Before a race begins, contestants in the sprint must prepare, strategise and map out goals. So it is with the race for an election victory. In this contest, politicians declare their interest in contesting various offices. Many of them showcase parochial reasons they are entitled to the elective positions they seek to occupy. Sadly, this set of politicians often fail to talk about their social and economic programmes vis-à-vis the development of the nation.

It is disappointing that many of them lack programmes to show, even less than six months to election. They neither present their manifestoes nor blueprints in terms of specific programmes they have for the electorate. Rather they engage in politics of political alignment by cross-carpeting from one political party to another. This occurs when candidates are expected to offer themselves to the electorate and talk about concrete plans of what they will do if voted into power.

Electorate in this country deserve to know what each candidate has to offer in specific areas of education, health, social infrastructure, sports, economic policy, agriculture etc and not in empty speeches that lack substance. Development as a nation will be greatly enhanced if better opportunities are created particularly in the agricultural sector where Nigeria can utilise her enormous human resource potentials. It is necessary for our politicians to realise that agriculture has a pivotal role in job creation. Any politician, who does not have it at the core of campaigns, should not be taken seriously.

Lack of co-ordinated or proper programmes to present to the electorate has caused many politicians to take to violence in order to impose themselves on the people, who ordinarily are wont to reject them. Because of their satanic activities whereby many of them would rather die than not be elected, some decent persons, potential leaders, have been scared stiff into concluding that politics is a dirty game. But l dare contradict them. Politics is not a dirty game. Although it seems so in the Nigerians context. The fact that politics involves the shaping and sharing of offices and national cake, deciding who gets what and award of contracts, a power that has been severely abused, does not make it dirty. Rather it is those who brazenly abuse it that are dirty.

It is unfortunate that the quest for political leadership in this country has had the extravagant misfortune of making politics an inherently fierce battle between the nation builders on the one hand, and the pocket builders on the other hand. The former are concerned with promoting rapport in the society, building and enhancing the socio-economic development of the state, whereas the latter are interested in divide- and-rule tactics, and looting the state treasury to enable them build their supposed empires.

Unfortunately, in our political scenario, the nation builders are very few. Our politics is dominated by the very programmeless, flamboyant and pocket builders. These dirty-minded politicians in their covert battle to conquer many of their personality problems, end up polluting the nation’s political fountain through their unethical practices.

Our democratic system gives an unlimited scholarship to all Nigerians who have attained the age of 18 and above to participate in political decisions. By exercising their constitutional rights of franchise these ones could decide who rules them. Thus democracy is good enough in so far as it allows qualified individuals to seek elective posts and to vote for candidates of their choice. It gives equal opportunities to both the nation and pocket builders to seek elective posts as well. But because of poverty, the electorate is often blinded by party considerations and therefore is unable to discern the nation builders from the pocket hirers.

Usually the pocket builders who are without programmes for the people, come to power. And when that happens the nation’s treasury is looted. Their pockets are lined to the brim while their hearts and heads are empty. The ordinary citizens, the wretch of the earth, suffer tremendous deprivation and all manner of injustices in their hands.

In order to obviate such unpleasant situations, it is imperative that we put a stop to it now. We must be more meticulous in choosing who leads us. Efforts must be geared towards discerning the nation builders from the pocket lines through the quality of programmes they present to the electorate. By this their intentions, their inner desires to line their pockets with the resources meant for the people, will be deciphered.

Arnold Alalibo