— Says Politics Of Entitlement Or ‘Emi lo kan’ (My Turn) Is Bad, As It Breeds Dictatorship

As this year’s General Elections, in February, draw closer, the Presiding Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (formerly Latter Rain Assembly), Pastor Tunde Bakare, has condemned, in very strong terms, what he described as politics of entitlement (’emi lo kan’), which he said is “bad” and breeds “dictatorship.”

Bakare said these in his state-of-the-nation address on Sunday, January 15, 2023.

Although he did not specifically mention Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s name, the instances he gave in his address left no one in doubt that he was referring to the Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). 

It would be recalled that it was Tinubu that popularized the Yoruba term “emi lo kan” recently when he used it during a political campaign in Ogun State while stating that it was his turn to become Nigeria’s President in 2023.

In the address, Bakare said: “This ’emi lo kan’ politics that insists on one’s turn, even if circumstances do not align, is bad.

“Politics of entitlement also manifests as perennial candidacy, not with the intent to serve, but to gratify long personal ambitions. It could also manifest as insistence on a given political office as a reward for what one considers a lifetime of sacrifice to the nation.

“Politicians with a sense of entitlement evade political debates and do not consider it imperative to communicate with the electorate.”

“Entitlement politics will breed an imperial presidency that is distant from the people and has no sense of responsibility or accountability to the people. Such imperial governance will slide towards dictatorship and will be intolerant of dissent.

“Entitlement politicians set low performance benchmarks for themselves when they secure power and are content with projecting molehills as mountains of achievement.

 Good Politics, Good Governance

 Fellow Nigerians, having completed our analysis of bad politics and the bad governance it outputs, let us now take a look at good politics and its output of good governance. Good politics is pragmatic politics in the interest of the people.

“Politicians who practice good politics talk to the people they intend to govern; by communicating, they allay fears, restore hope, and assure the citizens.

“It is engaging and interactive: The practitioners of good politics are open to interrogation and they do not avoid debates or evade difficult questions. It is inclusive: good politics gives a sense of belonging to historically excluded or vulnerable groups, including women, young people, the elderly, and persons living with disabilities,” Bakare said.

photo Credt: Channels Television