'What an elderly man sees while sitting, a young man or a boy can never see even if he sits on a tree,’ a Nigerian adage loosely says.
The above proverb can rightly describe the fears being nursed by mothers of two Nigerian entertainers who indicated their interests in politics.
Recall that popular comedian, Julius Agwu, expressed his intention to vie for the post of a governor in Rivers State and his posters flooded the city of Port Harcourt and the internet. However, he later declared that he was no longer contesting because of intimidation from a quarter of the society.
Also, a superstar actress, declared that she wishes to join the National Assembly in 2015, representing Akpabio Bakassi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
Other entertainers that have indicated interest in politics are Desmond Elliot, Kenneth Okonkwo, 9ice and several others.
We observed that the mothers of Julius Agwu and Kate Henshaw, recently expressed fears in their children going into politics, which is believed to be very dirty in Nigeria.
Julius Agwu revealed recently her mother’s worry over his intention to become the governor of Rivers State.
The comedian said his mother told him that, "I have been hearing rumours that you want to become governor, is it true?" and when he affirmed it,Julius Agwu said his mother burst into tears and asked him to "leave it for them."
"The next thing I heard was leave it for them o, you're not in anything with them, they're in everything," he added.
In a similar development, Kate Henshaw disclosed recently that her mother declined supporting her political career.
“My mum said ‘no way’. I told her to pray for me and she said she wasn’t going to, so I told her I’d pray for myself. Some cousins of mine in Calabar then called her and told her to encourage me, that what I want to do is good. She told them someone else should go into it, and they asked her why someone else should. They told her I should do it because it would be good for the state. She finally agreed,” she narrated.
The actress further said “Friends have also been supportive. They say I’m strong. They also say this is my kind of thing because I fight for people. But they advised me to be careful because politics is dirty. I told them the only way things will get better is if good people get inside. One can only change things if inside, not from the outside.”
“During my campaign, one thing I know for sure is that I’m not going to promise heaven and earth. When you promise too much, you may end up not doing anything and that becomes a problem.”
