The coffee table gift of satire from Asukwo’s pen

The exciting and instructive pen strokes of the outstanding cartoonist of this age are now available in a coffee table book. Mike Asukwo (2023), A General Caught Napping, offers a comedic recap of the eight years of former president Muhammadu Buhari. It is a must-have for bibliophiles and engaged citizens.

Political cartoonists serve citizens in several ways. They hold power accountable, shape public discourse, and provide cultural commentary. Cartoonists can hold power responsible in at least three ways.

Cartoonists visually expose corruption, waste, and abuse of power by politicians and government officials, question and challenge government policies while highlighting their negative societal impacts, and they often satirise politicians and their actions, making their flaws and inconsistencies clear to the public.

Asukwo’s A General Caught Napping illustrates the power of the pen.

Cartoonists such as Asukwo are adept at shaping public discourse. They frame issues and shape public discourse, as many of the cartoons in this book did. Cartoonists can mobilise public opinion against injustice and inspire social and political change. Moreover, they promote civic engagement by encouraging citizens to become more engaged.

Renowned economist, entrepreneur and bank promoter Atedo Peterside penned the engaging foreword. He starts with critical questions.

Thought-provoking?
Patriotic?
Instructive?
Inspiring?
Educational?
Stimulating?

Peterside adds: “Imagine if the answer to the half a dozen questions listed above was an emphatic YES and then remind yourself that we are not talking about a 1000-word article, but asking for feedback about a collection of cartoons which largely depict the current state of affairs in Nigeria? Indeed, almost every cartoon that appears in this great collection ticks at least three of these half-a-dozen boxes.”

The 165 cartoons in A General Caught Napping cover several aspects of the Buhari regime’s interface with Nigerians. They include the absence of a road map, the NNPC as ATM, the many issues he government failed to tackle, the anti-corruption fight and non-fight, “turning the economy around”, and citizens eating one meal a day. The scope is broad and wide.

A General Caught Napping is even more pointed now for its reflections and commentary 18 months into President Bola Tinubu’s tenure and the All-Progressives Congress’s continued reign. The flashback is a veritable mirror as some things keep recurring.