Political appointments for those who hate politics (I)

I recently read the book, “Power” by Jeffrey Pfeffer. 

The author’s conceptualization of the development of personal power mirrors reality. The book immediately stroke a chord because I had been thinking about some of his points for a while and even before reading the book,  a pattern of how the game is played   had already collected on my mind. 

So the book became the validation I needed. 

Although Pfeffer discusses power in general, his insights particularly paint a disturbingly real picture of how people get political appointments – even of how it happens here in Africa. 

Therefore, I want to talk about this by using some international examples and also some relatable instances from our own local politics. 

If you’re not interested in political office however, you have my respect and this doesn’t apply to you. Indeed I’ve more in common with you than those who do. 

However, if you are expecting or praying for one, please listen. 

Because, many people are going about it the wrong way. So don’t make the same mistakes again. Campaigns have already started for 2019.  It’s better to approach the next four years with a plan.

Take Niger State. Immediately after Gov Abubakar Sani Bello (Abu Lolo) of Niger won election, some of my acquaintances told me to tell him that they wanted some specific appointments, such as director general. And they were quite clear on their portfolios, “I want to be DG Youth, I’m very good with the youths” or “I have some ideas of how to develop the informal sector,” someone might have said. 

I looked to see whether they were joking. No, they were not!  But such proposals didn’t make sense. One, the governor didn’t know them. Two, they had not demonstrated their ideas in any meaningful way to make them standout. Therefore, their ideas were untested. And remember, they were not Prophet Yusuf (Joseph). 

Three, they only surfaced after the elections. Before then, they were either on the fence regarding the two candidates or they didn’t bother to vote. 

So what should I tell the Governor? Please appoint that person because he’s my friend?

 “I thought this Dooba was a reasonable person,” would be what the Gov. would say. 

I concede that some seekers had the academic qualifications, but so did thousands of others – especially in a state like Niger where you have experts in every field.

Another wrong way of going about seeking political appointment is through criticism. Some people sent private messages to me insulting the governor, then later I discovered that they wanted to be appointed. Some flipped that strategy.  They insulted the Governor  and me on social media, but sent private messages of they could contribute to the development of the state – soliciting either contracts or political offices. 

Well, this strategy doesn’t work. 

And the fact that it worked for Femi Fani Kayode after insulting President Obasanjo and President Jonathan doesn’t mean it would work for you. 

(Well, he continues to employ the same diabolical tools, but the strategy hasn’t worked with Buhari.)

So what works? 

We’re going to discuss at least five strategies which you can use individually or in combination to join the political leaders. 

In doing so, I’ll extract insights from at least five books including the “Autobiography of Malcolm X”, “Power”, “Leadership BS”, “How to Get Anything”, “The Prince”  and so forth. The entire piece will also be seasoned with my own personal experience. 

So join me next week. 

PS: What I’m going to describe in the coming days may not be the ideal or what’s fair, but it’s the reality. That’s why you see many unsuitable appointees. Because the bad guys (and a few good ones) follow the rules. Perhaps if the good guys know how to play the game, we would have better leaders.

“A well-wrapped statistic,” said Darrell Huff, six decades ago to defend his writing of the book How to Lie with Statistics, “is better than Hitler’s “big lie;” it misleads, yet it cannot be pinned on you.” 

So, to save the ordinary citizen from the mischievous use of statistics, Huff deemed it fit to teach regular folks how to do wicked statistics, hence his book, ‘How to Lie with Statistics.’

Here’s more of what Huff wrote in defense his project: “This book is a sort of primer in ways to use statistics to deceive. It may seem altogether too much like a manual for swindlers. [But] the crooks already know these tricks; honest men must learn them in self-defense.”

Unlike what Huff did with statistics, I wouldn’t (and can’t) cover all the angles people employ to gain political appointments. Like him, however, it is a concern seeing how the unsuitable game the system to become political leaders. So I purpose to share five tips on how to join the party.