Be More Involved In Politics Rather Than Protests – El-Rufai Tells Nigerians

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said the only way Nigerians can contribute to the country’s development is by getting involved in politics rather than focus on protests.

He made this known on Friday during his appearance on ‘Urgent Conversations’, a programme organised by Radio Now 95.3, in partnership with NexTier, and with the support of Channels TV.

El-Rufai tasked Nigerians, especially those in the private sector, to get a seat at the political table rather than taking to the streets to protest.

According to the governor, protests and industrial actions cannot bring about solutions to the numerous problems confronting the country.

He, however, urged youths to channel their energies into politics and making the country better, while appealing to them to also be patient while contesting for positions, as governance is a process.

He said: “I think the best people in Nigeria are those that really believe that politics should not be about personal interest kept away. Now, once those first set of governors and others went in, it’s very difficult to dislodge them.

“Good people must offer themselves for public service and suffer the indignity that we all suffer. We get abused every day; we get insulted; we get accused, but we must have our best people in public service. We must have our best people in politics. We must not have them in banks, in telecoms companies, in oil companies and in civil societies protesting. Protesting what? Protesting will take you nowhere unless you have a seat at the table and the most important table is that political table.

“My call to Nigerians is, if you want to see better governance, be part of the selection process of those that offer themselves for public service and politics. And the only way to do so is to join political parties, and be active, and influence the leadership that emerges in the political parties. There is no other way; no shortcut to it,” the governor said.

“The pastors and imams that have made money, the bankers, the telecoms guys, leave that thing, come and make Nigeria work, because if it doesn’t work you will not sleep at night no matter how much money you make. I believe that if we have more and more young people, and we have five million of them attaining the age of 18 every year, they can come and overwhelm the parties and chase out the old men like me and take over.

“But they must come and not stand on the sidelines and keep criticising. Any fool can criticise. Solutions are what this country needs. You can only propose these solutions, fight for them if you are in the system.

“I have said this before and I will say it again. Young people think that because the not-too-young-to-run bill has been passed and they join a political party yesterday, they will go for elections tomorrow. It doesn’t work that way. You must not come into any organisation with a sense of entitlement. We are all young too. We worked through the ladder to get to where we are.”

Source: Naija News