By Femi Emmanuel
Editorial
Power is transient, but the consequences of how it is acquired and exercised can endure for generations. Unfortunately, many Nigerian politicians appear to forget this fundamental truth, behaving as though political authority belongs permanently to them rather than recognising that power is ultimately entrusted to individuals for a season and can be taken away at any time.
The desperation surrounding elections in Nigeria has increasingly raised serious concerns about the value politicians place on human life. Electoral contests that should ordinarily be opportunities for citizens to freely choose their leaders are sometimes transformed into battles of intimidation, harassment, violence and, in the worst cases, assassination. Political opponents and their supporters become targets simply because they support a different candidate or political platform.
The recent Osun State governorship election has once again brought this disturbing reality to the forefront. The events surrounding the election demonstrated the extent to which political desperation can threaten democratic values and human lives. Attempts to intimidate voters, harass political opponents or create fear before, during or after an election do not strengthen democracy; rather, they expose the dangerous lengths to which some politicians are prepared to go in pursuit of power.
One cannot help but ask: What exactly are some politicians seeking to govern if they destroy the very people they hope to govern?
Political power without a genuine commitment to service is nothing more than an empty pursuit of influence. A politician who has no convincing manifesto, no clear development agenda and no respect for the lives and dignity of citizens has little justification for seeking public office. Governance is not a prize to be seized at all costs; it is a responsibility entrusted to those chosen by the people.
Those who resort to violence after electoral defeat should remember that losing an election is not the end of political life. A candidate who does not win today may win tomorrow. Where there are genuine grievances, the appropriate response is to seek redress through established legal and institutional channels rather than through violence, destruction or assassination.
Indeed, a strong man may choose to stop fighting today, not because he is afraid, but because he understands that there is another day to restrategise and return to the contest. Political maturity requires the ability to accept temporary defeat without destroying the democratic process or endangering the lives of fellow citizens.
Every politician should therefore ask a fundamental moral question: Is political ambition worth the blood of one’s brothers and sisters?
The electorate are not expendable commodities. They are fathers, mothers, children, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbours. They are the same citizens whom politicians eventually expect to govern, represent and protect. Killing or intimidating them in the pursuit of political office is not only morally indefensible; it defeats the very purpose of governance.
There is also a profound lesson for Nigerian voters. Citizens must refuse to allow desperate politicians to recruit them as instruments of political violence. No political ambition is worth sacrificing a family member, neighbour or friend. Young people, in particular, must reject the temptation to become political thugs or instruments of destruction. The political future of Nigeria cannot be built on the blood of its citizens.
The lesson from Osun should therefore extend beyond one election or one political party. Nigerians must insist that candidates present credible manifestoes and compete on the basis of ideas, competence, character, integrity and proven performance. Incumbent governors should be judged by what they have accomplished in office, while aspiring politicians should be assessed by what they intend to achieve—not merely by the strength of their political godfathers or the size of their political machinery.
As Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections, politicians must understand that the electorate are becoming increasingly discerning. Citizens can distinguish between empty rhetoric and genuine programmes; between political propaganda and measurable performance; and between leaders interested in public service and those motivated primarily by personal ambition.
Political power will always change hands. Governments will come and go. Political alliances will rise and collapse. But the lives destroyed in the process cannot be restored.
The ultimate test of political leadership, therefore, should not be how fiercely a politician fights to obtain power, but how responsibly he or she uses it once entrusted with it.
Power fades. Positions expire. Political influence diminishes. But human life is priceless, and the blood shed in the pursuit of power can never be washed away by political victory.
Nigeria needs politicians who understand that public office is a temporary trust, not a personal inheritance; citizens who understand that political differences should never become reasons for violence; and institutions strong enough to ensure that every electoral dispute is resolved through law rather than bloodshed.
The 2027 elections must therefore be a contest of ideas, records and character—not a battlefield for political desperation.
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