"I don't do politics"

September 29, 2026 · 3 min read

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You think say politics no concern you

Sorry, I started on a really informal note. (Chaotic sigh). I was going to hop on a trend and write about 30 things that I absolutely do not like.

But then I thought about this one.

This one deserves to stand alone.

“I don’t do politics.”

Politics isn’t really something you “do” or “don’t do” in the way people often mean it. If you don’t know much about politics, that’s fine. Genuinely. Everybody cannot be Omni-knoweth

But “I don’t do politics”? Yeah, right.

I bet you still have political opinions. You just don’t call them that.

Once upon a time, I had that same notion: This politics thing no concern me at all. Make nobody ask me anything about am. I get plenty things wey dey my head already.

And, to be fair, I still wouldn’t claim to know everything about politics. But at least I know enough to understand that the decisions made by people in government eventually find their way into my everyday life.

Politics is literally everyday life. It affects the food you buy, the clothes you wear, the roads you drive on, the electricity powering your phone, access to healthcare, education, transportation, taxes and, well… quite a lot of things that you probably don’t classify as “politics.”

So when someone says, “I don’t care about politics,” I sometimes wonder what they actually mean.

Because perhaps what they mean is:

“I don’t follow political arguments.”

Fair enough.

Or:

“I don’t enjoy discussing politicians.”

Also fair.

Or maybe:

“Politics stresses me out, so I’d rather stay away from it.”

Understandable.

But if you mean:

“Politics has nothing to do with me,”

Then, I’m not so sure. The funny thing is that we complain about the consequences of political decisions all the time without necessarily recognising them as political.

“I’m not really into politics.”

Anyways, make I yarn you wetin my oga dey do. Baba just dey make me work anyhow.

“I don’t follow politics.”

My landlord needs to fix this house. See as everywhere dey leak whenever rain fall.

“I don’t really care about government.”

This NELFUND matter get as e be. Where I wan see money take sort all this thing?

“I stay away from political discussions.”

These cab drivers sef. Every small distance, another ₦2,500. Nawa.

You see the ironic that sounds?

We may not want to discuss politics, but politics keeps showing up in the things we discuss. It is in the price of things. It is in infrastructure. It is in public services. It is in education. It is in healthcare. It is in the conditions we complain about every day.

And no, I’m not trying to gaslight you.

I’m simply pointing out the slightly funny contradiction:

You can ignore politics, but you can’t always ignore its consequences.

That doesn’t mean you have to become the person who turns every conversation into a debate about political parties.

It doesn’t mean you have to know the manifesto of every party in Nigeria.

And it certainly doesn’t mean you have to agree with me.

Actually, I’d rather you disagree.

At least disagreement means you’ve thought about something and arrived at your own position.

You can say, “I don’t like this party’s approach because…”

You can say, “I think the government got this wrong because…”

You can even say, “Honestly, I don’t think any of them are doing it for me.”

All fair.