BENIN CITY — Chancellor of the University of Communication, Benin City, Prof. Tonnie Iredia, has urged Nigerian politicians to shift their attention from endless politicking to the actual business of governance.
Speaking on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television on Thursday, Iredia lamented that political leaders are more concerned about the next election — sometimes years away — instead of addressing the immediate needs of the people.
“It’s not as if it appears so; it is exactly so, and it has been on for quite a while. Some of us have been raising the alarm that, look, in governance, there is a period for electioneering. After that, there’s a period for elections. After that, there’s institutionalization of government. After that, there’s governance,” he explained.
The former broadcast executive stressed that the obsession with electioneering is robbing Nigerians of good governance, as politicians remain fixated on personal ambitions instead of delivering projects and policies that impact citizens.
He also called on the media to play a corrective role by setting the national agenda and redirecting politicians’ focus to governance.
“Now this is where the issue comes in. It is the media whose duty it is to pull them back and say this is not a period for electioneering. This is a period of governance. We want to see projects. We want to see what you are doing. We want to tell the public what you are doing. We don’t want to tell the public what your ambition is. We have passed that stage now,” Iredia said.
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