BRASS KILLING: THE NEED FOR OUR GREAT YOUTHS TO SEE BEYOND THE IMMEDIATE, By Comrade Wisdom Ikuli

While there is no universally acceptable definition of ‘POLITICS’ since each author and scholar try to define it according to their context and subject matter but one of the most popular and widely quoted definition is the one by Harold Laswell. He defined Politics as ‘who gets What, When and How’.The above definition shows that politics is not charity or philanthropy, rather it is a game of interests. These interests varies and they are not static, rather they are dynamic. People go into politics to further promote, project and protect their personal interests, those of their communities, local government areas, states, religion or tribe. To achieve this interests they move from point A to B. But those who know the rule of the game know that you must play it in such a way that you must live to accomplish and also actualize your individual goal or interest since it is per head. Dead men don’t count in the game and business.Recent political events in the country and Bayelsa State in particular has further confirmed and reaffirmed the fact that PDP, APC, SDP, ADC, ANN and the over 90 political parties are mere nomenclature. They are ordinary names. The political parties are one and the same because the characters are the same.There are a lot of leaders who are APC in the day but PDP in the night and vice versa. It goes to show the kind of politics our leaders play. These leaders quarrel during the day but eat, wine and dine in the night. They do not have clear ideologies. Their point of disagreement is their respective interests. It does not take them minutes to call each on phone to settle their supposed differences to agree on sharing formula.Those who are leaders today were youths yesterday. If they were killed, they wouldn’t have lived to become leaders today. The enmity and bitter between followers is not the same with their leaders who only disagree on interests.I therefore wish to use this rare opportunity to appeal to our great Youths to think about tomorrow. They will not remain as youths forever. Our great Youths should engage in meaningful ventures. They should be mindful of tomorrow, you don’t need to die or kill another in the name of politics. Everybody cannot belong to one party since Nigeria is operating a multiparty system. Those who are political enemies today can turn out to become the best friends and allies tomorrow.Let us stop the killing of innocent youths. Youths should stop serving as willing tools in the hands of politicians.My heart goes to families of those who lost their loved ones during the ugly incident that took place yesterday being Monday 20th August, 2018.May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace, Amen!