Lagos — "There was never a person who hadn't been changed by power, and there would never be one." This is a quote from my novel, The Inside Woman, which has been accepted for publishing in Europe. Power changes people on the home front, in boardrooms of corporate organisations, and for sure, in politics.

Political godfathers seem to appreciate this human nature and that is why they resort to various tactics to keep their godsons trapped. But no matter how hard they try, godfatherism backfires on them or the nation.

As in the practice of Mafia kingpins, there are those who sow favour in their godsons for loyalty and reciprocal favour. The strategy thrives on the hope that the godson has the conscience to feel indebted to his master. The bond here is weak, which is why in the mafia world, there are assassins lurking in the background to ensure that the debt is paid.

In the present Republic, there are political office holders who were virtually drafted into the political race that earned them their current positions. Former Head of State Olusegun Obasanjo has denied planting the incumbent, President Yar' Adua on Nigerians, but it is public knowledge that the latter's post-governorship plan was to head back to the university to teach chemistry.

Variants of this strategy are evident in many states including Lagos, Delta, Enugu, Benue and Zamfara. While some seem to be working, others have backfired. Basic reason: there was never a person who hadn't been changed by power.

Also popular in Nigeria is the practice in which godfathers get their beneficiaries to swear oaths of allegiance at dreaded shrines in spite of their professed religious faiths.

And who can beat the Anambra variant, where godfathers trapped a godson by getting him to sign undated resignation letters and filming him making resignation announcements. It is governorship election time in Anambra again, and already the storms are gathering. Sadly, Anambra shares a strange irony with Nigeria - highly resourced (with brilliant people) but it had been handicapped with a leadership challenge.

Motives of godfatherism are varied but they are all undemocratic, oppressive and self-serving. In Nigeria, godfathers use all resources available to them to award electoral "victory" to their godsons for some pecuniary motives. The case of the late Oyo State political Chieftain, Lamidi Adedibu and his godsons was not disguised. The old man wanted a stake in the state's resources and be the custodian of political power.

Most Nigerian leaders dread being exposed and punished for the ills they wrought on society and of losing pecks of office they enjoy at the expense of other citizens.

And because life after political office is hollow, godfathers seek people they can influence to succeed them so they remain continuously relevant; people who will also accord them some of the privileges of their offices.

But as the 49 years of the political history of Nigeria shows, godfatherism is synonymous with corruption and the erosion of the level playing required to produce best qualified people for political offices. Besides, it perpetuates or keeps on recycling a particular set of people in power, no matter how inept they are.

So, no matter how impoverished and oppressed the people are, they cannot change their leaders with their votes. Basically, that is the reason for the "arrested development" of the country.

However, for the simple reason that nature cannot be corrupted, godfatherism often backfires and when it does the people it was meant to cheat are happier for it. The nation's political landscape is strewn with many examples.

In Enugu, Chimaroke Nnamani chose Governor Sullivan Chime, as a last resort. Although he was a key member of the Nnamani administration, rising from the position of the Adviser on Legal Matters to Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Chime only became a choice after Nnamani's earlier plans ran into a hitch. Chime was thought to be loyal, level- headed and alive to his responsibility. Wrong. He is now his own man.

In Zamfara, Governor Aliyu Shinkafi is his own man. As a deputy governor, he was the favourite godson of his boss, Ahmend Sani, who supported him to take over power. Shinkafi's loyalty is now to the People Democratic Party, which he has decamped to, and not Sani or the All Nigeria Peoples Party.

It is said that former Governor Ahmed Makarfi contributed to Namadi Sambo's success, but he is not recognized as the incumbent's political godfather in Kaduna State.

There are examples at national levels in almost all African countries, but the most celebrated is the travail of former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba. This friend of Nigeria's Pastor T.B. Joshua breathed the air of freedom only last month after he was acquitted of corruption charges at the end of a landmark six-year trial. The case against him was initiated by his hand-picked successor, the late President Levy Mwanawasa.

The most humiliating of the allegations against him during his decade in charge, was that despite a salary of £50,000, he managed to buy suits and crocodile skin shoes in a Swiss boutique at a cost of more than £600,000. Chiluba, a dandy, had a penchant for Cuban-heeled shoes.

This is where the story gets interesting. In a testimony, Chiluba expressed outrage at what he felt was Mwanawasa's betrayal. "The presidency in Africa is not cheap. People die to secure the presidency. But here was Mr. Mwanawasa, who received it on a silver platter from my hands. He stabbed me in the back badly. I still bleed," Chiluba is reported to have said in a transcript.

Mwanawasa won the support of pro-democracy activists around the world as a maverick, who challenged the patronage politics and tolerance for authoritarian rule that have ruined many post-colonial African countries.

However, he died in a Paris hospital, where he was receiving treatment after suffering a stroke in June 2008. Mwanawasa, who was 59 years old, was evacuated to France after he collapsed with a mild stroke in late June on the eve of an African Union summit in Egypt.

So how does godfatherism backfire? Simple. No two people are the same. Even if a godfather and his godson are identical twins, they are unlikely to react to situations and issues in the same way.

Godfatherism also snaps when godfathers over-reach themselves as puppeteers, insisting on a share of public funds and clearing political decisions.

In Nigeria, where power is absolute, it corrupts and makes godfatherism backfire. Unlike socialized power, which is power used to benefit others and makes leaders primarily concerned with the best interests of their constituents, power in Nigeria is personalized power. Personalized power is the use of power for personal gain. The more of personalized power a leader possesses, the more he focuses on his own egocentric desires and the less able they are to see others' perspectives.

Although it looks for now that godfatherism is ingrained in our polity, it is believed that the system will someday evolve many Mwanawasas and all the nonsense will stop.