The roles we played at the Presidential polls

BY PRISCILLA CHRISTOPHER
 
March 28 indeed marked a turn ing point in the life of Nigerians and members of the ruling party as what existed and held sway came crashing and thus, posed a major setback for certain ambitions, aspirations and plans. The news of the All Progressive Congress (APC) unassuming hijack of power from the incumbent government still remains a maze to thousands who believed the ruling party would continue in their rule of the nation as has been the culture. A vast majority of the populace were looking forward to having the seated government continue in its reign for as long as it had the strength to remain unbeatable even in the face of stiff opposition. 

However, when the results were read and announced hours later, it dawned on the nation that an era of unprecedented change had indeed begun. Each announced result from each state made this reality clearer and the fear of what would now be gripped us. 

No one can really tell the mind of President Jonathan when he stepped forward to congratulate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari over his success at the polls but one would agree that the noble man had smelt the dead end. The end had indeed come. The end though unwanted yet, inevitable. This single act bended many knees, weakened hearts and threw others into a state of perpetual gloom. Thus, defeat was already accepted before the final whistle was blown. This marked the exodus of our fear. The fear of not knowing what to expect and how to react to this ‘change’ has indeed come to stay as many have expressed in unreserved terms, displeasure at the poll turnout, owing to some past experience they once went through under the administration of the elected president. But as Jonathan had rightly said, “anyone who feels dissatisfied with the election process should seek redress rightly and formally”. And who would ever beat that if one may ask? Who would ever beat the desperate, hungry-looking northerners who have sworn with their lives to get to the presidential villa against all odds?  

Perhaps this can better explain why they went all their way to produce millions of votes for the APC candidate despite their spatial population. Or how can one explain that for a region which has in the past years been consecutively plagued by insurgencies wherein, lives and lots of lives are lost daily, gave to the president-elect, millions of votes at no close range with the untroubled regions put together? Who then were the insurgents killing all this while? 

The integrity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is also questioned here with regards to why the Card Readers failed to function in almost all locations. This ugly trend it was that gave rise to the switch to manual thumb-printing which unarguably had already begun in the north before it was approved in other parts of the country. Though free, the election was far from being fair because despite previous speculations, many were still disenfranchised. These were those whose units were far from reach as a result of relocation from previous places of abode. There were no arrangements to accommodate such people at nearby polling units and as such, they could not exercise their rights.  

The irony of it all lies in the role we south-southerners played in the unseat of the incumbent government. One would assume that as patriots of a particular cause, we give our unalloyed support to one of us even in the face of perceived incompetencies. For the records, we have never been this fortunate and will in so long a time come this close to fortune so how much would a four-year tenure affect us? But we became blindfolded with the want for ‘change’ that we forgot about the transformations ongoing around us. We joined forces with the northerners who better understand their context of change and voted out our dear own. 

Perhaps it was this pain of being betrayed by his own that led the president to deliver his valedictory speech after he congratulated the winner of the elections and many lauded him for what they termed a display of modern democracy. Against the backdrop of the President’s assumed incompetencies lies a great leader of no mean repute and when talking about change, it is necessary to see and understand between the duo who the real change agent is. Before digressing further, it would be necessary to caution those who have taken to ridicule and scorn, the outcome of the election against the nation’s President. Anyone who has not sat in the seat of a country’s president should be mindful of what comes out of their mind as the level of criticism metted out these days about the presidency of Nigeria is unbecoming and largely as a result of ignorance and assumptions. Nothing else would any real leader do to felicitate a successor than what President Jonathan did so what’s the fuss about?

The President may have lost out in this game but the truth is, Jonathan’s administration is one Nigeria will not forget in a haste, especially with the coming of a contrasting opposition. Since the definition of good governance has become immediate action, decree and order, we can only keep our fingers crossed as we herald the coming of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Godwsilling, we will by ourselves tell if this change is better off.