It has become a recurring decimal. There is a peculiar tragedy that often accompanies politics when conscience vacates the arena and ambition takes the throne. It is the tragedy of the politics of the fools; not fools by birth or intellect, but by manipulation; not by lack of humanity, but by the deliberate theft of their discernment.
This politics thrives where leaders think only of themselves and never of the people whose emotions they harvest. It is practiced by politicians who, after a contest and they lost, refused to accept the verdict of reality, not because they truly seek justice, but because grievance is a currency, cheap to mint, easy to spend, and dangerous in circulation.
In this theatre of deceit, the politician retreats into safety while pushing the crowd forward into fire. From behind closed doors there in Abuja, they negotiate relevance, relevance at the top, relevance within power circles, relevance within the very system they publicly accused . Yet, in the open square, they unleash words, rebellious essays, inflammatory commentaries, and poisonous narratives, written not by their own hands, but by the fingers of their followers. The politician stands aloof, stays away, while the followers bleed.
This is the ultimate cowardice one can ever imagined; to outsource rage and privatise ambition.
The followers, often innocent and ill-informed, are fed a steady diet of anger disguised as loyalty. They are told they are “fighting a cause,” when in truth they are only carrying emotional weights for someone else’s unresolved ego. They are trained to hate perceived enemies while their so-called champion quietly dines with the same enemies in elite rooms of compromise. Here lies the cruel paradox: when peace is brokered at the top, chaos remains at the bottom.
The politician negotiate at the top and got settled. Positions are shared, contracts are given, doors reopen, and smiles return. Now you may want to ask, what’s remains for the followers? The followers are left stranded in bitterness, still typing and writing on the social media, still shouting, and still nursing wounds that no longer serve any strategic purpose. Their anger becomes an inheritance without value, passed down from a battle that has already ended.
This is why the politics of the fools is not merely about bad leadership; it is about moral exploitation. It is about leaders who weaponise the emotions of their poor and the loyal followers, while insulating themselves from the consequences. It is about turning human beings into disposable footnotes in a personal quest for power. True leadership absorbs tension; false leadership exports it. A responsible politician de-escalates after defeat, a reckless one escalates rhetoric to stay relevant. A statesman heals wounds, a political opportunist deepens them, because wounds attract attention, and attention feeds ambition.
History, however, is unkind to such political games. Anger stored in the hearts of the misled does not evaporate; it ferments. Today, it is directed at perceived enemies, but tomorrow, it turns inward, against the very leader who abandoned them. The same crowd used to fight imaginary wars eventually realises it was never invited to the peace talks.The tragedy, however, is avoidable. The disgruntled aspirant get settled, while the ignorant die – hard followers are left in the cold, stranded and with no hope for higher heights.
So, followers must learn that loyalty without critical thinking is servitude. That any leader who sends you to fight while he negotiates safety has already betrayed you . That a cause that cannot be pursued openly by its champion is not a cause worth dying, nor living bitterly, for.
Politics, at its noblest, is the art of collective progress. At its worst, it is the science of manipulating the wounded. The line between both is drawn by conscience. When politicians think only of themselves, they create fools, and when followers refuse to think for themselves, they remain fools. And in the politics of the fools, everyone loses, except the political aspirant, who has already moved on.
This morning, my admonition remains one thing; BAO is still the man, and no shaking. Let’s all support him and lead the APC to victory in Ekiti June, 2026 and NgPBAT in 2027
Ekiti a gbe wa.
Amin
SnrKosija@oshojokini
