The Godfather: Part II is not an ordinary movie. It is both a prequel and a sequel to the original
\nmammoth cinematic epic, The Godfather. One of the main characters, Michael Corleone said,
\n\u201cKeep your friends close, but your enemies closer\u201d. He had learned the lesson from his late
\nfather.
\nFor people who may not have had the chance to see The Godfather: Part II, here is a
\ncondensed snippet. The movie is actually a density of two stories, that of Vito Corleone as a
\nyoung man, set in the 1900s, introduced to the criminal underworld by his friend Clemenza.
\nFor this young man, it was the beginning of crookedness, murder, vileness, perversion and
\ndepravity.
\nThe other side of the story narrates the life of Michael Corleone, the leader or \u201cDon\u201d of the
\nCorleone family business in New York, set in the 1950s. His life was a labyrinth of perfidy,
\ntreachery and subterfuge. The last shot of the movie shows Michael all left by himself alone
\nreflecting on the loss of his family, friends, foes and feeling.
\nQuite recently, the youths in Nigeria embarked upon protests from Lagos to the nation\u2019s capital
\nand parts of many other states calling for police reform and demanding an end to brutality.
\nThese protests, termed #EndSARS, quickly engulfed social media in flames and became a
\nglobal phenomenon.
\nThe demands of the #EndSARS protests were not inexhaustible, infinite, innumerable,
\nintangible, obscure or shadowy. Particularly, they were: one, immediate release of all arrested
\nprotesters; two, justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate
\ncompensations for their families; three, setting up an independent body to oversee the
\ninvestigation and prosecution of all reported police misconduct within a period of 10 days; four,
\ncarrying out psychological evaluation and retaining of all disbanded SARS operatives before
\nthey can deployed (this should be verified by an independent body); and five, the government
\nshould increase police salary and they should adequately compensated for protecting lives
\nand property of the citizens.
\nHowever, as most legitimate and peaceful causes are often derailed, infringed, usurped and
\nappropriated by flagitious and contemptible fellows in its execution, so did the protests. The
\nprotests eventually turned bloody on the evening of October 20 when a group of soldiers fired
\nlive ammunitions into the crowd of the protesters at the Lekki Toll gate.
\nThe subsequent events, as a result of the zealous military assault, heralded lives lost,
\nproperties destroyed and economic activities halted. All these incidents, if the protesters had
\nbeen satisfactorily negotiated with, could have avoided the resultant carnage, butchery and
\nmassacre. The shooting at the largely peaceful protesters at the Lekki tollgate by soldiers has
\nbecome a watershed in the history of protests in Nigeria.
\nBola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, in his response to
\nthe #EndSARS protests issued a statement titled, The #Endsars Protests; a Fundamental
\nLesson in Democratic Governance. The written statement served two major thrusts: one,
\ncommiserate with those who lost lives and properties with a recommendation of some sort of
\ncompensation for them; and two, engage his political enemies in a fierce rebuttal, exoneration
\nand counterclaim.
\nIndeed, a larger portion of the statement, apart from a few lines used to commiserate with the
\ncasualties of the Lekki Massacre, was used, as would have been expected, to settle scores
\nwith his political enemies.
\nHe discredited his alleged act of ordering the shootings at the #EndSARS protesters. He
\nwrote, \u201cHere, let me directly address the sharp point aimed against me. I have been falsely
\naccused of ordering the reported deployment of soldiers against peaceful protesters that took
\nplace at Lekki on 20 October 2020\u201d. He claimed that the piece of news was a \u201ccomplete and
\nterrible lie\u201d.
\nFurthermore, Bola Ahmed Tinubu illuminated and jazzed up his restraints, imperfections and
\ndifficulties with the current administration. He argued, \u201cAs a political figure, I am accustomed
\nto people attributing to me all manner of indiscretions of which I have no knowledge and in
\nwhich I played no role. I have usually ignored such falsities as the cost of being in the public
\neye.\u201d This portrayal, he said, \u201cis the foulest of lies\u201d.
\nLikewise, Bola Ahmed Tinubu used the occasion to highlight on his political flagellation, with
\nthe aim of achieving some form of atonement with the people. Thus, you read in his speech
\nsuch phrases as, \u201cSome maligned my name\u201d, \u201cI became the most available scapegoat\u201d, \u201cThey
\nthen sought to sow enmity between me and the people\u201d, \u201cEfforts against me\u201d, \u201cTerrible and
\nvile fabrications now cast at my feet\u201d, \u201cThe slander aimed at me\u201d.
\nHe referred to the actions of his political enemies as, \u201cTerrible and vile\u201d, \u201cHate\u201d, \u201cUnfounded
\nanimus\u201d, \u201cGossip\u201d, and \u201cEvil fiction\u201d. It is evident that Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not wish to
\nkeep even his enemies closer. He perceives little or no redemption or reconciliation with them.
\nTo him, his enemies are fortified to scuttle his future political ambitions and he offered no hope
\nof accord, concord, rapport or harmony with them.
\nIt is said that our attitude is a reflection of our evaluation and assessments of people, groups
\nand objects in the world and it impacts our perceptions and behaviour towards those people,
\ngroups or objects. Our expressed psychological tendency to evaluate a particular situation
\nwith either favourable or unfavourable outcomes is often a reflection of our personality,
\ndecision making process and our judgments.
\nFor me, I doubt if Bola Ahmed Tinubu\u2019s overall evaluation and response to the #EndSARS
\nprotests is sufficient, normal and satisfactory. His expressed emotional assessment implied
\nby his written statement was utilised to largely condemn his critics and perceived enemies to
\nhades. This is a move that might haunt him politically for life. His speech could have been
\nused in a statelier manner to win over his critics. Rather his expressed views, drawn from the
\ndeposits of his conscious or unconscious emotional bank, missed the mark. The Holy Writ
\nalso admonished us, \u201cif thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink\u201d.
\nI perceive that Bola Ahmed Tinubu lost an awe-inspiring opportunity due to his incomplete,
\nnarrow, partial and fractional assessment of the #EndSARS protests. This would definitely not
\nhelp to keep his friends close and even his enemies closer; both virtues which remain
\nindispensable to his future political ambitions.
\nHe rightly noted and concluded, \u201cLekki tollgate killings have complicated matters for me\u201d.
\nWhen and how the manifestation of the complications would evolve remain a matter for future
\ndiscourse, but there are strong indications that Bola Ahmed Tinubu\u2019s future political ambition
\nof emerging as Nigeria\u2019s future President might have been nipped in the bud.
\nFor Michael Corleone, his father had taught him that to succeed, he needed to keep his friends
\nclose and his enemies even closer. His ability to consolidate on his gains and opportunities
\nlies on these two strategic pillars of virtue.
\nMichael Corleone did fail. At the end of three-hour long movie epic, we see Michael cut to a
\nsolitary figure. A coldblooded and inanimate psychotic gangster sitting on a chair, perhaps
\nreflecting on his heartless and emotional emptiness, a moral desert you might call him. Just
\nbefore his solitude, he ordered the execution of his elder brother, kicked out his estranged
\nwife and confirmed the assassinations of all his enemies. He cut a dejected figure, a callous
\nemperor of a vain empire. He had not kept his friends close, nor his kept his enemies even
\ncloser.
\nThe Godfather: Part II won six Academy Awards including the most coveted award of Best
\nPicture for 1974
\nBy Tobi Christopher Oluwasona
\nJohannesburg, South Africa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Godfather: Part II is not an ordinary movie. It is both a prequel and a sequel to the original mammoth cinematic epic, The Godfather. One of the main characters,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n