By Abdulahmeed Abdulrozaq Bilal | Fact Frontier.
Click here to read more about the reporter.
This is a conversational editorial report by the current Chairman of Fact Frontier News and the audience.
Let's talk about that moment you're scrolling through X (formerly Twitter), shaking your head at another political headline, and fire off a perfectly crafted tweet. It gets likes, a few retweets, and you feel heard. But what if that's not where your power ends? What if it's just where it begins?
That's the powerful—and frankly, provocative—question former Senator Shehu Sani just dropped on Nigerians in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. His recent advice was blunt: step out of the comment sections and step into the political arena. But how helpful is this call to action in the real world? Let's break it down, not as a distant news story, but as a challenge to you and me.
The "Why Didn't I Think of That?" Moment
First, you have to admit, Sani's advice hits differently. It’s valuable because it’s a direct, actionable upgrade to our usual frustration. Instead of shouting at the screen, he says, "Become the person on the screen." This reframing is his most helpful contribution. As reported by Punch Newspapers and The Guardian Nigeria, his exact words were:
Excuse yourself from their comment section... aspire to contest and give your people the kind of leadership you think they deserve.
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Think about it. He’s specifically calling on people in their "middle years"—that's you with your career experience, your community ties, and your real-world bills. He’s not asking fresh graduates to do it all; he’s tapping into the group that has the maturity and, ideally, some resources to make a dent. It’s a move from abstract complaint to concrete possibility. That shift in mindset alone is priceless.
The "Yes, But..." Reality Check
Now, lean in. Let's get real about the giant "but" hanging in the air. Sani’s advice is the inspiring start of the conversation, not the whole manual. Why? Because we all know Nigerian politics isn't exactly an open playground.
The advice becomes less helpful the moment we face the Multi-Million Naira Question: How? Contesting elections is famously, prohibitively expensive. When nomination forms alone can cost a fortune, "just aspire to contest" can feel like being told to "just buy a private jet." Sani himself has criticized the system's deep-rooted "cabalists," the very gatekeepers a newcomer must pass. So, while the goal is valuable, the path he sketches is missing some crucial maps through the maze.
So, Is This Actually Helpful?
Here’s the interactive part: you decide.
If you hear Sani's words as a literal, immediate instruction: "Quit your job and run for office next month," it might be discouraging. The systemic hurdles are immense.
But if you hear it as a strategic long-game manifesto, its value skyrockets. It’s incredibly helpful because it changes the metric of participation. It tells us that true influence isn't counted in followers, but in committed footsteps toward the party office, the community meeting, and yes, eventually, the ballot.
The most valuable takeaway isn't necessarily "file your nomination tomorrow." It's this: Stop being just an audience. Start building a political identity. That might mean joining a party for real, leading a local issue-based advocacy group, or strategically supporting a credible candidate. It’s about moving from the sidelines to the field, even if you're not the star quarterback on day one.
The Final Word: Your Move
Shehu Sani has done us a favor. He's thrown down the gauntlet and switched the narrative. He’s essentially said,
Your critique is valid. Now, what are you going to build with it?
The help his advice provides isn't a magic key to victory. It's a challenge to our political imagination. It asks us to stop seeing the system as a fixed monument we can only tweet about, and to start seeing it as a structure we can enter, occupy, and remodel.
So, the next time you're about to type a fiery tweet (and by all means, don't stop entirely), maybe also take five minutes to think: What's the one small, real-world step I could take this month to move from commentator to contender? The comment section will always be there. But your chance to shape the story it's debating? That's the opportunity Sani is pointing toward. The ball is now in your court.
