 Welcome to The Advocate, where thought-provoking topics are discussed with no holds barred here on Plus TV Africa. We basically call a spade by its name, Greek philosopher Plato once said, one of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. That's why today I'm focusing on the difference between those in elected offices and the citizenry. Keito Chuku, who makes her debut on the show today, is also looking at economic equality. Comfort Smith is with handling of the pandemic in Nigeria, and she thinks there's no end in sight. Finally, another debutant, Abdul Sanusi, speaks on loop-sidedness in police recruitment. Sit back after this break, we'll be here to dissect it all. Stay with us. Politics. The sum of all fairs. I was born and bred in a small town called Zaire. It of course has a beehive of culture and the second largest university in Africa. It has enough tradition and religion, and its foundation was on educational levels. This made kids that grew up with me very logical, with the great minds of people like Dr. Bala Osman, Professor Jerrigana, and Professor Wilmot to mention a few, just at dinner table distance in conversation with your parents. The expose to governance was great for me at a young age. Over the last 10 years, I've had front-row seats to presidential campaigns, conducted primaries, been a winner of a primary, functionality also at the highest level of political party hierarchy. And also, let's also add, I've campaigned myself. So I understand the shivers down people's spines when the word politics is mentioned. This isn't born out of anything but a determinant in lives they don't understand. Politics they say is local, of course, meaning grassroots, but in my experience, politics is personal. The sum of all fairs are marginalization, poor delivery of governance, and the illuminative understanding as a pedestrian at midnight pointing a touch to the sky and hoping the light will reflect back to the ground like the sun. The fear of a system could be good, and could also be pregnant. The organization for the stand against ensars was great, but could also give birth to the below 7% voter participation in local government elections. Our political illiteracy is so high up that activists or social media demigods determine how we sway with votes. Think about the constitution or we're still view governance. We're so estranged from our politics that we have absolutely nothing to do with political parties which is key to why our politicians spend time securing their second term than they do governing because we aren't watching. And because of this, we aren't self-governed but carry the resentment we are governed by others. You want to know why? The distance between those in elected office and citizens is at its widest since independence. Our politics chooses its voters by religion, tribe, party diversions because we have no unified electorate on the standing of anything other than to use your PVC to vote. The PVC actually has two functions, firstly to vote, secondly to recall the members in legislative office which could be a trigger to also impeach a rogue executive. What we need to do is find time for what will engage us on every sphere which politics actually does especially when we're not looking so that our kids can spend time on the finer things like art and creativity. The future of the black race is in the hands of Nigerians as the most populous black nation in the world. The key to unlock our potential is to participate and only then would our some of our fears be divided to the dividends of good governance. So what do you guys think? Well, I do agree with you with one or two issues that you've raised particularly regarding the N-SARS. If we were to look at the whole N-SARS issue from the get go, I'll say because of the lack of understanding of politics and government, a lot of people jump onto the bangwagon with actually knowing how government function or how government work. If, for instance, despite our different opinion of the N-SARS, if people actually understand politics or government in the country, I think a lot of things would have been done differently. You understand? Now, a lot of people during the N-SARS were confused because of the miscommunication, misinformation which could be derived from lack of understanding, you understand? And therefore that pushed a lot of stuff out into the public, which may be true and may not be true. So you're right that we need to understand government, we need to understand politics and whether or not the fear will help us or not is something else in my view. Okay, Kato? Yeah, and it's not just the willingness to participate but also the willingness just like you said, to learn how to go about it. So during the N-SARS protests, one of the biggest challenges was the disconnect between the two groups of people. So in Nigeria you find that you have two groups of people basically, the halfs and the halfs not if you like, or the rich and the poor, or the exposed and the non-exposed. So it's a matter of bridging that gap and just like you said, the best way to bridge the gap is through engagement. Yes, politics is grassroots and there is nothing humiliating about that. If it's to work, everybody should be carried along and not just a particular group over the other. So Comfort, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. My thoughts haven't changed on this when it comes to the issue of, for me, the citizenry. How long are we going to be singing the same song? Can't the citizenry see up till now that the power is in their hands and that they need to take a hold of it and do what they need to do to change the status quo? So on the other hand, it probably is that we are comfortable with the status quo and yes, what politics is grassroots. The grassroots do know and understand politics, probably better than you and I who think we are not at the grassroots. And so for me, it's still going to be the same song and dance, I'm sorry, until there's a radical, radical and I don't know what is going to bring about it, change in understanding and our minds that look, my vote, my PVC is one vote yes, but I need to go out there. I need to choose according to the interests that will serve not just me, but my community, those around me and eventually the country at large. That is not the mindset that 99% of us have. And so I'm sorry, I think it's, I mean, again, we're just going to be shuffling in the dark. That's my opinion. Can I come in? I totally agree with it. The power is with the people. One thing we seem to not to understand in this country is, no matter every four years or so when the election comes, we have the power to reelect or to get rid of. The sooner that the people know that those people that we elected, we can get rid of them in the next election, they will start doing what we place them to do in the first place, which is to provide a good working environment for ourselves. And yet we seem to forget that we have the power. So come what is right, 100%. Well, I think generally this is a song who will keep remixing till the electorate gets. So Kato is next after the break. Stay tuned.