Professionals across various sectors have been urged to unite and take active roles in Nigeria’s political and governance processes as part of efforts to strengthen democratic governance and ensure sustainable national development.
The call was made on Tuesday in Abuja during a forum themed, “Nigerian Professionals and Sustainable Democracy: Issues and Perspectives,” organised by the Association of Public Policy Analysis.
Speakers at the event lamented the low participation of professionals in governance and politics, warning that continued disengagement by experts and technocrats could further weaken democratic institutions and policy implementation in the country.
In his keynote address, the National President of the Association of Public Policy Analysis, Chief Princewill Okorie, said professional bodies in Nigeria had failed to maximise their influence in shaping governance and democratic culture since the return to democracy in 1999.
Okorie described professional associations as critical interest groups capable of influencing public policies and governance outcomes through expertise and collective action.
“Professional associations can be described as interest groups or organisations of people who come together because they share the same professional goals or concerns and try to influence decisions, especially in government or society,” he said.
He, however, lamented that Nigerian professionals had largely remained passive while complaining about poor governance and unfavourable policies affecting their sectors.
“The failure of the major professionals to collectively participate actively in the democratic process in recent years has led to professionals in Nigeria complaining about bad governance and how it is affecting their professions,” he stated.
Okorie also criticised the role of some professionals in electoral processes, alleging that certain academics serving as election officials had contributed to electoral malpractice.
“The rigging of elections, the manipulation of the electoral process, does not really reflect that the academia are supporting democracy,” he said.
He further accused some professional bodies of existing mainly to pressure government for financial settlements rather than advancing national interest.
“Some are put together as things that are arranged to collect money and harass government for settlement. They are not really put together for the interest of the Nigerian people,” he added.
The APPA president urged professional groups to organise politically, participate in policy formulation, and hold governments accountable before and after elections.
Also speaking, National Chairman Emeritus of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralphs Okey Nwosu, said professionals must move beyond passive criticism and become directly involved in governance and policy development.
According to him, Nigeria’s political and governance failures stem partly from the absence of professionals in the policy-making process.
“When engineers are sitting with politicians, especially when elections come in, when accountants are around, when builders are conferencing together with politicians, then you know society is ready for change,” he said.
Nwosu argued that professionals and scholars possess the expertise needed to formulate practical policies capable of transforming governance outcomes.
“We need content and we need everybody on the table. We need ideas to be challenged by engineers,” he stated.
He also called for collaboration between political parties and professional bodies ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“As a party, though not in government now, but that will be in government by 2027, we will work with you to make you participate so that we can build our country,” he said.
Representing the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engineer Ali Rabiu, a member of the society stressed the need to integrate engineering expertise into governance and infrastructure planning.
The NSE representative argued that many of Nigeria’s infrastructural challenges were governance failures linked to inadequate inclusion of technical professionals in policy and project execution.
“These challenges are not merely technical, but fundamentally governance-related, arising from inadequate integration of engineering expertise in decision-making processes,” he said.
He noted that engineers remained central to national development because of their roles in infrastructure, industrialisation, technology and economic growth.
“It advocate for the deliberate integration of engineers into governance structures, policy formulation and infrastructure planning,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of Professor Pat Utomi, Chief Ephraim Kezie Nwoha said democracy could not survive on elections alone without competent and credible professionals participating actively in governance.
“Democracy is not sustained by elections alone. It is sustained by the quality of people who show up to shape it,” he said.
Nwoha maintained that professionals must move from the “back room to the front line” in politics and governance.
“The place of professionals — doctors, engineers, lawyers, bankers — is no longer optional. It is central to building a sustainable democracy in Nigeria,” he stated.
According to him, Nigeria’s worsening governance challenges were partly due to the dominance of money politics and weak internal democracy within political parties.
“Party primaries are often controlled by godfathers who prioritise loyalty over competence,” he said.
He urged professionals to contest elective positions, reform political parties from within, and organise themselves into blocs capable of supporting credible candidates.
“Professional bodies must go beyond press statements. We need professional political caucuses that identify, groom and fund credible candidates,” he added.
A chieftain of the ADC, Captain-Briggs Teke, also blamed Nigeria’s governance crisis on the collapse of ideology-based politics and the growing dominance of personal interests within political parties.
“Parties are supposed to be driven by ideology. But today, parties are more driven by interests,” he said.
Teke lamented that many principled professionals avoided politics, leaving governance largely in the hands of individuals without clear ideological convictions.
“A lot of professionals who would have made reasonable impact, being guided by principles, did not engage in politics. So we are where we are,” he said.
He described good governance as essential for national stability and sustainable democracy.
“If the people are not taken care of, then there is no nation. And the people make the nation,” he added.
Chairman of the event, Engineer Charles Okoro, said Nigerian professionals had an obligation to become more influential in the country’s political and policy environment.
According to him, professionals could no longer remain indifferent while politicians continued to make decisions affecting all sectors of national life.
“We as professionals have owed this country an obligation to play our own role in politics to sustain this democracy,” he said.
Okoro lamented that despite Nigeria’s vast pool of skilled professionals, foreigners still dominated major engineering and infrastructure projects in the country.
“Major construction in this country is handled by foreigners. We are yet to have a formidable Nigerian company that can compete,” he stated.
He urged professionals across sectors to unite and push for reforms that would make them more relevant in governance and policymaking.
“We need to organise ourselves so that our voices can be heard and our influence can be felt,” he said.
The forum concluded with renewed calls for professionals, academics, technocrats and policy experts to participate more actively in politics, elections, governance reforms and civic engagement ahead of the 2027 general elections.
