In this concluding part, HASSAN O. SALIU writes that the opposition in Kwara politics has not really lived up to its billing

Changing the environment
An unpleasant political environment can be changed through many efforts and strategies. One of these is the existence of robust and active opposition political parties. However, over the years, politics in the state has been devoid of strong opposition. The environment is often projected as being too hard for them. It will always be hard and harsh when poor judgements precede political actions. My impression of opposition parties in the Emirate is that they are only active and on ground when elections are around the corner. As soon as they are defeated, they dissolve into oblivion only to show up and try again in controversy and squabble among their ranks and files. The end result is that they are routed easily by the well-oiled electoral machines. Although the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) tried its best in its first electoral outing in the 2011 gubernatorial elections, its fortunes may have declined due to the realities of the post-2011 gubernatorial politics in the state. Building on their successes has been a nightmare to the opposition parties; the virus of personality cult seems to have infested the opposition parties as much as the mainstream political parties in the state.

One-way politics
Politics in the Emirate until recently was characterized by “one-way traffic” approach. Virtually all the serious politicians were always found in the      boat of one political party. Unlike what is being seen at the national level in which displeasure has been expressed on the attitude of some PDP leaders who are wining and dining with the All Progressive Congress (APC), politics in the Emirate had been unidirectional. You were either in the political establishment boat or you were seen as an anti-establishment. This tendency, which is now yielding to new realities which the opposition is yet to take a maximum advantage of, has hindered the tabling of all issues to benefit from all shades of opinion. This has undoubtedly accounted for the poor showing of the Emirate on some indicators of performance and development.

The disconnect   
The disjoint or disconnect between the people and the politicians takes the soul out of the Emirate politics and thus accounts for the less satisfactory state of affairs. Also suffering on account of the breakdown of communication between the people and the political class is the economic empowerment that people often look up to in terms of effective and meaningful economic support through patronage. It will therefore be difficult for the Emirate to develop when politics weans-off the people economically. Given the nature of the political economy in Nigeria, can any community develop without politics being placed realistically at the disposal of economic empowerment for the people? Our answer is No.

Towards a new Paradigm
This section begins with the understanding that the entire Ilorin community should take the glory for the exploits of our politicians and the blame for their shortcomings. This is because there must have been some tolerance or acquiescence of some of the traits of our politicians. I want to argue however that the blame game should stop while all of us gear up towards re-inventing our politics to make it serve the needs of the people.
As argued in the earlier part of this presentation, no political environment can operate without some personalities having an edge in terms of controlling some political events. That however is not a sufficient reason for all the indigenes to fold their arms. I therefore call for a synergy between the political class and other elites in the community in charting a progressive and prosperous future for Ilorin Emirate. The era of each heavy weight doing his thing in his own corner should be stopped.

Irrespective of our political affiliations, we must all unite on the issue of Ilorin and its continued existence and progress. Our dominant politicians must take the first step in making this a reality. It is in their self–enlightened interest to do so. Talents, resources and good advice are abound among our fellow indigenes who may not be too interested in the intrigues, backbiting and falsehood of the politicians. Yet, their wise-counsel cannot be ignored if the Emirate must be transformed into the community of our dream. The age bracket of the key political actors indicates that they need to accord respect to the elders who are in other areas of human endeavour. I do not see anything wrong in our politicians calling these elders up or visiting them.

I also urge the elders and professionals who have love for the community not to be silent or acquiesce when politics is dividing and undermining the Emirate community. Interventions here and there could be what our community needs to make breakthroughs in development. There is an urgent need for unity to connect Ilorin to the high wave of development. I honestly believe that the thick wall of politics of suspicion or even hate should be pulled down. Without getting our politics right, development may continue to elude us.

Consultations
Consultation is a kind of lubricant for politics. The government must put into more use the resources and wise-counsel of our traditional rulers. We need to devise a way of according high respect and regard to the royal fathers even in the face of the constitutional constraints. As the custodians of our cultures, they need to be placed appropriately so that they can be comfortable in giving more treasured advice to the political class.
Notwithstanding, I want to argue that the Emirate urgently needs a Committee of Elders who might belong to different political parties but will be charged with the responsibility of preparing a blueprint for the overall development of our community and  intervenes occasionally in policy environment to reduce the burden of partisanship on the political class.

This consultation also extends to the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU) as an umbrella association for all clubs and societies in the Emirate. We may need to cast our minds back to how politics was played in the past that accorded a prime of place to the Union. The recent events in which the IEDPU has been  taking out advertorials to condemn certain actions and policies of the Kwara State government that boasts of  a comparative higher visibility for the Emirate is unfortunate and may be an eye opener to people from other Senatorial Districts in the state.
Democracy is invented for all the categories of people and not only for the politicians. People’s rights and privileges need to be respected so that the politicians do not on their own open the eyes of the people. A sober analysis of the 2011 voting patterns in Ilorin Emirate would indicate that the voters are anxious to become electorate and this is a clear warning signal!

More involvement in politics
At this point, one calls for more involvement of indigenes of Ilorin in politics. Joining the mainstream could be an option to effect a change from within or belonging to any other political party may be another choice. What is important is to get involved. Politics is always a locked up issue in Nigeria with politicians always forgetting that other stakeholders (non-practising politicians) also have a stake in it. The idea of taking opposing politicians as enemies should be replaced with the progressive attitude of seeing them as partners in progress whose valuable contributions are also welcomed in the task of developing our community. Being in opposition should not debar any politician from making his or her own contributions to the development of Ilorin community. A normal political system is usually “two way traffic”.

