By Abiodun AWOSANYA
It is clearly that time of the year when young and old aspirants start revealing their long-hidden intentions to vie for one office or the other at the grassroots in Lagos state. For clarity, come 2025, new executive officers and legislators are expected to be elected and inaugurated to run the state’s local government areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). Thus, election campaigns are to begin this year, 2024. It is on this note that this piece is written to call to order all interests and forces surrounding the electioneering processes for the benefits of all.
It is important for all aspirants to understand that, as they are aspiring for leadership positions, every man is a power-seeking entity, and this power is achieved against the aspiration of many. In other words, as posited by Weber, your aspiration is a way to realize your own will in a communal action even against the resistance of others who are participating in the action. The action here posits the election, and the show of power by any individual contestant must bring out a reflection of high quality that should ordinarily make other contestants submit to such individual’s aspirations. What are your qualities? What do you have to make other aspirants submit to your own will? Is it even a possibility for other aspirants to wholeheartedly, away from personal interest or consensus, but general interest, submit to your aspiration to steer the wheel?
If only we knew how pertinently sensitive the grassroots politics is, even at the verge of some aspirants declaring their intention, we should gather canes, flog them mercilessly for trying to joke with our emotions and intelligence. How can someone with zero track records in societal engagement be contesting for councillorship? Oh, should it be that he is also trying to negotiate or try his luck when people of high mental capacity are involved? How more funny can people tolerate ignorance? Imagine, “dem no wan gree too” – Laughable! Chairmanship has become a child’s play. No wonder people keep groaning in pain throughout during some people’s administration. The mistake of yesterday repeated today has become a choice. Complaints are many. How much are you genuinely trying to solve those complaints? Is it not apparent that the youths are obviously using their lifeline of crucial decision to support people with zero idea? If not, how ready are we to confidently ask our elected leaders for accountability? How credible are we to ask for such?
The ruling group, the gladiators, must ensure that power needs not depend solely on the possession of economic resources. The process should never be seen as an avenue to milk the aspirants. It has been, it is still, and shall ever be a turn-off for true dedicated aspirants. This is a grassroots election, even when money is important, it should not be to lure people. And this is the right time the youths (particularly youth-electorates) must realize that the role played with money is not to be shared but to be used. It is high time they learnt that the little shared to the electorates today gives economic prosperity to no one but the vanquishers.
Nevertheless, the more the youths are wrongly used, the more the social vices. And when these vices are multiplied, there is high tendency of having a non-impactful administration. There is obviously a youth bulge in the country. Affecting these youths are high level of unemployment, half literacy/education, increased out-of-school children, and the urge to JAPA, thereby ignoring their chances of factoring out socioeconomic problems they could tap into for their economic prosperity. The inability of you to strategically dissect issues in drastic need, your incapability is speaking volume. Thus, some are already seeing the ongoing political game as dismissive.
In conclusion, Alvin Gouldner posits that power is the ability to enforce one’s moral value. The aspirants should know that even when capacity is required, and must have been tested prior, aspiring to lead in a society makes people reminisce over your level of morality as a person, and further avails to you an opportunity to explore high level of moral value. In this case, moral value is measured with track record of credibility and accountability. If you do not have this, stay away from “No gree for anybody”. It is a joke on the electorates.
As an aspirant seeking for power, what qualities do you possess that make you entitled to natural subjugation of the opposition instead of asking for a favorable consensus? David Lockwood admits that power must include the capacity to prevent the opposition from rising in the first place. Look closely, do you have such capacity? One who seeks power must have the power of managing the opposition. Having power to endear the opposition has to do with an aspirant’s track record in community development rooted in capacity and credibility. It has little to do with position held, but much more to do with how best they handle the office.
I will be back
Abiodun AWOSANYA, writes from Ikorodu.
