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POLITICS! What can man do without politics? Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers must have pondered on this question before arriving at his best doctrine that man is a political animal. This implied that, all over the world, human beings love and play politics at various levels. It means that even in the family, office, at social gatherings such as clubs, a certain dose of politics is needed to add spice to life.

The world loves politics and Nigerians being part of the world are not immune to politics. In fact, Nigerians love and relish politics even though not everybody is a professional at the game. And those who specialise in the very art of politics – the politicians – make most of it and sometimes overdo it. They seem to forget what politics is supposed to be and what it is not. Politics, according to Wikipedia, “is the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance – organised control over a human community, particularly a state. A variety of methods are employed in politics, which include promoting one’s own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries. Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments, companies and institutions up to sovereign states, to the international level.”

Going by this definition, it is understandable why Nigerians love politics so much. Nigerian politicians see, taste, hear, smell and feel politics all the time even when it is absolutely unnecessary. Perhaps, that is why so early in the year, Nigerians, in particular those in the political class, are becoming increasingly intolerant in the power game to the extent of overheating the polity. Every action in the polity is tainted with politics. Even some of them have taken to writing caustic letters as was the case recently, at the expense of having a healthy conversation on various issues that are endemic in the country such as corruption, security problems, epileptic power supply and so on. The way it is in the country now everything is viewed from the prism of politics. The staccato of voices in the play of politics in the country is so deafening that even the deaf will hear. This is happening so early in 2014, a year that will usher in the magic 2015 when the general elections will be held and politicians are expected to throw all caution in the air to do what they know and understand best – to snatch power from opponents through fair or foul means.

Already, they are preparing the ground for the real action and that is why the political space is already heated up and threatening to overshadow every other activity in the country. The Realnews editorial board has considered the tension in the polity with serious concern and decided to examine the issues at stake to enable Nigerians to understand the game of the politicians and why they should not be unduly troubled. The detail behind the tensed political situation in the country is encapsulated in our cover story for this week entitled: 2015: Politicians at Daggers Drawn. It was written by Olu Ojewale, general editor. It is very instructive. Enjoy it.

Maureen Chigbo
Editor

Email: mechigbo@yahoo.com  |  mechigbo@realnewsmagazine.com

— Jan. 20, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT