Politicians are born, not made. Time and again we see people coming into public life from the blind side and sometimes they even make headlines by what they say. People who roam around town and village squaresget impressed and go forward to support such people.
These types of self-made politicians may become popular, or rather populists, but in itself they are more like the empty vessels that make most sound. They become representatives of the people and also become the bulwark for corruption.
Intelligent people, though at times driven by the circumstances of the moment, have a rather cloudy foresight. Most people consider their personal vote to a candidate as an investment for any eventuality that may arise along the way and go to the elected politician for some form of personal favour.
A politician should be knowledgeable and thoroughly informed about the constituency where he is going to contest. Winston Churchill, who was British Prime Minister twice, once said: “A politician must have the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.”
Hence, a political career is meant for people of high integrity and with additional skills to achieve results and find better ways of making life better for the people they represent.
It is politicians with limited merits and capabilities that are bad and not politics
Politics is not meant for drop-outs, area fathers, thugs, assassins, criminals, illiterate godfathers or inept, dubious and corrupt politicians. These people, apart from being greedy, do not know the importance of education and can never invest properly in it.
Good governance, transparency and accountability will elude states and nations where the above-mentioned set of people find themselves in the corridors of power.
An incompetent and irresponsible politician will make people hang around his house like bees to honey to feed them with amala or tuwo for days. He prefers to give out expensive gifts, donations and bribes from taxpayer money to win elections. An achiever will not need to do such things to win elections or people to their side. That is why you will hear people saying “Politics is a bad game of deceit and hatred”, “Politics is a do or die affair”, “Politics is a dirty business”, “Politicians are very sick people”, and so on.
It is politicians with limited merits and capabilities that are bad and not politics. They cannot do more than their moral and intellectual capacity. A true democratic government is the best concept for the growth of any nation. A good politician enriches lives and provides for many people and not make them become beggars, touts, kidnappers, robbers and fraudsters.
A good politician should have a well-disciplined personality and a sense of selfless service to make life better for his people. This should be reflected in the community where he lives.
Discipline is necessary for an orderly society and political life as without it, social life would become miserable. A selfless service is putting the welfare of the people you’re representing before your own.
Churchill described it as “the first of all human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others”. A good politician firmly believes in taking care and maintaining the community. He believes that community service is about giving back.
According to Theodore Roosevelt, “the most successful politician is he who says what the people are thinking most often in the loudest voice”. A person or politician who has a criminal background, or links with criminals or who has not been cleared of corruption charges in court should be disqualified from participating in elections.
Party loyalty is another quality of a responsible politician in a democratic state. A transparent politician is nearer to hispeople and regularly meets them to understand their problems.
Only fake politicians are seen by voters only when an election is near or change parties as footballers change clubs.