Sacrificing One’s Parents for Political Party: Madness or Sycophancy? -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

I do not know how to start writing this column. I am confused; or is it shock? I am not sure if ‘confusion’ fits my state of mind. I think it is a shock, trailed by amazement. How on earth would a person, whether sane or insane, proudly and publicly declare they are willing to sacrifice their parents for a political party?”

My reference is to a young man in Kogi State who reportedly posted online that he could sacrifice his parents for the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is identified on social media as Mc Isa Aha. He made the thoughtless and reckless statement about his parents in a video few days ago. If his post is taken literally, it implies his parents are worthless to him. The video went viral, and rightfully so. People are eager to see the face of the guy who not only ranks APC above his parents but is willing to sacrifice them for APC.

Mc Isa’s father wasted no time. After watching the video, he reportedly arrested the ‘useless boy’ on Tuesday evening. The no-nonsense father can’t bear to see himself on the sacrificial slab, to be sacrificed like a lamb by a ‘born-by-mistake’ child to please a political party (APC). Even if we consider APC a dangerous party and worse than PDP (the party it dislodged from power), even if we agree that the only success we can attribute to the APC is the unprecedented pain it has inflicted on common Nigerians, no one can say APC looks forward to seeing its loyalists sacrifice their parents for it.

What Mc Isa said he would do is evidently self-sent errand. Though he intends to do so on behalf of APC, he couldn’t have been sent by APC. Mc Isa is on his own. I am curious to know what got hold of Mc Isa — madness or sycophancy taken too far? To conclude it is madness, a psychiatrist’s input might be needed. But to save time and resources, a friend of his who appears to be his best friend does not think Mc Isa is mad. He wrote in a Facebook post: “Please, my good people, I want us to beg his father to release my friend. It was a mistake and it won’t happen again”.

But can someone mistakenly make such a reckless utterance? Mc Isa’s friend needs to be arrested too. They are probably birds of a feather. This is not how to defend a friend. Or could it be a slip of the tongue? Mc Isa would have immediately corrected himself if it were a slip of the tongue. I am using this platform to join others in praising Mc Isa’s father for acting swiftly. He is probably one of those Ebira parents who do not tolerate nonsense. Kudos to him.

Other parents should learn from Mc Isa’s father. Let’s take drastic action, without reluctance, when we notice erratic behavior in our children. One plausible explanation is that Mc Isa wanted to trend. But this explanation gets complicated because denigration of one’s parents is involved. Parents are not to be joked with. Why would anyone in their right mind think they can trend by denigrating their parents? Agreed, Mc Isa has trended (and is trending); but is this how to trend?

I am aware that in some ancient cultures, people made human sacrifices to gods. This practice persists to this day. Historical records show that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians practiced child sacrifice to gods like Moloch and Baal. Read “People of the Past: Phoenicians” by Glenn Markoe (2000). In some cultures, human sacrifice, including child sacrifice, was practiced to appease deities or ancestors. The Aztecs are typical example of this. They sacrificed children to gods. Read “The Aztecs: A Very Short Introduction” by David Carrasco (2013).

Other relevant historical books are “The Strange World of Human Sacrifice” edited by Jan N Bremmer (2007), “Human Sacrifice in History and Today” by Nigel Davies (1981), “Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece” by Dennis D. Hughes (1991), etc.

I went to great lengths to understand why people make human sacrifices and also to see if there are cases of children sacrificing their parents for whatever reason. There are indeed cases of slaves being sacrificed or buried alive to serve their dead masters (kings in most cases) in their graves. There are also cases where children were sacrificed by their parents in the name of religion and worship. What is rare is seeing children sacrificing their parents for a god. This is what we have learnt from history.

That said, we have transitioned to a new phase in our history. Nowadays, children sacrifice parents. I will not say it is rare. I also do not know if I would be exaggerating to say it is common. Two years ago, on December 23, 2023, I wrote a column titled “Killing One’s Parents for the Fun of it”. In it, I chronicled cases of children sacrificing their parents for money rituals in Nigeria.

To emphasize the incidence of patricide and matricide, I limited the cited cases in the column to 2023 alone. What I have not seen or heard of is a son beating his chest, saying he could sacrifice his parents for a political party. Sacrificing one’s parents for money rituals? Yes, we have seen this happening. It s possible, even if it is terribly ugly and condemnable. But sacrificing one’s parents for a political party? I have not seen that happening anywhere. Mc Isa would have set a record and a precedent, but his father, who is not ready to be a sacrificial lamb, cried out.

Those who think Mc Isa is just being sycophantic and did not mean what he said should get their heads examined. That was my initial thought too, but I quickly examined my head to see if I am okay, having written quite a number of articles on human sacrifice for rituals.

All those whose parents are alive should know that parents are metaphorically next to God. We must not belittle them. They are not sacrificeable. No human being in existence should be placed above them except the Ever Lasting God Who created them. It does not matter whether we like our parents or not. It does not matter whether they practice the religion we profess or not.

I should add this: it does not matter whether they belong to our political party or not. Atiku Abubakar’s son, Abubakar Atiku Abubakar (also known as Abba), recently joined APC and declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. Yet his father had contested and will be contesting against Tinubu.

Similarly, Bello El-Rufai, a member of the House of Representatives and son of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, also declared his support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027. Mc Isa, who is not by any stretch known in APC but wants to be known by force, should learn from Bello El-Rufai, who, while emphasizing his loyalty to APC, would not sacrifice his father. Despite the fact that his father is a staunch opposition figure to Tinubu, he states clearly: “I love my father. I respect Asiwaju. I will never do anything against my party’s interest as long as I am a member. But I will never compromise my principles”. This is how to display constitutional right of association.

I will conclude that Mc Isa is a psychopathic sycophant whose condition needs utmost attention. His father had taken the first step by getting him arrested. No one should listen to his friend who is calling on people to plead with Mc Isa’s father after the arrest. No one should plead on his behalf until he shows doubtless remorse. Even after that, he should spend some time in a psychiatric hospital for monitoring. Parents no be joke o. May God have mercy on our parents.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen 

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com