Verdict 2015: It’s all about one simple thing – our conscience

As a northerner from Yobe state, I have been affected in more ways than one by the insurgency. Many of my extended family members and friends have been killed and the ones still alive are now internally displaced. Both my grandmothers have had to relocate and whenever I visit them, I see the pain etched […]

As a northerner from Yobe state, I have been affected in more ways than one by the insurgency. Many of my extended family members and friends have been killed and the ones still alive are now internally displaced. Both my grandmothers have had to relocate and whenever I visit them, I see the pain etched on their lonely faces. Is it easy to leave your home of more than 40 years?
My sister in law’s village had been completely destroyed, neighbours and family were burnt to death and so she has no where to return to. She is over 60 years old, so where does she start from? At a certain point, I had eight extra people in my house because they had no where to go and as you can guess, it wasn’t easy and it’s still not getting any better.
As a doctor, my sanity and physical stamina had been severely tested because I believe, there is precious little I have not seen. After the central mosque bomb blast in Kano, I used to wake up at night trembling, sweating with my heart beat at the rate of  >150! Images too gory to be described plagued my mind, night and day. And tears, too much to be quantified have poured from my eyes. But that isn’t all, doctors in the past year, have experienced more strikes than we care for nationwade. Whether, it was NMA, ARD or JOHESU, we have all been affected and innocent people have suffered, some even died. Our residency programme has been prolonged, all due to poor leadership.
As a young person, I identified with those who suffered and lost their lives during the immigration recruitment fiasco. I knew quite a number of people who attended the ‘exam’ and could relate to the desperation they felt. Unemployment is a horrible disease and  it’s complications are numerous. I thank God for my job, but what about those who lost their lives? And those who continue to roam the streets in search of daily sustenance?
And lastly, and most importantly, as a mother, I cannot begin to imagine what it feels like to know your child has been kidnapped and quite possibly, may never return. It’s almost a year now, and the girls have not returned. Every time, I check on my kids at night and see them sleeping peacefully, I mutter a silent prayer of gratitude. How does one sleep knowing your child is in the hands of Savages? Forget sleep, how do I breathe?? I have heard real life encounters of women giving birth in bushes while fleeing for their lives, only to leave the newborn behind because they have no way of caring for the child.I cannot begin to imagine the horror and anguish those women have known to make them do such a thing, I simply cannot.
At the end of the day, really, it’s about looking into our conscience and asking: ‘am I voting the right person?’ ‘can I defend this vote before God?’
If you truly believe in your heart that Jonathan is the better candidate, then by all means vote for him, it is, after all, a free world. But if like me, you have been affected physically, mentally and socially, and you feel enough is enough, then do the right thing and vote for change.
God bless Nigeria!