LIFE AFTER PUBLIC SERVICE AND RETIREMENT – THE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER EXAMPLE FOR NIGERIAN POLITICIANS AND ALL TO LEARN FROM

By Zik Gbemre

An interesting twist of life was recently made viral on social and corporate media when famed actor and former Governor of California, USA, Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a photo of himself sleeping on the street under his famous bronze stature and sadly wrote: “How times have changed…” The reason he wrote the phrase was not only because he was old, but because when he was Governor of California he inaugurated a hotel with his stature. The Hotel Staff then told Arnold that, “at any moment you can come and have a room reserved for you.” When Arnold stepped down as governor and went to the hotel, the administration there refused to give him a room arguing that he should pay for it, since they were in great demand.

Arnold Schwarzenegger then brought a sleeping bag and stood underneath the said stature and explained what he wanted to convey: “When I was in an important position, they always complimented me, and when I lost this position, they forgot about me and did not keep to their promise. Do not trust your position or the amount of money you have, nor your power, nor your intelligence, it will not last.”

Those are strong and profound words of wisdom from a man that has come to realize that everything in this life is vanity upon vanity. And as such, people need to wise up, especially those in political power, who may be blinded by their present status and fringe benefits which attract friends and relatives that will clog around them when the going is good, but will abandon them when the chips are down.

Let us be reminded that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man who began lifting weights at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times, remaining a prominent presence in bodybuilding and writing many books and articles on the sport. This is a man who gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action film icon with so many box-office hit movies to his name, one of which is the famous movie COMMANDO. This is a man who, as a Republican, was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis. He was sworn in on November 17, to serve the remainder of Davis’ term. He was then re-elected in the 2006 California Gubernatorial election, to serve a full term as Governor. In 2011, he completed his second term as governor and returned to acting. Yet, here he is advising all never to trust on the riches and status they occupy or find themselves in the society.

It is known that, upon retirement, several effects ranging from loss of social status, loss of fringe benefits and privileges, loss of relationships and loss of authority are experienced by the retirees or those who leave an important public office. And we all know that no amount of age-falsification can stop the “inevitability of retirement/active service”, especially for the non-self-employed who are pinned to a retirement age now 60/65 years which is the limit, except for Supreme Court Judges who are to retire at the age 70 years. While a self-employed or a businessman works till he is tired and no longer fit before he retires, it is a different ball game for those employed in the public and private sector. It is also evident that one’s position, for example as an Executive Officer in an establishment or in the Executive Arm of Government, often attracts a lot of ‘societal recognition’ and privileges. When one is in such Executive position, it presents a lot of ‘attached-friends, so-called-loyalists’ of the same status, where parties/get- together, exchange of gift items and felicitations during festive seasons and anniversaries, all become part of one’s lifestyle. But once one retires/leaves office and is no longer occupying such an Executive position, all the attached friends will disappear, leaving one lonely. Such societal isolation of retirees is absolutely wrong and should be condemned.

The Nigerian society is one where people’s relationships with others are primarily driven by what they would gain/benefit from such relationships. Once you are active and doing well financially and positionally in societal status ladder, you attract friends like bees, most of who are sycophants and praise singers. But once the chips are down as a result of retirement or leaving office, that person is isolated by the society and the same so-called-close-associates. That is why most boring retirees in Nigeria do not live long. Though, this is rather an unfortunate situation which our society needs to change from such attitude.

Take former President Goodluck Jonathan for instance, it became quite evident that he no longer had the sort of crowd of friends that he had when he was in office as Nigeria’s President. Obviously, majority of the friends and political party affiliates who benefitted from Jonathan’s rather ‘loose and care-free government,’ have all vanished and turned their backs on him immediately he lost the presidential race to President Muhammadu Buhari. These were the same set of persons who always sing-Jonathan’s praises and his administration even when it was glaringly clear that the level of indiscipline and corruption in various sectors were overwhelmingly disturbing. The ‘attention’ now has been shifted to President Muhammadu Buhari. But we are also very sure that whenever he steps out of power as the President, this so-called friends-of-the-government will shift base and loyalty to the next President. Another good example is the immediate past Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who, when he was still in power, had a lot supporters that were singing his praises and spurring all kinds of support for him as one of the best things that has ever happened to Delta State. They were obviously doing this so as to gain one favour from him or the other. However, now that Uduaghan is no more in power, it is these same set of sycophants and praise-singers that are daily running down Uduaghan’s name and reputation, including re-circulating his recent viral interview video on Channels TV via social media platforms.

No one presently in power is spared from this very funny irony of life as described by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This includes Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Ahmed Tinubu of our time. These public office holders might be thinking that those flocking around them actually like them because of their relevance at the moment and they may think they are important. But they should wait until they leave office to find out if these persons will still remain around them. Like we said, this situation is not only peculiar to those in public offices, but it also affects those who were super rich in their communities. Such persons are usually no longer appreciated or have people flocking around them once the cash is no longer flowing. The Christmas hampers will no longer come in as usual. Only very few people will like to relate with them. A friend of mine, who was once a big Executive up there in one of the International Oil Companies (IOCs), is no longer getting even calls from his former Junior colleagues at his office. Even when he calls them on phone, may be just to greet them, they no longer pick his calls. Some even pretend not to see one when they pass one along the road.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous actor turned politician and former Governor of California, is no doubt educating every one of us, especially those presently in the limelight of public office, wealth, status and fame – that life is up and down and that many people just run after you because of what they hope, and will get from you, and not necessarily because they really like/love you.

Succinctly, people should prepare for life after active service/retirement. They should be prepared for the ‘reality’ that would hit them once they leave that status or position that once attracted a lot of goodies and attachments to their lives.

Zik Gbemre, JP.

National Coordinator

Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)