In a blistering social media post, prominent public commentator Mahdi Shehu has characterized Nigeria’s political system as fundamentally corrupted by greed, treachery, and inhumanity.

Shehu’s analysis, titled “DNA Sketching of Political Parties and Other Groups in Nigeria,” used stark biblical and metaphorical language to describe the country’s major political players.

A Party-by-Party Breakdown of Criticisms

Shehu likened the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to a modern-day “Pharaoh,” accusing the party of being dominated by individuals whose reign is “characterized by terror, greed, deception, dictatorship… and a delusional pretence to be God.”

He was equally critical of the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing it as a gathering of “repentant wolves still looking for sheep to feast on.” He declared the party “severely self-injured” and “gasping for oxygen,” predicting its imminent demise.

While acknowledging that the Labour Party (LP) contains “good people,” Shehu asserted it is rife with “envy, greed, backstabbing, and treachery.” He accused a faction of the party of betraying its cause, stating they have “a price tag” and have “swallowed the forbidden fruit of dollars and naira.”

He dismissed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as an alliance of “strange bedfellows and sworn enemies united by desperation for power,” who carry “daggers at hand and hate in their hearts.”

Smaller parties, he argued, are a “mixture of the good, the bad, the greedy,” who often wait for election cycles “to cash out.”

The Root of the Crisis: Selfish Desire

Citing a biblical verse (James 4:1-4), Shehu concluded that the root of Nigeria’s political and social crises lies in the unchecked selfish desires and greed of the political class.

These attitudes, he stated, have turned life in Nigeria into one marked by “suffering, fear, instability, deceit, selfishness, and a lack of compassion.”

His final verdict on the state of Nigerian politics was a terse: “Pity, sad, disgusting, and indeed a shame.”