Today is election day in Nigeria, supposedly. This means that those with the voter's card can go to a polling unit to cast their votes to elect a president and governor of their given state, supposedly. This means that in a few months time, barring cancellation of the polls in certain areas, election tribunal drama, new faces will take seat in different governor's offices all over the country as well as at the Aso Rock Villa, supposedly.
The problem, though, with my conjectures, postulation and extrapolation is that I don't have a voter's card and so I can't vote. This lack is not as a result of any error by the electoral body or a misplacement of said piece of fundamental human right but because while people went about registering for the card, I was at home reading a pretty interesting novel. Fundamental rights be damned.
Lots of Nigerians will consider my attitude towards elections as terrible and I may be considered to be the reason why all my conjectures at the top of this post rarely come true in my country as I do not let my vote count, funny but I am a realist. I know that when it is all said and done, nothing new will happen.
The only time that Nigeria has had an election free of corruption and greed and carried out with patriotic zeal was the cancelled election that almost made Moshood Abiola the president of Nigeria and I still have doubts that this was possible. Deep inside I suspect that the so called venerated election had fingers pulling strings behind the scenes but what do I know?
I have forced myself to listen to some local TV stations run programs where people who seem to like to hear themselves talk, analyse, defend, attack, postulate and pretend that their opinions matter. I have read arguments for and against in different social media groups and I have listened to people on the street, in the bus on my way to the market, with the bike man on my way to get drunk, in a keke(tricycle) on my way to see friends and I gave come to some few conclusions that fit with the total irritation and pessimism with regards to the Nigerian electoral process and the Nigerian democratic process that I feel.
The first is that people have been killed in the bid to place some clueless moneybag in a position of power. Guns have been fired and young men have been stabbed to death just because they do not support the right party. Now you may say that this is not under the instigation of the aspirants in the contest and you may be right but I guarantee you that the party is quite aware and they support. How can one go out to vote for such a party or any party that does not hesitate to use violence, hire thugs to ensure victory?
The second point is that the Nigerian youth have always complained about being treated unfairly by whoever is in power. The country has been ruled by two parties since democracy came around the second time with former president Olusegun Obasanjo. The same parties have become so big despite a complete lack of a fixed ideology and manifesto that smaller parties are ignored. It is so bad that a presidential debate organised for presidential aspirants to exchange ideas on their manifestoes and the expectations of the masses if they should win was boycotted by the incumbent president and the major opposing party. The PDP's candidate claimed that as the incumbent president had not showed up for the debate, he would not participate. It was funny in a sad way. You know why, because supporters, among whom are lots of youths, mostly unemployed and hoping for some sort of reward, supported this nonsense and defended it.
For me, if the PDP and the APC are so confident enough about their position as to ignore common courtesy to the people who would vote for them, then there's no point coming out to vote. Why? you my ask. Well there are more qualified candidates for the position of president, who are contesting as well. They are young and have a grasp of Nigeria's problems. They may not have all the answers but they are willing to try new solutions, yet I know that they will not get that vote because the powers that be do not even consider them as opposition and this is because those who complain that things are bad, lose their senses when elections begin.
The third reason why I don't have a voter's card and I am going to be at home watching the drama from a distance is as a result of the fact that the Nigerian security services cannot guarantee the safety of lives at the polling units. In a country where the police are glorified gatemen and drivers to politicians, how can they do their jobs without bias? How can they protect the lives of those going out to vote when they already have instructions that they have to obey or even when they do not have any such instructions, cannot fight off thugs because the thugs are mostly and always better armed than they are?
Finally is the electoral body autonomous or does it answer to the president? Can the electoral officers sincerely cme out and deny receiving bribes? Can the electoral officers guarantee that the votes counted will be the one announced at the end of the whole exercise? Well from past experiences, they cannot because despite the change in the face of the INEC chairman, the body is still populated by the same self-serving, myopic and greedy people. This is Nigeria after all, so they change the head all they want but we know the cancer is in the body.
Last night my old man called me on the phone and begged me to ensure that I and my brother stay indoors all through today. I told him I didn't have a plan to go out, after all I don't have a voter's card. For my father to call me before an election, which he has never done before now, then it is worth thinking about.
Today is election day in Nigeria, supposedly and I know how it will be. I hope people will get back home safe and secure. I hope someone who really wants to make a difference wins the elections on the different levels. I hope but I am not keeping my fingers crossed. Good morning and happy elections y'all.
©warpedpoetic, 2019.