Dare Babalola
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, on Tuesday criticised the state of Nigerian politics, describing it as toxic and harmful to democratic growth.
In a post on X, the senior lawyer warned that the current political culture is discouraging credible leaders from participating in governance.
Okutepa said only a few politicians in the country engage in decent politics, while the majority contribute to practices that undermine democracy and national development.
“Nigerian politics is toxic. Most Nigerian politicians too are toxic. Only infinitesimal politicians play decent politics,” he wrote.
According to the senior lawyer, the prevalence of unhealthy political practices has made developmental politics difficult and prevented democracy from thriving as expected.
He stated that many individuals with integrity and leadership capacity avoid politics because they are unwilling to participate in what he described as abnormal and corrupt political conduct.
Okutepa further said the toxic political environment had emboldened some officeholders with poor performance records to remain confident of retaining power through second-term elections.
“It is because of this toxic approach to politics and the acceptance of it as a way of life that even politicians who have nothing to show for being in power will boast of winning second term of election in office,” he said.
The legal practitioner stressed that the problem was not limited to one political party, adding that political toxicity cuts across party lines, generations and regions.
“The toxicity of politics in Nigeria is not a function of one political party. It is in the DNA of virtually all Nigerian politicians. Both the young and old are involved,” he stated.
He blamed the trend on impunity, weak institutions and tolerance for misconduct in democratic processes, saying many Nigerians had come to accept indecency as normal in politics.
Okutepa also lamented what he described as the worship of wealth and the erosion of values such as honesty, integrity and honour in public life.
“Politics is for service and development. But most of our political actors see politics as an avenue for primitive acquisition of wealth,” he wrote.
He said internal democracy within political parties had weakened, with wealthy political actors dictating party decisions and determining political outcomes.
According to him, decisions in the political space are often driven by unfair and partisan interests rather than justice, equity and the common good.
“There is no integrity in injustice and thuggery. But thuggery and thuggish approach have become tools to political power in our democracy,” Okutepa added.
He called for the emergence of leaders committed to fairness, justice and balanced national development, warning that concentrating progress in one part of the country at the expense of others reflects leadership failure.
“Nigerians need to have just, fair and equitable leaders who have the interests of all of us at heart in taking governmental decisions,” he stated.
