By Olajide Hamzat
The idea that politics is dirty, deadly, and dangerous has gained traction beyond the shore of Africa and much of the global south. Like wildfire, it has spread with remarkable gusto; especially in places often dubbed democratically stable and mature. In Nigeria particularly, this warped idea has congealed into a widespread anxiety. Ask anyone on the street to express their views about politics and you will be gob-smacked at their ill-informed revelation and half-baked rhetoric. Oftentimes, they find a way to lump politics and democracy together. How wrong can they be? For one, politics precedes modern-day democratic governance by a wide margin.
Perhaps, this idea of ignorantly painting anything and everything with politics as a dark and unsettling endeavor has extended beyond the realm of the literate and the elites alike.
Those at the bottom-most rung of the social economic and political ladder also suffer from this fallacy of false generalization. Whether in Nigeria or America, this palpable apprehension that often grips people once the word politics is uttered appeared utterly confounding, manifesting in despair, apathy, and pessimism. In a way, the recently concluded elections in the US buttressed this cogent point vividly. American people went to the polls to elect their President and members of Congress last week Tuesday. The election held the world by the throats as global citizens watched with batted breaths the next US commander-in-chief whose policies will have an overarching effect and influence on foreign relations, global trade, globalization, global peace and stability among other things.
While the rest of the world had no stake in the choice of the American leaders, the eventual fallout of that democratic ritual is felt beyond the confines of the American 50 States well into the curves and contours of the rest of the world. Described as one of the most keenly contested races in the modern time, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump fought a good fight, dragged each other in the politics of mudslinging, attacked each other’s policy ideas and matched on each other’s neck with unbridled passion, on campaign trails, interviews and in debates. In the end, the American people finally returned Donald Trump to the White House, for the second time, thus capping one of the greatest political comebacks in the history of the American democracy.
For those who think politics is all shades of vilification and calumny, I have good news for you: politics can also serve as the avenue for intellectual debate and discourse. It can help electorates to have a closer look into the mind, mindset and state of the mind of the candidates. It can provide an opportunity for those undecided voters to make up their minds through the place rhetoric and revelation of those aspiring for public offices. Politics also reveal the minds of the smart and the strong. It offers insight into the heart of the kind and the generous. While politics offers the ladder to the seat of power and influence, any aspiring public servant must look beyond politics to see humanity. Amofin Beulah Adeoye is aware of this fact. He has devoted his life to lifting people up rather than pulling them down. His views about politics are devoid of desperation and power grab. He knows that politics is just a step towards a higher ideal and the expression of greater ideas. He is prepared in spirit and soul to fight for the collective interest of the people regardless of their class or caste, region or religion.
Olajide Hamzat writes about the various prospect and potential of Oyo state while projecting Amofin Beulah Adeoye as a solution provider, problem solver and creative, adaptive and innovative leader and thinker with compassion and empathy.
