PROFILE IN ARROGANCE OF SHAME: LESSONS FROM KING KAISER
There was a mythical king who lived in Germany called Kaiser. Because of his obsession with materialism and popularity, the king ran himself into many disgraceful adventures. At funerals, King Kaiser would wished he was the coffin; at weddings, he would wished he was the bride or the groom; in hospitals, he would wished he was the patients; in aircraft, he would wished he was the pilot; in football pitches, he would wish he was the man of the match, etc. Everywhere he went, he craved being the centre of attraction.
Generally, any man who is obsessed with fame, falls for anything provide doing so, in his estimation, will add to his popularity. King Kaiser was so vulnerable and prone to deception in that sense. A classical example of the king's vulnerability was an encounter a vain Emperor (probably King Kaiser himself) had with some three imposters as contained in a folktale titled "The Emperor's New Clothes" which was written by Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author in 1837 and reproduced here.
'The three impostors came to the king who loved beautiful clothes and told him they were cloth-weavers, and could fabricate a cloth of so peculiar, a nature, that a legitimate son of his father could see the cloth but if he were illegitimate; though believed to be legitimate, he could not see it. The king was much pleased at this, thinking that by this means he would be able to distinguish the men in his kingdom who were legitimate sons of their supposed fathers from those who were not and so be enabled to increase his treasures.
'In the culture of the Moors, only legitimate children inherit their father's property. Therefore, the king ordered a palace to be appropriated towards the manufacture of this cloth and for the three imposters to convince him that they had no intention of deceiving him, they agreed to be shut up in this palace until the cloth was manufactured and the king was satisfied with the king idea.
'After the weavers were supplied with large quantity of gold, silver, silk and many other things, they entered the palace and, putting their looms in order, made everybody understood that they were working all day at the cloth. And after some days, one of weaving imposters came to the king and told him the weaving of the special cloth had commenced and that it was the most curious thing in the world. He described the design and construction and then pleaded with the king to honour them with a visit but begged he would went alone. The king was much pleased but wishing to have the opinion of someone first, he sent the lord Chamberlain, one of his most reliable men to see it to enable him know if they were deceiving him or not.
'When Lord Chamberlain saw the workmen and heard all they had to say, he dared not admit he could not see the cloth. He returned and told the king and that he had seen it. The king sent, yet, another who gave the same report. With the favourable feedback, he decied and went there himself.
'On entering the palace and saw the men at work. They began to describe the texture and relate the origin of the invention, the design and the colour in which they all appeared to agree, although, in reality they were not working. When the king saw how they appeared to work and heard the character of the cloth so minutely described, he began to feel very uneasy. His fear was that he might not be the son of the king who was supposed to be his father and that if he acknowledged he could not see the cloth, then he might lose his kingdom. To avoid that, therefore, the king began praising the fabric, describing its peculiarities in the manner the workmen did. Afterall, the lord chamberlains earlier sent brought the same feedback.
'On the return to his palace, the King related to his people how good and marvelous was the cloth. Even he had the suspicion that something was wrong, he kept that to himself.
'Two or three days past and the king requested his Alguacil (officer of justice) to go and see the cloth. When the Alguacil entered and saw the workmen who, as usual, had described the figures and pattern of the cloth the king had gone to see but he could not see it himself; he doubted his legitimacy as the son of his father. For fear that he would lose his honorable position, he started praising the cloth even more highly than the others who had gone there before him.
'When the Alguacil returned with the feedback that he had seen the cloth and describing it as the most extraordinary production ever seen in the world, the king was much disconcerted. He and concluded within him that he was not the legitimate son of his father as was generally supposed, since Alguacil could see what he did not see. He, therefore, did not hesitate to praise the excellency of the cloth and the skill of the workmen who made it.
'Messengers after messenger went and came with the same feetback. The king had been deceived as no one dare say he did not see the cloth for fear of being illegitimate. Things, therefore, went on this way until there came a great feast where all, especially, requested the king to be dressed in some of the cloth. The workmen were ordered and they brought some rolled up in a very fine linen and inquired of the king how much of it he wished them to cut off. The the king gave orders on how much and how to make it up and that was done.
