Nigerians have been advised to assess and rank their candidates contesting for various elective offices in the 2023 elections by using a five-sight measure approach.
Professor Francis Egbokhare of the Department of Linguistic, University of Ibadan, gave the advice in a piece, “How To Assess Your Candidates”.
He admonished Nigerians to jettison political attachments, ethnic and religious sentiments and scrutinise everyone dispassionately based on verifiable indicators.
To rank the various candidates ahead the 2023 elections, Egbokhare said they must be assess using the five-sight measure, including insight, foresight, hindsight, oversight and clearsightedness.
The university lecturer said the respective candidates should be assessed with the five-sight measure to encompass the following: a deep and clear insight of Nigeria’s problems; a foresight on how well do they have a handle on the future;
Having a hindsight into the history and context of Nigeria and national development; a clear oversight and capacity to take charge and take responsibility; and clearsightedness- overall clarity on governance and politics, local and global.
Beyond the five-sight measure, Professor Egbokhare emphasised the need for the electorate and Nigerians in general to have a deep knowledge of the personal characteristics of their candidates.
These personal characteristics, he said, include integrity quotent-what do we know about the financial integrity of the respective candidates?;
What do we know about the political or ideological and psychosocial stability of the candidates?; and what do we know about their “Nigerianness”?
The professor of Linguistics further asked: “can any of these candidates be trusted to the leader of everyone?”, adding that a peep into the antecedents of the candidates will provide the essential metrics.
He said such a candidate must have a demonstrable leadership capacity, encompassing a political capital (building bridges across the country);
Having international outreach and network; intellectual capital; mentoring history; communication competencies; and emotional disposition.
Professor Egbokhare also admonished Nigerians to place premium on the critical health status of the various candidates to know how physically and mentally fit they are for the rigours of office.
As cited in the Encyclopedia, Professor Francis Egbokhare is a prolific scholar, academic linguist, writer and a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL).
He has held positions at the University of Ibadan for many years as a professor of Linguistics and as the Director of the Distance Learning Centre (DLC).
