A Personal Letter To The Bishop Of Asamankama

…Seniority Complex And The Political Theory Of Organised Chaos

To you my Dear Ego-Andrum, Bishop of the Seipsum-Elevatur Catholic Diocese of Asamankama,

I am reading a copy of the best-selling book on the new political theory called Organized Chaos. I recommend that book for your reading pleasure. I just got through the chapter on Seniority Complex, and I wish to share some points with you, if you do not mind.

A very prominent man in society, who was well respected, had for weeks been saddled with coming out with a solution to end some injustice in the community. When he thought he had almost arrived at the solution, he carried his files home without any aid, went home and locked them in his wardrobe. Locking up his room, he stepped out of the house and headed to church to consult the Great Spirit. But church, as we know, is an assembly of believers, and he did meet with some of his colleagues and mates in whom we share one belief other than religion. After talking with them for a long while, he found the solution, but that will mean to go along with the club members and damn the truth. This is the case of Seniority Complex.

A Minister of State in charge of Industrial Developments was told at Cabinet that the government had landed a billion dollar grant to build a fish processing plant. That weekend, he went to his village and met with the elders, and as usual, they talked about governmental issues. When he mentioned the intended processing plant, he was told to locate it in the village, so that posterity will honour his name and his family for generations to come. There was a problem here, though. The nearest fishing community was about thirty kilometres away, and there was no water body around the village to be used for the development of aqua-culture. Upon demands from the elders, he decided that he would construct a first class road from the fishing community to his village, where the multi-complex state of the art fish processing plant will be located. Of course, the opposition could cry foul and shouted their throats hoarse. If cocoa farms are here in the tropics, but chocolate factories are thousands of kilometres away in Europe, what will the fuss be about if a fish processing plant is located only thirty kilometres away from the raw material base? All this came about because of the case of Seniority Complex.

A young lady, barely seventeen, stood out among her peers as the most beautiful and most elegant. One randy elder in the community lusted for her and started sexually harassing her. The teenager, who had vowed to be virgin until her wedding night, was certainly not amused, and reported the old man to the Council of Elders. After an investigation that took six weeks, the council summoned both the accuser and the accused. After hearing both sides, the girl was advised to stop talking bad about her elders and be a good girl, and was dismissed. She went home very confused, not knowing whether she did the right thing by reporting that naughty old man to the elders. Now she had been labeled a bad nut. After she left the old man was dressed down by his colleagues. But was this justice or another case of seniority complex?

A university student of agriculture from a well-to-do home became the girlfriend of a male student from a poor home. What mattered was love, and the two stuck to each other, as their love grew in leaps and bonds. A lecturer wanted to have the lady to be his belly-warmer. Unfortunately, he was flatly turned down, and was left in shame. He decided to teach the student a lesson, and became even more determined when he realised that her boyfriend was a social non-entity. The only way he could do so was to fail both lovers. But tough luck, he was not teaching in the Agric. Faculty. He went to see his colleagues who taught the subjects the students read; it was in the final year and the two were on the way to securing first class.

When the final semester results came, the two lovers scored Ds, Es and Fs. On the grade sheet they simply crash-landed and could not even graduate. It was a simple case of Seniority Complex. The lady called and paid for the remarking of both her and her boyfriend’s papers. The same results were returned, so the next thing was to apply for the papers to be remarked overseas. The results came with both students scoring As in all subjects. This is what Seniority Complex can do.

It so happened that the boss in an office was very much disliked, but no one dared make him aware. He was described as the ugliest human alive by his subordinates, who took turns making fun of his looks, especially his crookedly shaped head.

One day his son was brought to him at work, and all the female workers were all over the kid, praising him for his good looks: “Oh what a very handsome kid! Look at his head, just like his father’s.” This is the case of Seniority Complex.

