

This confirms my idea that what we say affects the way we think. From How Our Politicians’ Dressing Affects the WayThey Think (which was my first article on this matter) to Village Mentality: The Chief of Africa’s Problem (my second article on the same subject), I can only conclude that the growth of this wonderful nation rests in the hands of our politicians. And of course, you may hold a different perspective. However, a wise man once said, "To every rule, there's an exception." Nevertheless, one thing is common across both perspectives; what our politicians encourage, will have either a positive or negative impact on the growth of our country.

*These opinions are exclusively those of the writer or guest blogger and may not, under any circumstances, be counted as a general opinion. Should the need to use these ideas elsewhere arise, absolute permission may only be granted by the original writer*

Yimika Ilori is a techie who takes pleasure in his spare time to writing articles and short stories. His articles have been published on Nuggets for Nobles and CFA Leverage amongst several other e-platforms. He blogs at www.larntan.com and can be reached through the same.