Here we are again!

Today is critical not because it may serve as a pointer to what likely direction the rest of the elections in the coming weeks may take, but most importantly the elections today will reveal if the ruling class and other stakeholders in the democratic enterprise have learnt any lessons and are prepared to play the […]

Today is critical not because it may serve as a pointer to what likely direction the rest of the elections in the coming weeks may take, but most importantly the elections today will reveal if the ruling class and other stakeholders in the democratic enterprise have learnt any lessons and are prepared to play the game of politics by the rules. Today will confirm whether Nigeria indeed is likely to survive and make progress through civil rule or it is going to be the continuation of the confusion that has stalled the growth and development of the country and its people.

Millions of Nigerians and friends from outside have invested tremendous quantum of material resources and time in order to encourage the stakeholders in the local and national politics to realize that democracy is an attitude. The citizens, including the actors, must be willing to subordinate themselves to collective decisions and responsibilities.

The onus lies between the two major stakeholders, the politician and the voter. The voter must realize that he has the powers to insist that his vote must count. He also has the powers to ensure that no desperate politician manipulates and truncates his aspiration by insisting that the right thing must be done without throwing stones.

The voter must know that in times of election, he is the king; he determines who manages his critical decisions in the next four years. It is not about going for crumbs or some token to cast votes for the highest bidder. It is about securing the present and the future and as such vigilance is the key word.

On the part of the politician, he must realize that whatever mandate he desires must have its roots from the people. Politicians seeking representation must be wary of the nature and character of mandate that they have at the end of the day. It is not about what the spoils of office will be but more about the authenticity of any mandate. Politicians must learn to be ashamed of carrying tainted or suspicious mandate because it is ugly and criminal, and worst than a soldier who carries a gun to seize power.

Democracy is a project with methodology. The earlier we know that it has rules and regulations the better for us. It may profit those who truncate it in the short run but the impact of impunity is more in the future than the material and social benefits that may accrue if we fail to play the game by its rule.

I am writing this piece in the belief that today will mark a new beginning in our political and electoral history. I hope that by the end of today, Nigerians and members of the global community would have a new idea of what the Nigerian realities are apart from those ugly past incidences where votes never counted or people’s views never mattered in times of elections.

I believe that we must have a new beginning if Nigeria must survive. It is all about service. It is not about self and ego to the extent that one will insist he must win. That must be left to the voters to decide. The moment our politicians, especially incumbents, learn the rope of succumbing to the will of the people Nigeria shall enjoy her rightful place in the committee of nations.

I don’t want to predict what the outcome of another tragic polling would be to us as a people and nation. We are right at the edge and we must be careful if we want to keep this Nigerian project on course. I know those who are desperate may not be thinking in the same line with some of us who have never enjoyed the spoils of public office. I know that politicians will again desire to be desperate and may wish to treat the elections as a matter of life and death.

The implication of that is that they are putting the survival of the nation on the edge and may result in very unpleasant scenarios to the extent that the fraudsters may not live to enjoy the reward of their electoral fraud.

I hope the politicians are beginning to know, if they don’t know by now, that the normal attitude of passivity which defined Nigerians after elections in the past is fast eroding and being replaced by hostile responses, even to mere suspicions. The growing violence during campaigns in my view suggests the new brand of intolerance to electoral fraud and emasculation.

Those who desire to rig these elections must think twice and refrain from going ahead with their plans because it will be dangerous and counterproductive. For once, let us as a people learn to do things the right way. Let us respect all the laws that we have made in order to improve and enhance our lives.

I am worried that despite our history, wealth and rich cultural heritage we are losing our values, the value to do what is right. The value to govern self and the value to tolerate one another. Governance or representation is not a do-or-die-affair. Yes, Chairman Mao said politics is war without bloodshed; yes, it is war, but remember without bloodshed. Why then are we making blood the commonest of liquids in our contemporary political fields and battles?

It is saddening and we must do everything possible to ensure that the trend of backwardness and barbarism is reversed and replaced with truly national and patriotic zeal to build the nation. Be our brother’s keeper and sources of life and hope and not of destruction and misery.

We can do that if we agree to conduct a good election which will produce representatives that have roots in the people and not what we have had in the past. The choice we have got is limited. Either to make or mar. I guess it is better to make rather than to mar.