Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State yesterday, urged the elite to be actively involved in politics.The governor made the observation at the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) Northern zonal accountants conference in Ilorin.

He said: "As Nigeria grapples with serious political and economic challenges, it has become fashionable to lay the blame for our national malaise at the doorstep of politicians without any attempt at differentiation.

"Leaving aside the unfairness of such blanket classification and while acknowledging that some politicians' conduct questions their patriotism, I state here without any fear of contradiction that politicians are not entirely to blame.

"Let me explain my position.  In all societies, the elite comprise the political class. These elites not only dominate and control the political space, they usually have the responsibility of devising policies that guide governance when elected or appointed into office. Such policies shape incentives that in turn, determine our capacity to convert the opportunities available to advantage and how well our country prospers."

Ahmed noted that the consequence is that the quality of the political elite ultimately determines the value of policies and the nature of incentives that drive individual and collective development.

It therefore follows that in order to create the society that we desire, we must stimulate the emergence of a credentialed, experienced, and patriotic elite to chart a new course for national development.

The governor called on accountants and other professionals to be part of "a new political elite who will take charge of governance and midwife new policies and incentives that will galvanize our people and indeed our country in the direction of collective prosperity.
"Some may argue that majority of our current crop of politicians are professional. That may be so. But I maintain that if more committed and purposeful professionals enter partisan politics, they will form a critical mass with the capacity to change the orientation, direction and impact of governance in way that better reflects on the lives of the people and takes us closer to our dreams for a better
"Consequently, we must leave the sidelines and join the mainstream of politics so that the nature and character of partisanship will change for the better. To stop the tendency to take to politics as a last resort, we must birth a new crop of politicians that are successful entrepreneurs, accomplished professionals and credentialed technocrats who will build on their experience, knowledge and skills to fashion out tested policies that will form the framework for the transformation of our country.

"As politics is a game of numbers, the more professionals join the political elite, the better their capacity to shape the kind of politics we play and the nature of the governance we practice.
I therefore call on you as accomplished professionals to stop seeing politics as an abominable arena to be avoided at all cost but rather as a platform for contributing your quota to our country's development."