The 2019 general election witnessed the influx of several young people into the political space, especially at the presidential level. We all remember the likes of Omoyele Sowore, Mathias Baba Tsado, Fela Durotoye and a host of others, who made social media the center piece of their presidential campaign. However, while the above mentioned individuals tried unsuccessfully to emerge in their electioneering experiment, there are others who started their ambition on social media and suceeded in winning their election. One of such individuals is Pharmacist Sadiq Umar, a distinguished senator, representing Kwara North Senatorial District.
In a yet to be published book titled, “How I became a Senator in 30 days”, Sadiq stated that, “Several persons had at one time or the other encouraged me to seek elective office, but the pressure to run in 2019 was particularly intense and social media further amplified the voice, starting from when I was added to a WhatsApp group”. To say it differently, Senator Sadiq Umar started his ambition on WhatsApp group and he eventually landed at the Senate. The detailed of this process was contained in his upcoming book. I was privileged to be given this unpublished book few weeks ago, when I met Sadiq Umar to discuss and answer questions on our organisation’s novel project, the Legislative Watch, which is seeking to advance legislative accountability in Nigeria.Legislative Watch is designed as a scientific and professional assessment programme for the annual rating of legislative performances in a fair, balanced and apolitical manner, for the purpose of strengthening legislative arm of government and encourage legislators to compete for excellence. After our engagement on Legislative Watch, which was the main reason for the meeting, Senator Umar gave me a book he just wrote, titled “How I became a Senator in 30 days”.
This book is very special to me because, the copy given to me was the last copy available on his desk and when I settled to read the book after few hours of collecting it, I found the content simple and rich, more like a guide to all aspiring politicians, particularly youths and technocrats, seeking to add value to our political experience. This is apart from the aspect of the book that provides answers to all burning political and party issues, such as election financing and money in politics, building structures and navigating internal politics within political parties, connecting the grassroots and aligning with youth sentiment, handling the politicians and more.In the book, Senator Sadiq explained how his ambition to become a senator started on a WhatsApp group and like a scene in Nollywood movie, it gradually moved from social media to reality within the space of 30 days. The book is a practical guide on political engagement in Nigeria and is written by the most qualified person, a professional of global standing and a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I have known and built a friendly relationship with Senator Sadiq before he won the senate seat during Kwara’s Otoge political revolution that swept the former ruling dynasty out of the state, and I follow his engagement at the Senate.
However, because of the enormous task before him at the Senate, especially as a chairman of an important and active committee (Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Vice Chairman, Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases), I wasn’t expecting the senator to have time to write a book such as this, in less than one year in office.
But Sadiq Umar isn’t just a senator, he is many things roled into one and his passion, and dedication to the upliftment of Nigeria is second to none. Having gone through the book, which I find inspirational and timely, I must say that writing this book is one of the most important decisions by the senator and I encourage politicians and aspiring politicians to read it. There’s a lot to learn from it.
Politics is the only realistic route to good governance in democracy. Unfortunately, not many people have a coherent understanding of the relationship between politics and governance. Although, civil advocacy and political activism may play complementary roles to government, but ultimately, the quality of governance will be determined by the quality of its politics.
This is why the Kwara Must Change movement has been at the forefront of encouraging all those who have something to offer to step into the political system and with this book (How I became a Senator in 30 days), aspiring politicians will find it easier to navigate the political terrain without abandoning their principles.
Hamzat, Convener of Kwara Must Change, writes from Abuja via [email protected]
