By Emmanuel Okogba
Former presidential aspirant, Kingsley Moghalu, has described his decision to exit Nigerian politics as the best choice he ever made, citing personal fulfilment, family priorities, and disillusionment with the political system.
In a reflective post on X, Moghalu recounted how he left his academic position in 2018 to contest the presidency in 2019, driven by the recurring call that “Nigeria needs you.” He attempted another bid in 2023 but withdrew after what he described as betrayal by political operatives on an “alternative platform.”
“I decided it wasn’t worth the bother for someone who does not need the Nigerian ‘system’ to feed, and whose contributions are demanded and appreciated well elsewhere. So I ended my brief foray into politics and returned to international professional life. Best decision I ever made. Life since has been quiet, happy, and fulfilling.” He wrote.
Moghalu emphasized that he sacrificed time, health, family resources, and earnings from honest labour during his political pursuits. He continues to provide occasional non-partisan commentary on public and economic policy but remains unaffiliated with any political party.
Addressing the persistent “Nigeria needs you” appeal, he responded: “It needs you too, and ALL of us, not just me.”
He described Nigeria’s governance as deeply troubled and argued that real change depends on citizens recognizing their collective power. “Our country is down deep… It can only be fixed by the people themselves, if they were to recognize their own power and come out in their millions to demand responsible and accountable governance and a transparent democracy where their actual votes are more important than those who ‘magic-count’ votes.”
Moghalu pointed to examples from other nations where citizens-not politicians-transformed troubled countries, while expressing concern that Nigeria risks resembling the Democratic Republic of Congo without collective civic action.
The write-up reads, ““Nigeria needs you”. I hear this phrase a lot. I believed it myself when I left my prestigious perch as a professor on the faculty @FletcherSchool @TuftsUniversity in 2018 and returned home to offer myself as a presidential candidate in 2019, and tried to become a candidate a second time in 2023 but was betrayed by self-serving, cash-and-carry political entrepreneurs in one of the so-called “alternative platforms”.
“After which I decided it wasn’t worth the bother for someone who does not need the Nigerian “system” to feed, and whose contributions are demanded and appreciated well elsewhere. So I ended my brief foray into politics and returned to international professional life. Best decision I ever made. Life since has been quiet, happy, and fulfilling. I love my country but I also love myself, my health, and my family whose time and attention to their needs – and resources to which they are entitled – I sacrificed in 2018/19 and again in 2021/22, because “Nigeria needs me”.
Resources earned from honest labor, not “you-know”. And I still contribute occasional commentary on public and economic policy to help shine light on important issues of statecraft (but I do NOT make partisan commentary since I am not aligned with or a member of any political party). Now I know better. So when I get the “Nigeria needs you” line I respond: “it needs you too, and ALL of us, not just me”.
Our country is down deep, whether anyone accepts this or not. It can only be fixed by the people themselves, if they were to recognize their own power and come out in their millions to demand responsible and accountable governance and a transparent democracy where their actual votes are more important than those who “magic-count” votes.
Governance remains absent because the Nigerian people have consciously disempowered themselves with excuses such as “poverty” etc – the very reason they should exercise their people power and shake up the greedy politicians. Citizens in other countries- citizens, not politicians- have changed the trajectories of their own troubled countries. Admitted, not everywhere, and it’s admittedly not easy, but it has happened in places that did not have 220 million people. May we not become the Democratic Republic of Congo – although some would retort “what’s the difference, really?”
The post Quitting Nigerian politics, my best decision ever – Moghalu appeared first on Vanguard News.
