SIR: That those Nigerians who are yet to get their voter cards from the Independent National Electoral Commission are eagerly expecting dates with their electoral destiny is a mark of just how crucial the next elections will prove to be.
Nigeria is at a crossroads. As years of egregious military rule finally faded in the late 90s, the country‘s new leaf was expected to plunge it back into the pool of progress and prosperity it had been so ruthlessly taken out of like fish from water.
Nigerians are known the world over for their grit and fortitude. Citizens of the country have been known to excel elsewhere under almost impossible conditions thanks to the grit ingrained in them at home.
Thus, if it was just poverty, Nigerians would have taken it on the chin, at least for as long as it would take them to do something about it.
But it has not been just poverty that the current APC-led federal government has overseen in the last seven years. In fact, it is not poverty that has formed the largest portion of the nightmare that has had Nigerians in its grip in the last seven years. The recipient of that dishonour must be insecurity.
Read Also: Prof on trial over alleged electoral fraud collapses in court
Whether it is marauding herdsmen, bloodthirsty bandits, or rampaging Boko Haram terrorists, rural Nigerians have seen their hitherto peaceful communities overturned by the armies of death and destruction who seem to have an indeterminate number of bones to pick with Nigerians and Nigeria.
For so long, Nigerians have been in the business of recycling failed and failing politicians who have a history of failure. Many times, these men have both the financial muscle and the corrupt network that is extensive enough to make a dent on Nigeria‘s highest offices.
If there is one thing that offers hope about democracy in Nigeria, it is the fact that the electorate have gradually continued to regain their confidence in the ballot box.
Elections used to be war in Nigeria, literally, but not anymore. People are now the wiser as they know to keep their choices free of poisoned chalices and Greek gifts offered by desperate politicians for whom no cost is too high to pay for power.
Ahead of the 2023 elections, Nigerians must stay faithful to the recent pattern which has seen an impressive number of them reject the porridge offered for their votes.
But most crucially, they must believe that democratic change is possible through the ballot box and working on this belief, they must troop out in their number to exercise their right to vote when INEC finally throws the ballot box open.
- Kene Obiezu,
Twitter: @keneobiezu