Politics is a dirty game, I believe we have all heard people saying this and that means anybody going into it should be ready to get dirty if you want to be successful in it, especially in a country like Nigeria. Do you know what it takes to be a politician in Nigeria who does the right things and tries to oppose the practices of corrupt politicians who are the majority? Some of the good politicians have silently disappeared or their careers are totally ruined because they refuse to partake in their dirty games.
Aside from that, we also have those who were once good and at one point turned dirty. It's like they took the saying "If you can't beat them, join them" too seriously. I don't want to call names but those of you in Nigeria know some of these politicians. It can also be that they necessarily didn't change but they just revealed who they really were after getting into power. There's a saying that money and power reveal who people truly are, and that's the same with politics because being in a place of power can be quite intoxicating.
It is for this reason I am never going to join politics even if I'm offered that opportunity on a platter of gold. The truth is that it is not easy to rule over people, there will always be one problem or the other to solve and the worst thing is that you will always have corrupt people around you who will always make things more difficult. You might try to be a good governor or president but what about your deputy or vice? Ministers and commissioners? Local government chairmen? Even down to the common citizens, they will commit a crime and still blame it on the governor or president.
I came across a story on TikTok of an incident that happened back in the 70s (I think it was when Gowon was president). A political activist back then (I have forgotten his name) was always speaking against the government and at one point, Gowon invited him and asked what he thinks should be done for the masses. The man suggested giving loans to small businesses and they can pay back with little interest after a specified date. Gowon agreed and set up a bank, he then put the man in charge of the whole thing. Everything was going fine and the man actually gave out loans to businesses that needed it
Problem started when it was time to pay back those loans and many people defaulted in paying back. To cut the long story short, everything collapsed and the bank went bankrupt. The man went back to Gowon and told him what happened, that was when Gowon told the man that he had seen how difficult it is to rule. The man who once was looking out for the best of the masses totally stopped doing that and went into isolation, he was discouraged and felt humiliated by that experience. I'm not saying that the government we have today are saints but the point I'm trying to make is that it can be very difficult to do something good when you're the only voice of reason.
Even the small politics that is done in university faculties can be very crazy. I remember how my friends and classmates were advising me to run for a position back when I was in 100/200 level because of how popular and vocal I was but I looked at the whole thing and realized I didn't have the energy to live such life. People come with thugs and cultists during ordinary SUG elections, and from all that, I could already see a glimpse of the true face of politics in Nigeria. I saw a lot of shady deals and godfatherism and at one point there was even an assassination, right there on campus. Yeah, it's crazy.
One other reason I won't go into politics if I have the opportunity is that I feel I will be corrupted. It is easy to say you will be a good politician now that you're not in it yet but it will be a totally different story when you finally get into it. You might not want to even play dirty but due to pressure and intimidation, you will succumb. As I said earlier, the majority of them there are corrupt, and it will be extremely difficult to fight them all. I don't even trust myself enough to go into politics, I might get intoxicated by all that money and power that I won't even need pressure or intimidation to make me join the other side 😂
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