“I’m not saying that you can’t be a politician; I’m just saying that it’s different from what we have now. Who believes that the goal of politics is to make money? Politics serves a purpose.
Politics has allegedly become the only lucrative industry in Nigeria, according to Afe Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD).
The legal luminary spoke at Afe Babalola University’s 11th convocation event on Saturday, bemoaning the way politics is increasingly taking precedence over education.
The ABUAD founder described how a first-class graduate who had already earned a master’s degree declined to pursue further study because he had observed a secondary school classmate who had not attended a higher institution succeed financially in politics.
I was the Provost of the University of Lagos at the time, and a young guy graduated first in Chemistry and received the highest grade that year. I gave him a call and informed him that I would be providing financial aid for his master’s studies.
“He agreed; he passed his masters. He was quite happy. I had completely forgotten about him until he entered and said, “Sir, thank you for the scholarship given to me.” I replied, “Yes, go ahead and get your Ph.D.,” but he declined, so I asked, “Why?”
‘My colleague who was in my secondary school class didn’t go to university; he is the chairman of the local government of my place,’ he claimed. He has a house and drives a car. I was down and out.
“I asked, ‘What do you want to do now?'” He declared, “I want to enter politics.” I sobbed secretly. That is what Nigeria has become in your country. Politics is currently the sole profitable industry in this nation, according to Babalola.
While he stated that he did not oppose any political aspirations, he did think that politics had lost much of its moral compass and had become more about advancing one’s own interests than that of the general populace.
“I’m not saying that you can’t be a politician; I’m just saying that it’s different from what we have now. Who believes that the goal of politics is to make money? The legal legend continued, “Politics is for service.
I used to be Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor, but I never had a kobo since I considered it to be a service. People now travel in order to profit from publicly funded resources.
He claims that the country lacks capable leadership and a top-notch education system.
“African leadership is a challenge for our country. People think that after graduating from college, they should enter the workforce or, failing that, enter politics, the speaker remarked.
Quality education is what this nation needs. Quality education gives you power, and when you have power, everything else fades away, according to Afe Babalola.
