Afolabi Gambari
German villain and unarguably one of the most unthinking humans to have walked on the surface of the earth, Adolf Hitler, may be a faint memory to many in Nigeria today. But he is not faint to world history, which has his record intact and will last forever.
For those who may have forgotten who Hitler was and need to be refreshed, however, below is another opportunity to re-enter the world of the petit man who cruised on the pedestal of infamy till he was consumed by his pursuits, particularly from 1933 when he rose to power until 1945 when – hemmed from all angles and having nothing else to do to escape a humiliating end – he simply decisioned himself by committing suicide.
Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary in 1889 and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in the First World War, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919, he joined the German Workers’ Party (DAP), which preceded the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed the leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, but he ended up serving only one year.
Sequel to his release from prison in 1924, he gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism, antisemitism and anti-communism, deploying heavy dose of oratory and Nazi propaganda to good effect. He also ceaselessly denounced communism as being “part of an international Jewish conspiracy”. By January 1933, deploying some devious means, he had been appointed as the German Chancellor. There began a reign that would see him not only detaching himself from all those that helped his rise to power but also devising his methods that aimed principally to keep the Germans engaged in thinking only about him while also employing all manner of strategies to keep them in check through a propaganda machine that was unheard of or ever contemplated.
Interestingly, despite all the control that Hitler had over the majority of Germans, he still lived in fear. The fear he harboured was palpable.
For him, the propaganda machine must continue to be oiled at whatever cost; the better to ease his fear.
As soon as he gained absolute power in 1934, he began to implement numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews. Nevertheless, his first six years in power achieved rapid economic recovery for Germany from the Great Depression. But he soon began to dream expansionist agenda, leading him to invade Poland in 1939 and triggering Britain and France to declare war on Germany. But he was not overawed. By June 1941, he still ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union, and in December of the same year, declared war on the United States, as German forces and the European Axis occupied most of Europe and North Africa. From early 1942, however, the gains garnered by Hitler were gradually reversed, and on April 29 1945, the Allied armies defeated his strong army roundly, coinciding with his marriage to longtime partner, Eva Braun, in the Berlin bunker where he had hidden himself as the Allied forces marched triumphantly into Germany. The next day, on April 30, Hitler and Braun committed suicide, ostensibly to avoid being captured by the invading armies. He fell like he never rose!
Hitler would later be recorded in history as “the embodiment of modern political evil” whose racist ideology was responsible for the conscious and deliberate killing of an estimated six million Jews and millions of other victims, in addition to being also responsible for the willful killing of an estimated 19 million civilians and prisoners of war. Nothing better describes infamy even in the mildest of terms.
But let it be known today that Hitler would not have attained the infamy if he had not been enabled and indulged. Let it also be known that there are Hitler incarnates in the present-day world. Certainly, they are in Nigeria. One is in Abuja as superintendent of the Federal Capital Territory. He may not necessarily be on the same scale as the German Hitler. But Hitler had also started “small” and – through megalomania – was able to convince his people that he was their desired leader, and he was serving them “to the best of his ability” and all he did was “for the good of the people”. He sweet-tongued the Germans into believing that he needed greater authority to perform maximally. He got his wish granted, but the Germans ended up regretting such a grant till today and probably will continue to do so till the end of time.
Like Hitler, the Abuja incarnate rose from a humble background and struggled to work his way to wherever his energy could get him. But he got lucky to be aided by mentors and benefactors, ensuring his meteoric rise in the political equation. Upon getting to the top, he has not only differed with the mentors and benefactors but has also disowned them publicly. In his reckoning, he made himself politically. In all of this, he has received applause from his enablers and is encouraged to entertain the audience more. To protect his interest, he has rendered his home state democratically ungovernable in a democracy. In a classic case of eating the cake and still having it, the Abuja City superintendent would not only deny the party that threw him up; he would also not allow peace to reign in the party. He is applauded for these feats and indulged by his captive audience, which makes him more empowered.
Yet, he is far from satisfied. Like Hitler, he seeks more power, ostensibly to be able to “do what no one before him has done”. More than aping his progenitor, Hitler, playing God seems appealing to him now. But didn’t time sort Hitler out? Some incarnates just never learn in good time as they embark on the path of ruin.
