Samuel Kwelle
As Nigerians go to general elections this month, apathy from many citizens is not unexpected, since results in the past i.e 1999, 2003, and 2007, have often created more doubts, than reflect the wishes of the majority voters. Numerous Court judgments that followed buttress this. But can folding our arms to any challenging situation of life yield one’s desired solution? No! The answer should be, since doing nothing should logically yield nothing. And worse in this case is the pending reality that all elective offices will certainly be occupied by an aspirant at the end of the exercise. Contrary to certain opinions, our interest should be on the candidates not the Party, given the state of development of our political process where no Political parties is yet to establish and earn reputation for tested ideologies, and cross carpeting by unfavoured party members is still a common feature. And aspirants need the large structure of a party for wider publicity amongst others. Thus it in this elections all about the candidates. Let us as eligible voters make effort to know the candidates and their antecedents, knowledge of the demands of the times, propositions, and demonstrated will to do what is right – ability to resist corrupt propositions from influential party members. After all in events leading up to these elections all the major political parties have issues with manipulations and in some cases outright imposition of candidates during their primaries, yet anti-corruption is their common crusade.
For those seeking re-election, by our votes we must pass a clear message that the only condition for a return is good governance.
In managing political power, especially foe executive positions, our elected officials literarily can make dead or alive. We have experienced an still have on-going in some states, the mismanagement of industrial relations in the health sector, that has led to strike action by medical doctors and the numerous avoidable deaths that follow. Governors in all of such states seeking re-election must be shown the way out of office. Several other instances bothering on ignorance and corruption has ensured that our underdeveloped situation persist, and as such the major issues our election focuses on are still the primordial provision of power, pipe borne water, roads, basic education, primary health care delivery, militancy, and only few candidates have made any meaning full proposal for job creation, agriculture and manufacturing, in an age where we should be concerned about climate change, genetic science, space exploration and IT revolution, improved foreign relations, global terrorism etc, the effects of which we are not immune to. But first things have to be done first, while neighbours advance. Thus we must achieve change that will yield rapid transformation, by using our ballot rightly this time. The candidates are not outsourced, so we know them. They are from our villages and live around us. And from the foregoing it’s simply an indication of latent suicidal tendency or collective insanity, for a people to re-elect a leader who obviously has performed badly. And anyone who sells his vote, knowing that on fair basis as the Electoral Commission has promised, his ballot can give simple majority victory to a callous buyer candidate, and thus the power of death of both himself and a whole lot of others in his constituency to that candidate, is simply a suicide terrorist. Our criminal laws must spell out punishment for selling votes.
Indeed evil thrives when good people do nothing. Similarly bad leaders are elected by good citizens who do not vote. Democracy can only flourish when we move away from being observers to being participants. This elections presents an opportunity to make or mar our destiny as nation. Thus with undying optimism and desire for improvement in our polity, let us this once try again, boycotting the polls should be no option.
As a nation, We have never lacked smart, intelligent, or even strong (ill) willed leaders; rather our bane has been conscientious leadership. Make your choice guided by personal moral convictions on your preferred candidate, a right which is non-transferable and should not be traded for anything, that NIGERIA may rise and shine again
Samuel H. Kwelle (April, 2011)
