African Leadership Learning And Conditioning From Russia’s Tyrant Vladimir Putin Hinders Democracy -By John Egbeazien Oshodi

Psychological conditioning from Russia is recently in the process of teaching, influencing, and affecting leaders in Africa who will then respond in a manner like the ways of Russia.

Observational learning is occurring through some African countries observing the behaviors of Putin’s Russian leadership and imitating his ways even if there is no full-scale reinforcement at the time, as western values continue to slowly show in African settings.

Psychologically, learning is the process by which new knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, and ideas are acquired by individuals, institutions, and even society.

On October 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted dozens of African heads from over 40 nations, including Nigeria, and it is possible that some of this learning will occur both unconsciously and consciously.

Behaviorally, under Putin’s leadership influence and teaching some leaders in Africa are learning to cling to power indefinitely, even when many of them have institutions modeled after western democracies.

African leaders are learning from Putin, who recently signed a law enabling him to stay in power until 2036. African leaders are learning from Putin, who, like Joseph Stalin, has caused untold misery to the Russian people.

Some African leaders are deeply conditioned by Putin’s style and habits of cronyism, corruption, repression of domestic opponents and free speech, and use of police and military aggression on citizens.

From Putin, African leaders will learn from a tyrant who attacked America’s democracy in 2016 through interference in U.S. elections.

In a psychological way, Putin is strengthening economic aid and military tool supplies in Africa. As such, these actions will serve as behavioral modifiers, reinforcers, and punishers. Putin is now able to influence, reward, and punish African nations should their leaders not behave in accordance with his teachings and ways.

Conditional learning due to association between African leaders and Putin, who is known for being more intolerant of civil society organizations and open media, have disdain for the rule of law, journalists, social media, and mismanagement of elections, manages a weak economy marked with extortion, kickbacks, and bribery, is modeled by African leadership.

Putin’s behaviors of armed aggression toward Ukraine because of Ukraine’s stand on sovereignty and self-determination by openly declaring bloodshed and destruction, are seen in Nigeria under Buhari’s administration regarding the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), whose agitations for self-determination and independence have led to the Buhari-led government’s being accused of killing hundreds of members of IPOB.

The mind of Putin is filled with egotism, vengeance, control, ill-discipline, disagreeableness, angst, and grandiosity, resulting in behaviors in the manner of autocrats, dictators, and tyrants, which are not ways of building a strong and healthy democracy, nor ways of gaining the trust of the African people. Progress toward developed democracies in Africa has been exceedingly slow and, as a result, Putin’s behavior and ways are no way for potential and present African leaders to actualize democracy.

John Egbeazien Oshodi, who was born in Uromi, Edo State in Nigeria, is an American based Police/Prison Scientist and Forensic/Clinical/Legal Psychologist. A government consultant on matters of forensic-clinical adult/child psychological services in the USA; Chief Educator and Clinician at the Transatlantic Enrichment and Refresher Institute, an Online Lifelong Center for Personal, Professional, and Career Development. He is a former Interim Associate Dean/Assistant Professor at Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African Settings In 2011, he introduced State-of-the-Art Forensic Psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C and Nasarawa State University, where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. Currently, a Virtual Behavioral Leadership Professor at ISCOM University, Republic of Benin. Founder of the proposed Transatlantic Egbeazien Open University (TEU) of Values and Ethics, a digital project of Truth, Ethics, and Openness. Founder of Psychoafricalytic Psychology. Over forty academic publications and creations, at least 200 public opinion pieces on African issues, and various books have been written by him. He specializes in psycho-prescriptive writings regarding African institutional and governance issues.

Prof. Oshodi wrote in via info@teuopen.university