NAN-H-72
Politicians
By Emmanuel Mogbede
Abuja, Feb. 2, 2018 (NAN) Mr Kole Shettima, the Chairman, Centre for Democracy and Development has advised Nigerian politicians not see politics as a ‘do or die affair’ as there is life outside politics.
He gave the advice while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
According to him, such politicians who have a do or die attitude to political game are those who failed to see beyond politics, as this is not the situation in developed nations.
Shettima, also the African Director, MacAuthor Foundation, added that the Nigerian system had not provided its elites the space to circulate.
“We don’t have space where people can move from one job to another, in other words, there is no circulation of the elites, except in the political space,’’ he said.
He explained that while politicians in advanced democracies could do other jobs at a time, including being in government and lecturing at Universities, the case was different in Nigeria.
“They can also go to a research institute, thus they are not stocked in one place, and so leaving government is not a death sentence for them.
“Unfortunately in our own situation, we have not really succeeded in creating that circulation of the elite,’’ Shettima said.
This, he said, was the reason most Nigerian politicians see politics as a “do or die affair’’, a development he said was dangerous to the country`s polity and development.
According to him, this is so because Nigerian politicians lacked skills to fit in other areas and do not have any option apart from politics.
“That is why it is very important that we create a system that allows the elite to move around and to circulate.
“Such that they can be in the university today, tomorrow in government or in research centres so that they are not just stocked in one place,’’ he said.
Shettima, however, said that the centre was trying to evolve a research centre with fellows.
He said this would create room for people who had retired from service or had left politics to serve in the centre, while it learns from their political experiences.
Shettima added that the experiences of politicians and those who had left government, was useful to the centre, especially, with regards to its ongoing research work.
“Even if we are doing research work and it’s not informed by the practical lives and experience of others, we may not be able to achieve the goals we are setting for ourselves,’’ he said.
He further said that the centre was, however, working toward creating a knowledge data for the benefit of all, where people would do research work and leave a life outside what they were used to. (NAN)
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Edited by Tola Okinbaloye/Ese E. Ekama