Today, November 7, 2026, I officially exited all platforms of the All Progressives Congress (APC). My ideology is simply no longer in sync with theirs at this moment.
Although I have been associated with this political movement since 2004, I became more actively involved in its activities between 2022 and 2023, when I briefly participated in some of its political engagements and electioneering activities.
Having had the opportunity to observe the political environment more closely, these are some of the things I have come to realise:
1. A lack of vision among political leaders
Many political party leaders appear to have no clear plans for the country. The situation is not peculiar to the APC; it cuts across several political parties.
For many of these leaders, politics has become more about personal enrichment than public service. They seem more interested in what they can take from the country than what they can contribute to its development. Some of them have no identifiable source of livelihood outside politics. In essence, they have made politics their business, and the country has become their feeding ground.
2. Politics has become an occupation for many unemployed youths.
A significant number of unemployed youths are deeply involved in political activities across the APC and other political parties.
Think about it: when political rallies are organised across approximately 37 states, and an individual is able to attend at least eight different rallies, one cannot help but wonder about their source of livelihood.
It raises a fundamental question: what exactly do these young people do outside politics?
3. The unemployed youths will eventually determine our political leadership.
Ironically, some of these unemployed young people will eventually become the very individuals who determine who becomes President, Governor and other political officeholders in this country.
Imagine allowing people whose political decisions may be driven by immediate financial gratification to determine the future of millions of Nigerians.
From their choices, someone will eventually emerge as a winner. 🤣🥰🤣
4. Productive youths are often relegated to the background.
The serious-minded young people who have jobs, businesses and legitimate sources of livelihood often approach politics as a hobby rather than a full-time occupation.
Consequently, they are pushed to the background, while those whose survival depends largely on political patronage occupy the frontlines.
This is one of the fundamental problems with our political environment.
5. Economic development and proper planning are hardly given serious attention.
I once attended an economic meeting with a friend who is not a politician. The meeting was organised on behalf of a governorship candidate and was supposed to function as a think tank.
Unfortunately, I was embarrassed by what I witnessed.
The people involved did not appear to have a proper grasp of the economic issues being discussed. There was little understanding of how to develop a comprehensive manifesto or translate political promises into workable policies. There was not even a lawyer to help properly harness the ideas and give them the necessary structure.
When my friend and I stepped out of the meeting, he simply remarked:
“Those guys on the Zoom meeting are blockheads.”
I honestly had nothing to say in response.
That experience reinforced my concerns about the quality of intellectual engagement within our political system.
6. Political rallies are often about optics, not the welfare of participants.
I have attended only one political rally in my life, and that was purely for the experience. I made a personal vow never to attend another one.
We were transported by air to Osun State for Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s campaign. After the campaign, people were left stranded. Some began crying because they had no means of returning to their respective destinations.
I eventually returned to Ibadan, stayed with my parents for a few days and booked my flight back to Abuja.
What shocked me most was seeing ladies begging for money just to find their way back to their various bases.
That day, I understood something about Nigerian political rallies: the organisers are often more concerned about the optics, the crowd, the photographs and the impression created during the event than the welfare of the people who make the crowd possible.
Once the cameras are off and the political objective has been achieved, the participants are sometimes left to fend for themselves.
Na Oyetola wan be governor, na me go dey enter gbese!
That was the last political rally I attended.
7. Many party members incur debts instead of benefiting from politics.
A lot of people enter into debt in the course of participating in political activities. They spend their personal resources, borrow money and make sacrifices, only to discover that what they eventually gain is nowhere near what they invested.
Politics should not be a system that impoverishes the very people who work to sustain it.
8. Truly intelligent people should think carefully before venturing into Nigerian politics.
A truly intelligent person should think twice before venturing into Nigerian politics because the environment, as I have experienced it, is largely dominated by mediocrity.
You begin to question everything you have ever known about competence, intelligence and excellence.
People sometimes package mediocrity and present it as intelligence. You may even find yourself begging for an opportunity to demonstrate your intellectual capacity for the benefit of society.
But why should anyone have to beg for their intelligence to be recognised and utilised?
Smart people should not have to struggle endlessly to prove their worth in an environment that has little appreciation for their value.
If you find yourself in such a cocoon, perhaps it is time to leave.
A cocoon is too small for your potential to blossom. Your value needs a larger space, and that space is the world, not the confinement of a political party.
MY MOTHER UNDERSTOOD WHAT I DID NOT UNDERSTAND THEN! 🤣
Now, I think I understand one of the reasons my mother was vehemently opposed to my involvement in active politics. 🤣🤣🤣
She probably did not want the political environment to discover the ehanna she raised in her house!
She knew the values being celebrated in some of these political spaces were values I would never subscribe to.
I was never a “Yes Man”, and she knew that politics, as it is presently practised in many quarters, was not my natural environment.
My mother knows I am a good, kind-hearted and generous person. However, she also understands another side of my personality: I am not someone who will sit quietly when things are not right.
She probably knew I would set the place on fire with my convictions, and she did not want that for me.
MY NEXT CHAPTER
Anyway, I am gone for now.
For the time being, I will not be identifying with or aligning myself with any political party.
My attention will now be on my Law Practice, business interests and other productive engagements.
I would rather invest my energy in environments where my ideas, values, intellectual capacity and professional competence can find meaningful expression.
Sometimes, walking away is not a sign of weakness; it is an act of self-preservation and clarity of purpose.
Yours truly,
Ifedolapo Esan, Esq.
B.A. Classics (University of Ibadan)
LL.B (University of Buckingham)
PGD International & Commercial Law (University of Buckingham)
B.L. (Abuja)
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