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Politics is the competition between individuals and groups to gain control of, allocate and manage commonly-owned resources, Mr. Akim A. Yusuf mni has opinionated.
The Oyo State Governorship aspirant stated this at a lecture themed ‘“TECHNOCRATS, POLITICS AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION: THE MYTHS, THE REALITIES AND THE IMPERATIVES” delivered to the Rotary Club of Ibadan on Wednesday, February 24, 2022.
He said in his opening remarks,
“It gives me great pleasure to stand before this august gathering to share my thoughts and perspectives about this topic.
I hope by the end of this lecture, to have acquitted myself eminently before this distinguished audience.
In discussing this topic, permit me to share some of the myths and popular notions about Nigerian politics”.
Highlighting the myth and realities of politics, he said, “Politics is a dirty game!”
This is a common phrase and popular notion in Nigerian lexicon. Of course, when one remembers or experiences intra and inter-party skirmishes, mudslinging, name-calling etc. that often occasions politics; you will agree or conclude that it indeed is, a dirty game.
“Politicians lack integrity!”
Another popular notion is that politicians are a dishonest bunch of people who can never be trusted to keep to their words or be morally upright. Politicians, themselves, underpin this perception with the common phrase – “there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics; only permanent interests”.
“Politics is for jobless people!”
Many believe that it is only people without visible sources of livelihood that have the time to participate in politics. Nigerian politics is too expensive and dominated by “moneybags and godfathers”.
“Active politicking is expensive everywhere and there will always be the “cash-cows” that provide the funds to oil the wheels of political organisations and sponsor candidates”.
“It is easier and safer to pursue public appointments than get involved in politics!”
“Nigerian politics is violent!”
Thi
s is not just a common notion, but the sad reality of Nigeria politics where thuggery and violence hold sway.
These notions and a host of others scare a large number of well-meaning citizens from the supposedly “dirty game” of politics preferring to concentrate their energies and intellect on their professional exploits, vocations or businesses.
Speaking on what Politics actually means, he said ,” various dictionaries, philosophers and political scientists have offered different definitions of the concept. For the purpose of this discussion, I define politics as the competition between individuals and groups to gain control of, allocate and manage commonly-owned resources.
According to him, ” this definition is necessary to broaden our discussion”.
‘The reality implicit in this definition’, said Politics is competitive. In every competition, there will always be those who play dirty. We see that regularly in sports, relationships and business, among others.
It involves both individuals and groups; hence you can find politics in families, the workplace, places of worship, in relationships or even between business and provessional associates.
Politics is about resource-control. The competition for economic resources and superiority have been known in history to be the origin of several wars and debatesd between peoples and nations.
“Thus, except one would be self-deceiving, politics cannot be as calm as walks in the park for even in the calm serenity of parks, wild animals, stalkers and criminal elements abound.
“We must understand that the most critical outcome of politics is the enthronement of leadership figures, a leadership class and the creation of its surrounding circles of influence. If there is truth in the saying that: “a people cannot grow beyond the vision of its leadership” then we must be very concerned about the quality of the leaders we enthrone”.
The quality, experience, integrity and foresight of leadership will determine the quality of governance and, by extension, the soundness of the policies by which the society is administered”.
He further said,”It will therefore be most unfair and actually dangerous to present and future generations of any society to leave the control of communal resources in the hands of those who do not possess the knowledge, skills or good intentions to serve and protect the interest and heritage of the larger number”.
“Nigeria with a population in excess of 200 million and an estimated gross domestic product of US$514.1 billion as at 2021 is too big and strategic a country not to place her management in the hands of the best of her citizenry. While we celebrate being one of the 30 largest economies in the world and the largest in Africa, we are however not among the top 100 nations when the GDP is measured per capita. This indicates that Nigeria probably needs to do 10 to 15 times better than we are doing currently if we are to become a truly rich nation. We have a lot of work to do”.
“We have probably less than 500,000 politicians per State of the Federation and definitely less than 20 million nationwide. We must ask ourselves if we the over 180 million non-politicians have put forward the best among us to manage our common rophists”.
” We, the educated, professional and supposedly, sso thisicated elites in the Society live under the erroneous, often exaggerated, impression that our business and professional endeavours are immune to politics. Yet, we spend a lot of our time complaining about the failure of government to do certain things or for creating various problems or situations that affect the serenity and comfort of our situations”.
“We inadvertently deny the country of the high-caliber brains and insights necessary for the development of a greater, better governed and more prosperous nation”.
” In several cases, the supposed government incompetence is a function of the limited exposure of the leadership and not always about corruption or lack of education or intellect. We cannot therefore continue to hold on to the notion that politics is for the jobless or the lazy and expect enterprising ideas or decisions to come from the minds that we have so negatively pronounced”.
Establishing contrary opinions,” there are several hardworking individuals in the political class. Their numbers apre however too few to make material difference to how the country is run. In fact, other elements easily gang up against forward-looking compatriots to scare, harass or crowd them out of competition for, or relevance, in public office. The result is that we end up with either clueless, incompetent leaders or the opportunistic smarter ones who capitalize on the leadership vacuum. Either way, Nigeria continues to bleed from the vice-like grips of wastage, corruption, greed and incompetence; the four legs that keep the table of the country’s underdevelopment standing”.
” In conclusion, I must state that politicians have probably not disserved Nigeria as much as we the elites and so-called technocrats who keep away from politics and spend our quality time and energy chasing political appointments and business “proposals” which often only serve our self-interests. We should be more interested in emplacing holistic planning and developing a strong development model for the country.
We must all get involved”.
“We all do not have to contest elective offices. But, as many of us as possible, need to join political parties and sometimes advocacy groups (?) to engage the country’s leadership in direct intellectual discourse more than waiting to become disposable appointees or sitting room, internet and radio station analysts”.
Urging his audience for positive change ,’Nigeria is in urgent need of surgical intervention, our youth are unemployed (over 30 million of them according to the National Bureau of Statistics, January 2021). They are becoming criminals, women of easy virtue and other dangerous things. This is the time for you and I to join in to manage the common wealth or else, one day, we will all have to run wishing we had put out this fire in good time. Thank you for listening” Mr. Yusuf said.
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