Amu was a driver in a bank. He was assigned to drive one of the directors who had one of female staff as his girlfriend. Every other weekend, the Director would assign himself for a trek to Kumasi. He would fly with the lady, while Amu would have to drive all the way to Kumasi to wait for his boss and his mistress. According to him, while the aircraft was flying high, he was driving fast to catch up. This is a case of Seniority Complex.

What about this one? A member of staff fell in love with another, and went on to engage her to be his wife. This girl, meanwhile, was the lover of a director in the workplace. The big boss had hired and fully furnished an apartment for the lady. He went in freely in the evenings, and when he got in the junior staff husband of the lady had to get out and wait in the cold for hours until the big man finished what he came for and left. This is a case of Seniority Complex.

A soccer league match was taking place between a little known club and a high profile one. The referees and the match commissioner supported the top team, which has its supporters covering over eighty percent of the spectators in the arena. Fouls committed by the top club are openly overlooked, but slight and even strange infringements were ruled against the lesser known club, which completely out played their opponents in all departments. All goals scored by them were disallowed, and the game, which was to have only five minutes time added on, went on for another twelve minutes with bad penalty and offside-cum-hand ball allowed against the lesser club. The top club must win that game at all cost to win the league. This is another case of Seniority Complex.

In 1977, a young unknown boxer reported to his regional sports administration to be made a member of the region’s boxing squad for the National Sports Festival. Looking at his diminutive figure, and the fact that he was never known in the boxing circles, he was turned away without even going through trials. He walked into the prison’s offices and was accepted. Before his first bout, his coach advised him that in boxing you need to knock out your opponent before you will be declared winner, especially when you are unknown. He took that advice and knocked out every opponent who came to face him. He went on to win the gold medal, and then the commonwealth medal, and shifted to professional boxing to become a legend and highly respected. It was a case of Seniority Complex that made his region denounce him.

Seniority Complex is that aspect of Organised Chaos, when everything is determined by age, experience, power, wealth, and favouritism, based on whom you know or relationship. You can be guaranteed that many job applicants who are turned down, did not meet one important requirement, favouritism, as in not from a known and popular school, and or not related to somebody who is somebody, or who knows somebody.

This Seniority Complex syndrome is an obstacle to our advancement and development. People lose justice through no crime of theirs, but because they are juniors (unknown, unconnected, etc., etc.). Adeola Fayehun, of Keeping it Real with Adeola fame, has always been lamenting of how big time personalities, who, in her words, steal billions of naira, were always left off the hook, but those youth without jobs, who do yahuu yahuu, could easily find themselves behind bars for stealing a common mobile phone. This is Seniority Complex, and this is Africa.

In political parties this side of the globe, the ancients in the party will hold on to power until thy kingdom come, ermmm nothing wrong with that. However, for them to class those between the ages fifty to sixty years as youth is a bit puzzling. Nationally, a youth is one between thirteen and thirty-five years, while in most advanced nations, the upper limit is twenty-five years. Yet, in our political parties who are direct in line to rule the country, a fifty-five year old is still a youth.

Most of the ancients nationwide always have their ways by doing what they want, but the youth dare not challenge them, even if it meant that the laws of the land were violated. But you have the courts, one may say. Well, in the courts are their playmates from nursery school, and in our culture, the adult does no wrong.

So our prominent man sat with his extended family members and spoke so much in favour of the juniors, but strangely pronounces verdict for the seniors. That night, instead of having a sound sleep, with even his pen having more ruminants he could easily count, and his pillow was puffed up because of a fat envelope under the blanket, he asked himself, times without number, why he could sell his conscience. He sadly realised that the Seniority Complex syndrome he always fought against had now infected with him. The virus has attacked his moral immune system, and he wondered whether he would be cured. Maybe, after confession, the Lord will have mercy on him and wash away his sins, then he hoped to hear those sweet words of Jesus, “Go and sin here no more.”

My Lord Bishop what is your take on this?

Your grandson in Christ,

Hon. Daniel Dugan.