Politics, service and the cost of losing our humanity

In a September 2026 reflection on Nigerian politics, Pelumi Olajengbesi wrote about the distance between the ideal of politics as public service and the darker realities he says he has encountered through active participation.

The essay was shaped by the recently concluded Osun governorship election and the violence, intimidation and personal hostility that surrounded parts of the contest. His central concern was the human cost of allowing competition for office to become a justification for cruelty.

Rather than presenting withdrawal from politics as the answer, he argued that people who believe public life can be better must remain involved and insist on a politics organised around service, development, ideas and humanity.

That is an important distinction in the 2027 narrative. It moves the argument beyond who should occupy one seat and toward the culture of politics itself, including how opponents are treated and what citizens should be asked to tolerate in the name of winning.

The reflection also sits beside his post-election calls for reconciliation, accountability and empathy for families affected by political violence, giving the public record a more personal and less purely tactical dimension.

For ITURA 2027, the essay provides a useful standard against which the movement itself can be judged: whether its methods, language and organisation actually reflect the more humane politics Pelumi says he wants to see.