Nigerian Concord Newspaper
I listened with keen interest to the Senate President as he interrogated the senator representing Ondo Central Senatorial District on why the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State had failed to give Professor Senator Dayo Faduyile a return ticket to the Senate.
This raises a fundamental question about the APC’s political investment strategy: why overlook a candidate regarded as a valuable asset when his knowledge and experience could yield substantial dividends for legislative effectiveness and national development?
To me, the fact that the Senate President publicly questioned the decision to deny Senator Dayo Faduyile a return ticket suggests that he may have had meaningful interactions with him through which he assessed his intellectual capacity, leadership qualities and potential contributions to nation-building.
The Senate President’s observation could therefore be interpreted as a diagnostic signal revealing a possible dysfunction in the political system’s decision-making mechanism.
Beyond the immediate political controversy, however, the issue presents a fundamental research question about the health of Nigeria’s political culture: Are political parties systematically identifying, evaluating and promoting candidates on the basis of competence, character and intellectual capacity, or are personal interests, factional calculations and strategic political considerations exerting greater influence than merit?
I accompanied a political aspirant to Professor Faduyile’s residence in Ikoya to solicit his support for the aspirant’s ambition to represent his constituency in the House of Representatives. What I experienced during that visit transcended the superficial exchange of political pleasantries and ceremonial courtesies that often characterise such encounters.
Rather, the meeting became an intellectual excavation, much like geological exploration, in which the underlying layers of political behaviour, leadership deficiencies and institutional contradictions were carefully uncovered
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Our conversation went beyond the surface sediments of partisan rhetoric to examine the deeper structural foundations of Nigeria’s political ecosystem. We engaged in a stimulating discourse on politics, leadership and the behavioural patterns of Nigerian political actors, whose actions sometimes expose the fault lines within our democratic institutions.
More importantly, his words flowed with the frequency of sincerity, the rhythm of humility and the wavelength of genuine responsibility. He carried himself like a gentle wave that touches every shore without discrimination, demonstrating a profound consciousness of the responsibilities that accompany leadership.
His counsel was not merely an exchange of words; it was an intellectual signal transmitted across the airwaves of political consciousness, capable of recalibrating one’s political orientation, sharpening one’s judgment and expanding one’s understanding of purposeful leadership.
At the conclusion of our discussion, he offered us his best wishes and counselled us to pursue our ambitions with the fear of God while remaining sufficiently humble to submit to His sovereign will. His words carried the weight of a moral injunction, reminding us that political ambition, however legitimate, must never become a licence to mortgage integrity, auction humility or circumvent the higher jurisdiction of divine authority.
He emphasized that In the grand courtroom of conscience, no political aspiration is so noble that it should be exempted from the scrutiny of character, and no ambition is so compelling that it should be permitted to overrule the principles of justice, sincerity and moral accountability.
As we departed from his residence, I turned to the person I accompanied to his house that if individuals of such intellectual depth, humility and moral disposition were entrusted with the responsibility of navigating Nigeria’s political ship, our nation might finally begin to drill through the bedrock of its persistent challenges and extract the petroleum of genuine progress.
Unfortunately, our political landscape often resembles a paradoxical balance sheet in which the liabilities of mediocrity are concealed beneath the inflated assets of political loyalty, while competence, integrity and intellectual capital are treated as expendable entries.
Honestly,my conclusion was neither a sentimental verdict nor a partisan affidavit sworn in the courtroom of political loyalty. It was an evidence-based judgment arising from my personal interaction with a man whose conduct offered a compelling counterargument to the cynicism deeply embedded in our political consciousness.
His intellectual depth was evident in his reasoning; his humility was reflected in his disposition; his sincerity emerged through the substance of his counsel; and his willingness to offer constructive guidance revealed a philosophy of leadership anchored in service rather than self-aggrandizement.
I was therefore deeply happy when I learnt that he had become the candidate to complete Senator Jimoh Ibrahim’s tenure following the latter’s appointment as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, but was disappointed when I learned that he was not given the opportunity to return to the Senate and continue contributing to legislative development.
Therefore, When the Senate President subsequently raised a similar concern, it reinforced a question that had occupied my mind months earlier: why would a political system hesitate to fully utilise a capacity that could serve the national interest?
It is particularly sad that, in Nigeria’s courtroom of democracy, political decisions repeatedly fail to withstand the scrutiny of fairness, competence and accountability. Party loyalty may be a legitimate constitutional ingredient of democratic politics, but when it becomes a substitute for merit, it transforms from a binding political principle into a legal and moral liability.
A political system that consistently prioritises personal interests, factional calculations and political expediency over competence risks undermining its own institutional credibility and weakening the foundations of democratic governance.
Ultimately, the question is not simply whether Professor Senator Dayo Faduyile deserves another opportunity in the Senate; it is whether Nigeria’s political parties are genuinely committed to recognising and rewarding intellectual capacity, integrity and proven leadership. Nation-building requires more than political calculations and electoral strategies.
It demands a political culture in which merit is recognised, competence is rewarded, accountability is upheld and public interest takes precedence over partisan convenience.
Until these principles become central to political decision-making, Nigeria may continue to sacrifice valuable intellectual capital on the altar of political expediency. May God help Nigeria!
Kunle Awesu, a Finance Expert writes from Akure