'The D-day of great feast came, there was no cloth but the king there not mentioned that. When the king had professed to dress himself in this suit, he mounted on horseback and rode into the city. It was summertime and the people seeing his majesty come completely naked were much surprised but knowing that those who could not see this cloth would be considered illegitimate sons of their fathers, kept their surprise to themselves, fearing consequential dishonour that could come upon any one who made any honest declaration. However, there was a negro who distinguished himself.
'The negro who notice the king's nakedness (it was obvious, really) and determined he has nothing to lose, came to him and said "Sir, to me it matters not whose son I am, therefore, I tell you that you are riding without any clothes". On this the king began beating him, saying, he was not the legitimate son of his supposed father. But no sooner had the negro said this, that others were convinced of its truth and said the same.
'At this point, the king and with all the people lost the fear of declaring the truth and saw through the trick which the impostors had made them the victims.When the weavers were sought for, they were found to have fled, taking with them all they had received from the king.'
The story reproduced here was fictional but the reality of it is before us today. We leave In a society where everything is faked. Nobody values the truth anymore but lives in total denial of our nakedness even in high places. Because everybody wants to belong, people have lose common sense and have chosen to go with the band wagon in pursuit of relevance.
The author is unknown who said kings are men before God and gods before me. Also, 'those whom the gods wish to destroy, Heathen Proverb says, 'they first make mad.' The action of king Kaiser in our story reflects the tragedy of a king whom the gods have rejected and wants to destroy, I imagine. It is only a kind that is destined for utter ruin could stoop so low to the extend of decieving even himself. The action of the king was a profile in arrogance of shame which will leave his people in perpetual ridicule in the eyes of their neighbours.
That a whole kingdom and its revered king were tricked with ease by imposters revealed how cheap the kingdom was. It is even more worrisome considering that the king who should have insight and see beyond his subjects could not resist the deception of imposters that invaded the land. When a high king obliged to dance naked in a public square, then, his subjects are doomed except otherwise they rise to the occasion to defend themselves.
It was George Orwell that says, "in time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutary act." In times like this, the revolutionary act of the nego is the way to go to save the political situation facing the land. In doing this, the king might beat us but truth shall, eventually, win to the utter shame of the ruler!
It is high time we call a spade a spade. People who desire equity and freedom must delight in the truth. The primary responsibility of a shepherd king is to lay his life for the sake of his flock but ours has abdicated from this responsibility. Our king is deficating everywhere and even under every shed in town. Transition fever is compounded the king's problem and I dare ask: Where shall he run to at the expiration of his reign? Your guess is as good as mine!
As this piece gets close to conclusion, let's borrow from words of Festus Adedayo who wrote in his January 16, 2022 article entitled, "Why Bola Tinubu must Never be Nigeria's President" which reads as follow: "It should gladden us that Yoruba are the ones revealing the maggots in their home so that when they expose the maggot in others, they will occupy a higher moral ground. It is better for Yoruba not to lift a presidential leg forward than lift one that is riddle with a festering and putrid sore. In any case, what Nigeria needs is a president that is a leader who is not crippled by I'll health and is adequately schooled in the nuances of 21st Century solutions to our self-inflicted, existential challenges."
Yorubas are credible stakeholders in the Nigerian Project. For the avoidance of doubt, the concern here is not about having a President of Yoruba extraction, not all. In fact, two Yorubas have been democratically elected into power in this country: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and MKO Abiola, although, the latter's victory was annulled. The issue at stake here is the Muslim - Muslim ticket in which the justification for it as provided by the presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was found to be unsettling; yet, our king who should know better is a cheap chief promoter. Anyway, that is democracy for you: Everyone is entitled to his opinion!
Democracy or its derivatives, it is a worthy reminder to caution ourselves in the words of Dwight Moody who said: "Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but succeeding at something that doesn't really matter." Whatever is not authentic and virtuous can never be validated by self delusion or fear of rejection. The reality of crass hypocrisy and deception is with us in this country today and we must act fast to redeem ourselves before percieved 'imposters' trick us and disappear with our common heritage. Our nation - state must survive. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its component units for which Plateau State is one!
