Diverse arguments have been thrown into the sudden and most volcanic annihilation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election held on March 28. Against all the odds, political permutations and calculations and the most vicious and scathing of attacks, the Katsina state Daura born former military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari braved all the obstacles, manmade and natural, to coast home to victory by defeating the much vilified incumbent President, His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. In as much as Buhari’s victory was unprecedented and historic, the felicitous and courageous move by President Goodluck Jonathan to concede defeat and calling in to congratulate the General was even more heart warming.
It has never happened before in the annals of Africa let alone Nigeria. That singular act by Goodluck Jonathan was not just soothing but it went a long way to douse the mounting tension and doomsday prophecies that had preceded the 2015 elections in Nigeria. It was said that Nigeria will disintegrate this year.
He heeded our request and intervened in our sorry situation. Little wonder it is said that God is a Nigerian. Yes, He is!
But away from the hoopla that Buhari’s victory has generated, it is time for sober reflection in our polity. It is high time we knew that Nigeria is our own. We don’t have any other country apart from this one hence we must strive at all times to ensure that we do all we can to uphold the integrity of the nation. We must maintain the peace and build virile institutions that will pave a good and sound future for posterity. The way and manner the first leg of the polls has panned out is enough for our country to be placed on the path of sustainable democracy. We can build on the foundations of this momentous period to better our country and save it from needless and avoidable embarrassments in the comity of nations. As we continue to bask in the euphoria of Buhari’s victory and Goodluck Jonathan’s statemanly conduct, it is germane at a time like now for us to entrench a culture of pure and refined democratic practice in our country.
But away from the hoopla that Buhari’s victory has generated, it is time for sober reflection in our polity. It is high time we knew that Nigeria is our own. We don’t have any other country apart from this one hence we must strive at all times to ensure that we do all we can to uphold the integrity of the nation. We must maintain the peace and build virile institutions that will pave a good and sound future for posterity. The way and manner the first leg of the polls has panned out is enough for our country to be placed on the path of sustainable democracy. We can build on the foundations of this momentous period to better our country and save it from needless and avoidable embarrassments in the comity of nations. As we continue to bask in the euphoria of Buhari’s victory and Goodluck Jonathan’s statemanly conduct, it is germane at a time like now for us to entrench a culture of pure and refined democratic practice in our country.
There are issues that attended the last elections that ordinarily would have been avoided but some were due to the usual crude tactics that have come to define our national life. What do you make of the unruly and infantile conduct of Mr. Godsday Orurebe, the Peoples Democratic Party’s agent during the collation of results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)? Though, he has come out to express regret his actions but the did had already been done. It was a national embarrassment on his person. That action was done before a perceptive public and millions of enthusiasts all over the world who glued to their television sets to watch the announcement of results by INEC. It was a moment of madness on his part and, in fact, created a bad image for Nigeria’s already battered image feel sorry for him because that brief moment of dementia has dealt his reputation a hard and piercing blow. But one only wonders what the former minister of the Niger Delta was out to archive. Well, with the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that his intension was not just to disrupt the announcement of results but to ensure that he thwarted the whole exercise.
He raised false alarm and poured all manner of invectives on Professor Attahiru Jega. This also brings the question whether he has also deemed it fit to apologise to the INEC boss the same way he has regretted his unprofessional and undignified conduct. One hopes he does so and quickly too. While we were struggling to come to terms with Orubebe’s conduct, Nigerians, in their usual creative prowess went into their bag of comics to reel out some humorous stuff from what transpired at the INEC national secretariat in Abuja. Consider this sent to me by a friend. “There’s a new virus in town. It is called Orubebetitis but it has a cure already which is Jegaquine.’’ That’s the length pranksters can go to throw in comical vibes into serious issues. Aside from the hilarious angle to that very serious but discomfiting scenario, we must rise up and salute the calmness, maturity and composure of Prof Attahiru Jega during the interruption of proceedings by Orubebe. While the drama lasted, he remained calm and collected. His mien remained that of uncommon maturity and professional sagacity.
