OPINION: Adesoji OMOSEBI.
Politics is the activities involved in getting and using power in public life to influence decisions that affects a country or society. Politics is also a system of political beliefs of a group of people coming together on ideological mission to achieve a goal or purpose of taking over the affairs of the government.
In this part of the world, politics mean so many thing to so many people. Only few politicians have the belief that politics is a call to serve and NOT to be served.
In Nigeria politics means;
• A call to amass wealth and sharing of money belonging to all to the detriment of the less privileged in the society.
• Acquiring power by all means through the use of force, manipulation, deceit, intimidation, blackmail and propaganda.
• Politics means a situation where the electorates demand for money before supporting any flag bearer or before voting for them.
• Politics to the majority, is not to vote on conviction to deliver good dividends of democracy but to meet immediate personal gains.
The politics in Nigeria have been bastardized to the extent that if an aspirant is not a moneybag, no matter how knowledgeable he might be, no matter how qualified to deliver good governance, no one will be ready to vote for him.
We have short-changed good governance for a pot of pottage. Many qualified Nigerians abound but they could not get to the seat of power because they are not moneybags.
In a country where sources of wealth does not matter, a country where looters use looted money for elections and win. A country where lusts for money is second to none will always get a leader it deserves. A nonentity.
There should be a law that will monitor the use of money in our electoral system to the barest minimum to enable us have the best leaders at the helm of affairs.
HOW TO MAKE POLITICS UNATTRACTIVE.
In order to get the best from our democratic system and reduce politics of do or die affairs to the barest minimum the following points could be a yardstick:-
• We can make politics unattractive by slashing the salaries and emoluments of political office holders in conformity with what is obtainable with other civilized countries in the world.
• We can make politics unattractive if we genuinely make our leaders accountable for their actions while in office.
• We can make politics unattractive if political office holders see themselves as Chief Servant elected by the people to serve and NOT to be served.
• We can make politics unattractive if we can denounce the culture of pull him down syndrome on our leaders for political, religion or ethic reasons..
• We can make politics unattractive if we can remove impunity from our constitution. Our leaders are using the immunity clause to cause mayhem in the polity.
• We can make politics unattractive if we can reduce two terms of eight years of the elected candidates from counsellors to the presidency to only one term of six years. This would bring out the best from our leaders and curb crisis associated with second term elections.
• On no account should a governor who have served his two terms as governor contest for a position at the National Assembly. This is injustice to our teeming youths.
• Make it punishable offence for any candidate to induce voters with money either before, during or after elections for the purpose of influencing votes to win election.
• Anyone who have been indicted for one offence or the other by any government agencies should be exempted from contesting for any elective position unless the candidate is cleared by the court of law
• We can make politics unattractive by making religion unattractive. Religion should be a personal relationship between the created and the Creator, no more no less. This should be enforced to curb excesses of religious fanatics and stop carnages in our villages, towns and cities.
Money should not be used as a factor for deciding who leads. We should vote in a candidate whom we think is qualified to deliver the dividends of democracy.
Adesoji OMOSEBI is a retired banker, a political analyst and a writer of repute.
www.sojworld.com © September 8, 2017.
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