Ex-Kwara Speaker admonishes lecturers to join politics

Dr Ali Ahmad, former Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly has charged varsity lecturers to consider venturing into politics to secure a more potent platform of serving humanity.

Ahmad told newsmen in Ilorin on Tuesday that participation in politics would give lecturers of related courses the opportunity of putting their knowledge into practice.

He explained that it would also instil in them deeper knowledge, which would make them more resourceful and more useful to students.

Ahmad, a former Acting Dean, Faculty of Law of Unilorin, said that his voyage into politics afforded him the opportunity of effecting so many positive changes that would have remained a dream had he not ventured into politics at the time he did.

He noted that being in politics clarified him on the possibility of putting into practice what he had learnt and taught for many years.

He urged his colleagues in the academia not to be discouraged about the unpalatable stories woven around politics and politicians, but to go into politics to make the much-needed difference in governance and in public administration.

Speaking on the role of the legislature in government, Ahmad described the Parliament as the most significant arm of every democratic institution because of its power to check the activities of the Executive arm.

He, however, lamented that the legislature was also the most misunderstood among the three arms of government.

“The day-to-day activities of the state and provision of infrastructure are not part of its function as erroneously believed by the people,’’ Ahmad said.