For yours truly, the INEC chief is my hero and I doff my hat off for him. Even when pressure was mounted on him from all quarters, he was unperturbed. He kept his cool and used his natural traits to water down the tensed atmosphere. I don’t know if we will see a carbon copy of him in Nigeria. He deserves not just a standing ovation but a resounding round of applause. In as much as there are dissenting opinions to the way he conducted the polls with some arguing that he sided with the north and was biased all that, he wasn’t moved. It is my belief that all well meaning Nigerians are desirous of seeing a new Nigeria where elections are truly what they should be. Indeed, we can improve and move forward from here. Yes, we can.
As we prepare for the last lap of the elections this Saturday, attention once more will focus on INEC and their ability to improve on their last outing. The commission has insisted on the use of the Card Readers. One only hopes that the hitches experienced during the Presidential and national Assembly elections will be rectified. While we hope INEC does better this time round, it is pertinent to sound it loud and clear that the Saturday election is a very sensitive one that demands all actors to play their part in accordance with the law. The Police, in this case, must serve as unbiased umpire same with INEC. All others, especially politicians must allow the process to be free, fair and credible. We can depart from the ugly past of ballot box snatching, electoral fraud and the like. Killing others for the sake of leading a people is not only crude but inhuman and beastly.
The youths who always fall prey to electoral violence must desist from fomenting trouble at elections. It doesn’t add any value to us as a people but rather diminishes us and devalues us before the world. It is high time we allowed the people to choose those they want to govern them. We shouldn’t force anybody to vote for any candidate. The people should be given the latitude to elect those they want and not being coerced to queue behind just any candidate against their own desire. The governorship election in Akwa Ibom state and the state House of Assembly polls come up on Saturday. By now, the candidates must have rounded off their campaigns and consultations. It’s time for serious business. There have been complaints that the last elections were bloodied as some politicians are said to have taken to violence. Someone was said to have been killed following his resistance to electoral fraud. This must stop for God’s sake!
We must say no to politics of brawns and daggers. It doesn’t help our public image neither does it show that we have grown beyond the stone age or better still the military era where things were done anyhow and in whichever way it suited those in charge of the reins of power. Those who take to violence by perpetrating all manner of atrocities must rise up and turn a new leaf. We just have to make a quantum leap by taking a bold step forward from the old order. As I write this piece, I believe that some recalcitrant youths have already been given teeth and verve to go and cause havoc in the elections. But what these guys hired to disrupt activities during elections have failed to embrace is the reality that they are, by their misguided actions endangering their future and that of the unborn. In fomenting trouble, one may be gunned down and his life will become storied. This has to stop. Must we fight dirty to win? Must we rig to win? Why are we always in the dirty and repulsive game of playing politics with bad blood? Ours is always standing logic on its head where right is wrong and wrong is right. The voters must also conduct themselves orderly and ensure that they vote according to their conscience and not have any intension of causing mayhem at the polls. Let election not divide us. It will come and go and the state continues.
If you lose your life today, democracy continues. Nothing changes. The world will remain the way it is. People will still go about their usual business. Party activities will still be in full throttle but you will be history. It is better to keep away from danger than lose your precious life on the altar of politics. What will you tell your Maker when you meet Him? Ok, you will tell God that you made away with ballot box and were either lynched by a rampaging mop or were gunned down by security agents. I will rather advice my fellow youths to stay off electoral violence because it never pays. If it does pays, why can’t they employ the services of their children to take to thuggery? Think about it. Think of your family, parents, brothers and sisters.
I know you have plans for the future but will you walk into that future with a combative and reckless lifestyle? Come on, think straight and do yourself a world of good by living well and better. In doing so, God who created you will lift you high and make you a better person. My final word is for the politicians to conduct themselves orderly and also call their supporters to order. Winners should be magnanimous in victory while the losers should be sportmanly in defeat.
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