OJEBEGO AS A LANGUAGE OF TRANSACTIONAL LOYALTY IN NIGERIA: A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW

Abstract

The expression Ojebego commonly translated as “you are going for us”, has become a recurring feature of electoral encounters in Nigeria, particularly during political campaigns. This article examines Ojebego as a socio-political language that signals transactional loyalty rather than principled civic commitment. The objective of the study is to analyse the moral and philosophical significance of this expression and to assess its implications for political loyalty and democratic practice in Nigeria. Methodologically, the paper adopts a qualitative philosophical approach, combining conceptual analysis with normative political theory. It draws on social contract theory, African communitarian philosophy, and political economy to interpret Ojebego within Nigeria’s postcolonial governance context. Rather than treating the expression as mere political rhetoric or voter cynicism, the study situates it within the lived realities of institutional failure, economic precarity, and weakened civic trust. The findings reveal that Ojebego embodies a form of conditional political allegiance shaped by rational survival strategies under conditions of structural injustice. While the expression reflects citizens’ moral agency and demand for performance from political leaders, its normalisation undermines civic virtue, erodes democratic accountability, and reinforces patron–client relations. The study further finds that Ojebego represents a distortion rather than a fulfilment of African communitarian ideals of loyalty and collective responsibility. The article concludes that addressing the moral problem represented by Ojebego requires more than voter moralisation. It calls for institutional credibility, social justice, and civic reorientation capable of restoring non-transactional political loyalty grounded in trust, accountability, and the common good.