Former Secretary to Kaduna State Government, Alhaji Sama’ila Yakawada, on Thursday said it is only in Nigeria that politics is considered a profession.
He described politics as job for lazy persons, adding that the situation had remained so because the politicians have no vision for the country.
Yakawada made the disclosure while speaking as a Guest Lecturer at an Annual Students’ Symposium held at Kongo campus, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the symposium was organised by Department of Local Government and Development Studies, Kongo, ABU, Zaria.
He said that only a lazy person considers politics as a profession, noting that in Britain, elected members of parliament have something else doing to earn a living.
He explained that as members of parliament, they converge for legislative proceedings, and were being paid allowances per number of sitting.
“It is only in Nigeria that elected officials leave their constituencies after becoming lawmakers to permanently settle in the capital city forgetting their electorate until another election period approaches.
“Hopefully, sooner than later, the Nigerian political approach will change through the young and dynamic youths, especially with the crop of youths graduating from the tertiary institutions,” he said.
Yakawada recalled that he and his contemporaries had enjoyed conducive atmosphere during their university days where they got everything at cheaper price unlike now.
Speaking on leadership, the ex-SSG sought for forgiveness over their shortcomings for what they failed to do during their reign, while advising all and sundry to pray for the future of the nation.
He stressed the need for the youths, particularly students not to undermine someone the country’s leader, advising that instead, they should support and pray for them to succeed.
He encouraged Nigerians to learn to live together in peace devoid of acrimony, blackmail, nepotism, sectionalism, tribalism and all other forms of divisions, in order to build a formidable nation in the near future.