Mfonobong Inyang: The Story of Ahab, Jezebel & Jehu as a Metaphor for Leadership Agenda

In every story, there’s always that one guy who does the most but somehow doesn’t get enough PR. Those were exactly my thoughts when I came across this fascinating character known as Jehu.

Before his ascension to the throne, Jehu was a top commander – God’s sleeper cell. Anytime Jehu show, even senior men dey tuwama! Jehu, at all times, got the strap, he has an anointing on him for taking out the opps with surgical precision. Jehu never misses, be it in battle or in the heat of controversy. Anyone who threatens his homeland go first mud because he’ll scramble the jets ASAP. Jehu body count na cadavers. He makes hostiles popular because he’s got a lot of magazines in his pouch. He’s an expert at leaving faces on walls – it’s giving guerrilla Picasso. Jehu is encore; effectively Joshua 2.0.

Remember King Ahab and Jezebel? They weren’t just the Bonnie and Clyde of leadership, they were arguably the most notorious power couple of all time – he was the slimiest, and she was the baddest; it was a combination of madness and badness. The details of their abominable reign are well-documented; there is no topping their combined level of debauchery. It was during Ahab’s rule that the famous face-off between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal happened, miscellaneous events of evil and wanton recklessness in the use of royal influence. See how Ahab’s villain origin story is introduced: “Ahab, son of Omri, did even more open evil before God than anyone yet – a new champion in evil!” Interestingly, a lot of the evil Ahab did was inspired by his wife, Jezebel. He was a henpecked husband; whenever Jezebel barked, Ahab bit.

Jezebel, as we were taught that year was the avatar for badly dressed women; her name became a cultural slur for women who weren’t properly dressed. Here again, is the danger of the single story, even for people we consider villains. It isn’t that what was said about her was incorrect, it is that the narratives are incomplete. Just like the eunuchs in the palace of Ahasuerus, misogynists under the guise of religion and culture don’t miss any opportunity to denigrate women. I’m all for moderate dressing but by focusing on the minors, custodians of patriarchal leadership miss the majors. In demonising Jezebel for what they considered immoral dressing, they missed her real mission.

Ahab and Jezebel represent interesting archetypes; this immediately informs you that Ahab isn’t a man and Jezebel isn’t a woman. Ahab is a metaphor for leadership, especially political power while Jezebel is metaphoric for a clandestine agenda. Their combination is deadly. Don’t be distracted by the excesses of her dressing, make-up or lewd speech, otherwise you will end up only making myopic doctrines and customs from her appearance while using her character to justify your oppressive proclivities against women.

Jezebel’s real JD is to usurp the influence of Ahab for diabolic purposes. Chances are that if you saw Jezebel’s face on a ballot box, you instinctively would vote against her – that’s where Ahab comes in. Jezebel needs an Ahab who, on paper, appears decent to get into power while she pulls the strings behind the scenes. I agree that Jezebel is a witch but not witchcraft as you know it; the first signature of witchcraft is manipulation. She isn’t a psychopath as many people erroneously think, the evil she spews and perpetuates is well planned.

Whether it’s state capture as was the case when Ahab took over Naboth’s orchard or when Jezebel ordered the massacre of God’s prophets – there is always a Mephistophelean intent in play. These atrocities are properly masked because this murderous couple are also masters of propaganda; they have a grip on major platforms, mainstream media and civil society groups. The four hundred adherents of Asherah eat at Jezebel’s table and the prophets of Baal are funded by Ahab. So don’t expect any outrage from even the affected communities of faith over the wicked actions of these two depraved souls because those clerics have something in their back pockets.

Elijah’s sin was that he dared to challenge such rascality, openly too. The victory at Mount Carmel almost immediately became pyrrhic. How do you explain that a man who just called down fire from the sky is running away because of threats from a non-state actor like Jezebel? You might call him a coward but what happens after that episode suggests to me that, in hindsight, he made the right call. God intercepts Elijah as a fugitive and gives him a strategic debriefing because it’s time to play some celestial chess: to anoint Hazael as king over Aram, then anoint Jehu as king over Israel and finally, to anoint Elisha as his successor – checkmate! Thereafter, it’s no longer Elijah against the world, it’s system versus system. One way or the other, Ahab’s dynasty would go down.

You see this Ahab, eh? I’m familiar with his game. He’s Manchurian; an intelligence asset of the enemy. Otherwise, why would he enter into a pact with Ben-Hadad, a son of perdition, who seeks to destroy everything good about his country? Dumb, right? Isn’t that clearly against the collective strategic interests, national security or even foreign policy? Ahab is no patriot; he will gladly forgive those who are hell-bent on destroying the homeland and let them walk scot-free but send out his armies against law-abiding citizens. He is a self-preservationist, he will pay any price to remain in power, no matter how reprehensible – even to the point of sabotaging his people.

Ahab may have been a sleazebag but he could read the handwriting on the wall. In the last moments of his unfortunate rule, he tried to manipulate Jehoshaphat, whose archetype represents a scapegoat, into taking the fall for him. Thankfully, Jehoshaphat refused to take the hit for Ahab but invoked the God of justice to exonerate him from punishment he knew nothing about. Jezebel, on the other hand, was busy usurping the instruments of state to cause havoc everywhere. When Jehu showed up, she thought it was business as usual like other ‘candidates’ she would seduce. She clearly did not do her research. When Jehu blew his cover and came into play, he drained the swamp – anything and anyone remotely related or connected to Ahab and Jezebel had to go.

Let me share a page from their classified playbook which is most times hidden in plain sight, they both play the long-term game. Whenever such people are in the minority or politically disadvantaged, they will become champions of the rule of law, and an egalitarian society and even seek concessions. Where they feel that they can compete favourably, they will threaten others about weaponising their numbers for political purposes. When they are in the majority or have a political advantage, they switch to full-blown oppression. These are purists who don’t believe in equal co-existence – their goal is always total domination. In modern times, this mindset is seen in feudalists – they use political power to give themselves unfair advantages. That’s how people who get the most concessions in education, business and immigration end up weaponising illiteracy, becoming state-backed unnatural monopolies and increasing the nuisance value of geo-political spaces respectively.

When Jehu emerges, I won’t be surprised that he will get the most heat from people who are supposedly more knowledgeable. They would rather have abominable leadership where citizens will be using positive affirmations to wish away the consequences of bad governance. Jehu will do a thankless job – most people will not appreciate him in real time, only in hindsight will they admit, “Thank God say Jehu gather mind run that package!” Will they ever give Jehu his flowers? Of course not! They don’t wanna have that talk because it’s a sore spot. My assignment as a scribe is to chronicle this as a reference because when it happens, I will be there no matter what. You must have figured that Jehu falls into the archetype of a messiah, the meaning of his name gives him away. However, this is not about Jehu; he is only the face of a spring. It’s because a sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Get ready for reformation because Jehu will draw the line and let the chips fall where they may.

I see someone approaching the horizon and from the way he rides his chariot, I reckon this must be the son of Nimshi. He will break gates of brass, cut asunder bars of iron and dismantle structures of criminality. We’re in the endgame. Brace yourselves, winter is coming.