A governorship aspirant in the November 2019 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa state, Reuben Okoya, at the weekend advised Bayelsa politicians and youths not to take politics as a full time profession.
Okoya said this in Yenagoa during a youth programme organised by Coalition for Development of Democracy in Bayelsa (CDDB).
Tagged Youth Convocation 2019, with the theme; “Building Bayelsa Together Through Participatory Democracy,” the philanthropist stated that the strength of a good politician was his ability to stay away from politics and still survive.
He said: “I want young men to go into politics, but also have the capacity to survive out of politics, so that they will have dignity and honour.
“If it is medicine, agriculture, law, then get into politics. “I’m a living proof. Nobody can blackmail or make me do anything, because I’m an independent person. I have my own private business, which I run. So, if I go into politics and it is not favourable, I go back without rancour.
“I’m not going to kill anybody because somebody told me to kill somebody. Bayelsa people have to realize that politics is not a profession. It is not a full time profession. It is a part time profession. You go, you serve and you leave.
“Young men and women should grow up knowing that politics is a part time activity not a full time activity. Don’t become desperate because you have nothing else to fall back on. The architect also advised the youth to criticise constructively, adding that they must learn the art of communication and speaking to somebody constructively.”