Relationship with others
 Making politics to serve the cause of development in the Emirate requires that the community must be at peace with its neighbours. Beyond the usual rivalry that often exists among the three Senatorial Districts in the state, our neighbours in Kwara State are generally peace-loving people. I want to therefore argue that their interests, perspectives and feelings about the happenings in the state should always be considered. The Emirate has, no doubt, a political edge now but no one knows how long this will last. Moderation and due care are required from the political leadership in order not to make our relationship with them assume a hostile dimension. They will, no doubt, complain about the obvious dominance but it is incumbent upon our politicians to seek for their continued understanding while striving for fairness in the exercise of political power.
Achieving unity in our community is central for our rapid development. Once we are perceived to be disunited in our political pursuits, infiltration becomes easier and no disunited people can develop let alone win any “war”. It is however conceded that we may disagree among ourselves on the strategies and modes of achieving development for our community but on the issue of rapid development for the Emirate, all of us must share the same passion and conviction. The reality of our existence as a community shows this as our salvation path.  It is unrealistic to hold the belief that we can surpass our current level of development with the pervasive and incurable feeling of individualism that is well entrenched in our system. The absence of communal spirit or “we feeling” has undoubtedly undermined the rapid development of the Emirate.

Mainstream party
Our location most times at the centre of national politics is a wise decision. Since 2003, the Emirate and by implication, the state has been with the ruling party. While noting some disagreements that have pitched the state government in the camp of new PDP, it is inevitable to observe that our centralist politics has not made the Emirate to be the choice location for more Federal Government projects for the maximum benefits of our people.

I blame this on a lack of united blueprint for engaging the centre. One can imagine what would accrue to the Emirate from the combined efforts of our retired justices, security chiefs, emergent professionals, national political actors, notable businessmen and women, etc., in speaking and defending the rights and privileges of Ilorin community in their interventions at the federal level. Beyond this, we must earnestly do something about the trust deficit that people complain about with respect to the attitude of some of our political gladiators. Without enjoying the trust of our political allies, the Emirate may continue to experience the dearth of federal presence and patronage, the effects of which are already biting hard on the community.

Nigerian politics has an excessive dose of sycophancy. Indeed, sycophants have practically seized the nerve-centre of the country’s politics. It is scarcely necessary to remark that the aggregate impact of sycophants on Nigerian politics is negative especially with their resort to unorthodox means to hypnotise their victims. Unfortunately, most Nigerian politicians grow the seeds of sycophancy. They want to be adored, worshipped, deceived and misled.

A politician who enjoys the courts of jesters and sycophants may inadvertently be digging his own political grave. The art of governance is however for the broadminded who values performance more than sycophancy. The first political disease we must therefore cure is sycophancy. The second is the scorn or snobbish attitude of our politicians. If one must add the third one, it is the unparallel greed and insensitivity of the political class.

We therefore need to speak out the truth. For those of our politicians who still fancy sycophancy, they need to be reminded that sycophancy if it has any political value at all it is in the short run. In the long run, such politicians will know it as cancerous and by then, it would be too late and that unfortunately will be at a great cost to the community in terms of development. Growing the economy of the Emirate is the only antidote to the phenomenal increase in the number of sycophants in our midst.

I cannot conclude this presentation without whispering to the ears of the state government that the state of higher institutions in the Emirate calls for a review of some policies. Apart from the newly established State University which itself is generating discussions in some informed circles, the Colleges of Education located in the Emirate are breathing laboriously under insolvency. The charge to them to generate their own incomes while the state government augments is good except that the fact of their existence calls for a review.
Without focusing on education, the goal of development will continue to elude us. Our politicians must realize the chord that connects education to development and take a bold but comprehensive step towards repositioning the educational sector in the Emirate. The products of our schools are not yet aware of our developmental goals let alone be connected to them due to their disorientation and insensitivity of the stakeholders. More attention therefore needs to be focused on the sector by all and sundry to complement the efforts of the state government.

Conclusion
We have tried in this paper to look at politics in the Emirate in recent times. It recognized the relevance of Ilorin Emirate in Nigerian politics. The community has always aligned with the centre with some of its indigenes occupying some high level political positions. This centralist politics and its consequence dominance in Kwara politics have brought about some visibility to Ilorin Emirate which some observers have described as power.

Looking at the achievement level, one would be tempted to conclude that all is well with the Emirate and its politics. Upon a deeper reflection, it is quite evident that the Emirate is as challenged as other communities that do not rival our visibility level in terms of high level of unemployment, poverty, etc.
In addressing the myriad of developmental challenges facing the Emirate, the paper has argued for a different approach to politics which should show more community involvement in all political activities through ingenuine strategy of challenging every able and opportuned politician in the community. There are other talents outside the mainstream politics whose contributions are vital to the rapid economic development of Ilorin but who are discouraged due to the nature of politics in the Emirate. These people and politicians on other platforms should be wooed and encouraged to make their impact felt in the development drive of Ilorin.

Politics as a kind of Master of Science is the chief driver for development. All the indigenes of the Emirate are therefore being called upon to show more interest in its political development. Politics does have different roles for all the people. Without being a mainstream politician, every indigene can at least follow the political process and intervene when and where necessary to limit the incidence of partisanship and its negative impact on the development of the Emirate. This is itself significant and a major step towards accelerating the level of development in Ilorin.