Understanding a politician in a modern day state is like a breastfeeding mother trying to figure out why her infant cries uncontrollably every time despite not having a known illness.

Like this is a herculean task for mothers to figure out, same is to non-politicians who the politicians depend on for votes.

The life of a politician is like that of a chameleon to the masses. Today a political figure might be applauded, the next minute he or she might be stoned by the constituents.

Can a politician satisfy all at once? to the masses, the answer is yes because they feel it’s their right but to the politician, it’s a no because he or she knows it’s difficult to do that due to some hindrances only seen when you are at the receiving end.

Though some politicians are showered with love while in office, others receive or experience love when they are out of office, no thanks to those who replace them.

It is rare to find a politician who praises his/ her predecessor except the predecessor is from the same political party with the politician.

Some go to the extent of discrediting their predecessor despite the achievements that might have been recorded by that person while in office.

The change of government in Nigeria in 2015, came with a bulk of “blame games”, same with the change of government in the United States.

While this “blame game” most times is just to gain political points, it goes a long way to further confuse the citizens who at that point might be trying to understand “politics and politicians”.

The politics of Africa especially the Nigerian politics is one that gains serious attention from the international community, this was shown during the 2015 Presidential election in Nigeria.

While Nigeria is of utmost importance to the international community, Rivers state, Southern Nigeria is one state the Nigerian government does not joke with, this might be due to the natural resources in this state especially crude oil, which is Nigeria’s main source of revenue.

Though both the immediate past governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi and the incumbent governor, Nyesom Wike has thrown banters at each other periodically, it is important to state that they have both performed well but are also lacking behind in some areas.

A fact check reveals that Amaechi became a governor through the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but defected to APC later, while Wike came into power under PDP.

Unfortunately, the PDP/APC “blame games” at the Federal level has not helped the politics of Rivers state.

Late last year, top political actors in the country called for a “State of Emergency” in Rivers state for a reason they described as “unsafe and ungovernable”, with some giving the governor an unsavoury name.

However, in all forms of communication, knowing who you are talking to, how they think and what they want is crucially important.

People often unrealistically expect politicians to be able to solve their problems, not understanding what different politicians can actually do, either within government, a political party or in the community. Having an understanding of exactly what politicians can and can’t do is crucial.

Despite rumours to the contrary, politicians are as human as the rest of us and have similar emotional feelings like we do. By understanding what politicians want you will be able to engage with them more productively.

Politicians get asked to do multiple things every day. Some of these issues are extremely complex and some have no solution. There’s nothing an under-pressure politician likes more than being a simple request that they can respond to an action immediately. It’s worth keeping this in mind before labelling a politician as “unproductive or a thug” when they act in a way you never expected.

This is the more reason many must know the “Soft Side” of Chief Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, the Executive Governor of Rivers State.

Read more: http://aledeh.com.ng/the-soft-side-of-nyesom-wike-understanding-a-political-character-in-a-nigerian-state-by-philips-sunday/

Genocidal Governor