When a teacher mounts the presidency

By Abdullateef Tanko

 

Sir: Pedro Castillo is the newly sworn- in president in the Latin American country of Peru having won the keenly contested election. The BBC news reports that Castillo won after a long and tense election process, defeating his opponent, the daughter of a former president.

Born in a tiny village in one of Peru’s poorest areas, Pedro Castillo grew up helping his illiterate parents with farm work. As a young student, he had to walk for two hours to reach school. He eventually became a schoolteacher, a job he did for 25 years and a union leader.

And in a meteoric rise to power, despite having no experience in a political office, in 2021 he was elected president of Peru, propelled by the same rural voters he grew up and dined with!

In his historic address, he remarked, “This is the first time that our country will be ruled by a peasant, someone who belongs to those who have been oppressed for so many centuries. It is difficult to express what a high honour this is for me. The pride and pain of our country runs through my veins.”

The challenges before the new president is daunting and enormous but not insurmountable as he outlined a vision for much- changed country- one where attending universities would be free, but unemployed youth who were not in school would be conscripted by the military and deployed for engineering and public works projects.

He says this will minimize and eradicate youth restiveness in the country.

President Castillo also vowed to rapidly create one million new jobs, at least some of them temporary, through public works projects and other state employment.

The rural teacher also promised to declare a national “emergency” over the need to improve education. He said he would beef up agricultural production, clean up the all-important mining sector and attack the “cancer of corruption”.

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One considers it imperative to call out Nigerian teachers from the elementary school to the universities to get involved in the political process of our country, in order to bring about meaningful change and development. President Castillo has shown the world that, the son of nobody can become a president as well.  It is on record that teachers are better managers and have performed wonderfully in public offices in the past.

For instance, the first and only Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was a teacher; the Premier of the Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello also began his career as a teacher for several years in Sokoto. And of recent Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau the former governor of Kano State and presenly Senator of the Federal Republic also started his career as a teacher.

The teachers performing diligently at various levels of education should be willing to join the league of people aspiring for leadership positions. They should be courageous to participate actively in politics. It’s time to eschew resentment, cynicism and passiveness on the part of people who mean well for the country.

The crux of the nation’s problem is that people of goodwill and proven character have shunned politics and have allowed incompetent, unschooled and corrupt elements to take over. The infamous phrase that, “politics is dirty” is illogical and misrepresented, and should be eliminated in our political conversation.

As a people, we must change our mind-set and worldview to join the process of electing credible individuals that will govern us, and also to contest for elective position because many people especially, teachers have been grooming future leaders, for a long time so they possess the credentials for the highest office in the land.

It is time for our teachers to answer to this clarion call to liberate the country from the shackles of unprepared leadership.

 

• Abdullateef Tanko,

smilefaceglobalpeace@gmail.com