Why We Can't Trust Our Entertainment Politicians

This is the season of politics in Nigeria. Come 2015, there shall be a new order of government via the democratic polling system, and the country will be led at various levels by a new raft of optimistic politicians.

Any other period in history and this column will not be concerned with the affairs of governance, but this time, I write these words because entertainment and politics have found a way to become entangled. Not because the aspiring leaders have called upon the influential singers, actors and comedians to endorse their bids, no.

I, Joey Akan, pen these words because our singers and actors, and comedians, have become politicians in their own right. Choosing to let go of their primary means of livelihood, and become lords over us all. They have cast down the cloak of humor, and masks of delightful service. Now they aspire for the mantle of leadership.

An entertainment politician has one modus operandi, this is how it goes. To win an election, they need votes. They don’t possess the know-how, experience and man-power to rig the elections, so they are dependent on their fame, popularity and strength of character (or charisma) to lead them through. They want the world to be fair, and the voting open, for them to have a shot.

To them, their main challenge lies in the primary elections. They have to defeat their opponents at the basic level and become worthy of carrying a respectable party’s support to challenge for top honours. Funding is never an issue. Any fool can part with his money to support a star with an ambition.

They are convincing, these people. They are good with words, popular with the masses, and appear sincere on the outside. What remains is the issue of trust and belief in their motives for power. We don’t trust these men and women from our screens. Even the most innocent or friendly of them all.

Julius Agwu, Desmond Elliot, Kenny Saint Best, Tony Tetuila, Kate Henshaw, 9ice, Kenneth Okonkwo, Bob Manuel Udokwu, and others like them will have a mountain to climb, and they have to. Politics and entertainment are different fields that do not mix. Sure we love our entertainers, but we aren’t sure of their plans and ability to pull us through one of the most horrible moments in our nation’s history. The terror in the north, the threat of militancy and piracy in the south, the seeds of Biafran secession have sprouted again in the East.  

We need people in all the levels of government who can rise up to these challenges and make them go away. Our entertainers are unconvincing in that regard.

Deep down, the issue of distrust does not come from their personality. It comes from their past jobs. Entertainers in Nigeria and other parts of the globe are generally not regarded as sound-minded and real people. They are generalised as ‘showbiz types’; fake people who can never lead a life of higher calling. Now they seek to do that, but the (mis)perception of their job which is their primary strength, also doubles as their Achilles heel.

Also it does not help that the majority of entertainers who seek to go into the government are not currently successful. Tony Tetuila is yesterday’s man. 9ice has lost the musical anointing long before he became Mr. Abolore Akande. Kenny Saint Best is also regarded as uninspired and a struggling artiste. Bob Manuel and Kenneth Okonkwo, also yesterday’s giants, aren’t the most desirable actors on the block. These people are seen as desperate and in need of a route to survival, and politics is perceived as their get-out-of-jail card.

Tony Tetuila did not help himself with his blonde hair. What manner of man who seeks to serve people of conservative stock would appear with blonde hair on his campaign poster? What’s the thought process behind that? Now he has altered the hair colour to black, but the damage has been done. In many quarters, it is irreparable.

As flashy as these entertainers come, they fail to inspire a sense of warmth and security in all of us. We love them, admire them, adore them, worship them, and long to be in their world.

But trust them with affairs of state? That’s another matter entirely.