There're six different trajectories to a career in politics in Nigeria.
Thread.
When you join politics, you choose the segment to pursue depending on your ambition, traits, education, pedigree etc.
These are:
1. Those that stand for elective offices.
2. The Godfathers
Thread.
When you join politics, you choose the segment to pursue depending on your ambition, traits, education, pedigree etc.
These are:
1. Those that stand for elective offices.
2. The Godfathers
3. Those that seek for appointive offices.
4. Those that seek for party offices and control.
5. Those that seek for business derivable from the government through membership of the party in power.
6. The enforcers or political thugs.
4. Those that seek for party offices and control.
5. Those that seek for business derivable from the government through membership of the party in power.
6. The enforcers or political thugs.
These are usually criminal elements in the society who have worked their way up from petty crimes, to become recognized party thugs. The pedestal is usually through the membership of NURTW. This again is reserved for folks with scant education, but that wouldn't have any scruples
taking a life or limb at the injunction of political leaders in an election climate, inorder to facilitate rigging and/or circumvention of due process, to win an election.
It is noteworthy that 1 above is the riskiest segment of all, but like everything in life, the returns...
It is noteworthy that 1 above is the riskiest segment of all, but like everything in life, the returns...
supercedes all the rest. These are where you get the contestants to the office of the president, governors, senators, legislators, LG Chairmen etc. In Nigeria such offices that have a 'budget', are desperately sought after, and it's usually a winner-takes-all scenerio.
The Godfathers are usually businessmen that made their money as 5 above, or as former elective office occupiers (1), who made a fortune while in office or are still making money through their cronies in power.
They sponsor Nos 1,3,4 and 5, using No 6 as enforcers.
They sponsor Nos 1,3,4 and 5, using No 6 as enforcers.
They usually have deep pockets and see the activity as transactional, with the hope of making enormous returns if their protegé wins. They are usually overbearing and in many cases, fall out with 1, if the office is that of president or state governor.
This is because of the massive effect in terms of power, influence and monetary rewards those offices yield. In all this, it should be noted that a political career in Nigeria though fraught with boobies and traps, is extremely personally rewarding.
Our politicians being self-serving, are about the highest renumerated in the world. The norm is self first. Patriotism to the country isn't their greatest fort. The very successful ones employ the twin factors of ethnicity and religion to feather their selfish nests.
The political class is one big jealously guarded cult, with each initiating their scions to carry on from where they left. Corruption, abuse of power and impudence is the order of the day.
This unfortunately sieves the manner of characters that delve into politics, leaving mostly undesirables to the 'game'.
For Nigeria to make the desired turnaround, this has to change.
For Nigeria to make the desired turnaround, this has to change.
Society can only get better if good men partake to change the wrong cause that evil men plunged it into. We can't be doing the same thing and expect different results therefrom.
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