And Paul mentioned unto the folks of Plateau North: be not deceived by clothes, by grammar, by convoys, nor by the sudden holiness that falls upon males when election season draweth close to. For a lot of shall come unto you in white flowing robes and tailor-made humility, talking peace with their lips whereas ambition burns like dry season fireplace of their hearts. They shall say, “I’ve come to serve,” when what they imply is, “I’ve come to take a seat.” They shall say, “I’ve heard the cry of the folks,” when actually they’ve solely heard the music of title, the candy clinking of protocol, and the intoxicating fragrance of being referred to as Distinguished.
For the Senate, brethren, is just not a interest.
It isn’t a retirement lounge for drained governors who, having tasted energy within the govt, now search a softer throne upon which to relaxation their political bones. It isn’t a rehabilitation centre for former officeholders who misplaced relevance and now search resurrection by poll. It isn’t a reward scheme for loyal occasion males, nor a comfort prize for these bruised by inside occasion quarrels. Neither is it a household heirloom to be handed from one native authorities to a different as if the folks had been merely custodians of an association and never residents entitled to advantage.
And but, that is usually the tragedy of our politics. The persons are advised to dream, however the political class comes to barter inheritance.
In each senatorial district, and definitely in Plateau North, there’s at all times the incumbent. Typically he bought there by laborious work. Typically accidentally sporting the garment of future. Typically by the implosion of others. Typically by the arithmetic of occasion confusion. However as soon as he enters, a brand new temptation is born: to confuse occupancy with usefulness. There are incumbents who perceive that the workplace is rented, not owned. And there are those that start to behave as if the purple chamber had been an ancestral compound, as if illustration had been a birthright sealed by heaven and signed by occasion elders.
Then there are the previous ones, the once-anointed, the lads of “I get am earlier than.” They arrive with reminiscences as a manifesto. They level to the street they as soon as tarred, the motions they as soon as raised, the scholarships they as soon as introduced, and so they ask the folks to look backward till backward begins to resemble imaginative and prescient. However a district can’t be ruled by nostalgia. Yesterday’s title can’t robotically grow to be tomorrow’s argument. A folks should ask, not merely who has been there, however what precisely did he do there? Did he converse when it mattered? Did he construct when it counted? Did he carry the anxieties of the folks into regulation, oversight, and affect, or did he merely carry the title dwelling like a trophy?
There are additionally the perpetual runners, the lads who marketing campaign the way in which some folks breathe. Each election should discover them on the poster, smiling with recycled conviction. They’re contestants by occupation, aspirants by intuition, veterans of defeat who interpret endurance as entitlement. One nearly desires to admire their stamina till one realises that persistence is just not the identical factor as objective. To at all times run is just not essentially to know why you’re working.
After which, once in a while, there emerges one other sort.
A person, typically a lady, who steps in direction of politics from a spot not of urge for food alone however of burden. An individual with a reputation exterior electoral noise. A thoughts fashioned in service, thought, sacrifice, or skilled rigour. Somebody who already has an identification and due to this fact doesn’t want workplace to grow to be seen. That’s the place the matter of Professor Chris Kwaja turns into helpful, not as a result of he ought to be canonised earlier than scrutiny, however as a result of his emergence invitations a extra severe query: what sort of folks ought to search the Senate within the first place?
Kwaja is just not arriving from nowhere. He’s identified publicly as a peacebuilding scholar and practitioner, and has labored in battle, governance, and safety areas over time. He has additionally served in Plateau state authorities on peace and safety issues, and in February 2026 he formally defected to the APC, a transfer that made clear he was stepping extra totally from coverage affect into partisan politics.
What issues right here is just not reward singing. It’s the symbolism of a sure sort of entrant. When a person already revered in one other area enters politics, the folks should ask him laborious questions, sure, however they need to additionally ask themselves whether or not they actually need competence in politics or whether or not they merely get pleasure from complaining about its absence.
For that is the contradiction of our public life: we lament that unserious males dominate the world, but when severe folks contemplate getting into, we whisper to them about soiled waters, misplaced integrity, and contaminated reputations. We’ve got, on this nation, romanticised the spectator. We honour the critic within the gallery, however we’re suspicious of the thinker who dares descend into the ring. So, politics is left to these with the strongest abdomen for mud, after which we act shocked that governance retains smelling like a swamp.
However let nobody misunderstand the argument. The Senate is just not holy as a result of a professor desires to enter it. Levels don’t equal character. Coverage language doesn’t robotically grow to be public braveness. A peace scholar can fail in politics simply as a profession politician can typically exceed expectations. The difficulty is just not whether or not Chris Kwaja is ideal. The difficulty is whether or not the workplace itself ought to demand seriousness, imaginative and prescient, legislative creativeness, constituency grounding, and ethical stamina.
Plateau North doesn’t merely want a senator who can win. It wants one who understands that lawmaking is just not a facet hustle. The district sits in a state repeatedly visited by violence, distrust, fragile peace, contested reminiscence, and the exhausting ritual of mourning. This isn’t a constituency that may afford decorative illustration. The present senator, Pam Dachungyang, holds the seat in the present day.
That easy reality ought to pressure each aspirant, incumbent or challenger, right into a tougher dialog. Past slogans and turnout machines, what precisely is the work? What payments will probably be pursued? What oversight battles will probably be fought? What federal leverage will probably be introduced dwelling? What safety conversations will probably be reframed? What improvement creativeness will transfer past token tasks and condolence politics?
For too lengthy, many Nigerians have approached the Senate as a chamber of arrival somewhat than a chamber of labour. To grow to be senator is seen by too many because the climax, not the graduation. That’s the reason some search it for title, some for immunity by affiliation, some for elite relevance, some for comfortable touchdown, some for revenge in opposition to rivals, and a few just because on this republic title has grow to be an alternative to substance. However a title can’t heal a grieving constituency. A convoy can’t sponsor a great regulation. A tv interview can’t exchange oversight. A well-sewn agbada can’t interrogate a funds.
And Paul mentioned once more unto the folks of Plateau North: take a look at each spirit. Ask not solely who’s common, however who is ready. Ask not solely who’s linked, however who’s convicted. Ask not solely who has contested earlier than, however who has really grown. Ask the incumbent to account. Ask the previous officeholder to clarify. Ask the perpetual aspirant to disclose his burden. Ask the brand new entrant whether or not he seeks service or theatre. For democracy is mocked each time voters grow to be choir members singing for males they haven’t examined.
If Chris Kwaja seeks the Senate, let him be questioned robustly. Let his report be opened. Let his concepts be stretched on the rack of public scrutiny. Let nobody give him a halo as a result of he can converse the language of peace. However let the identical commonplace, sharp and unsentimental, fall upon each different aspirant too. That’s the level. The Senate is just too necessary to be diminished to a interest for the bored, a refuge for the displaced, or an arrogance honest for the titled.
For a individuals who have buried too many, endured an excessive amount of, and waited too lengthy deserve greater than ambition in native apparel. They deserve illustration that trembles earlier than duty.
And the folks of Plateau North ought to say, Amen and will Nigeria win!