The 2015 presidential election is about a month away. Almost every Nigerian has their eyes, ears and mouth set to February 2015 in what appears to be the most polarising elections Nigeria has witnessed in recent memory.
Before I get into this article, a few things to make clear include the quest to be as objective as can be, and to emphasise that I refuse to take sides on this issue, and to remind the reader that I am no political analyst, merely a concerned Nigerian citizen that, like many others, hopes for the best for Nigeria and its people.
I take it that most Nigerians are tired of the borderline depressing state of Nigeria and want to start seeing some positive changes happen and achieving this is no easy task. In the past four years, Nigeria's situation has gone from bad to worse, and if I could visualise the country in graph form, it would have hit a negative value by now. Security is terrible, embezzlement is at an all time high, straight up ridiculous. The way in which committees are set up and funds are mismanaged, almost as it will be should an adult give a toddler some papers and colour with the instruction to draw a cat. The result will be a colourful mess. Clearly, whoever is set to lead this country from this year and for the next four years, has serious work awaiting. That being said, it will also be dishonest to say no good has been achieved in the past four years, I am certain that there has been some achievements, even though I cannot think of one at the time of writing.
My concern is not so much about the candidates, but the antics employed by either camp and their supporters. The bigotry, the name calling, the accusations on both sides is very childish and amateur. We are suffering, and we need results, not insults. Save that for something less important. At my age, I cannot recall the last time something positive happened in Nigeria for an extended period of time. People don't want to watch adults argue of silly things, people want jobs, security, people want to eat. This is made even more painful through the realisation that Nigeria has the potential to be a true giant, not just within Africa but the world at large.
Nigerians have suffered, and the true and honest people of Nigeria have no space for hypocrisy and bigotry in their hearts, honest Nigerians want nothing but positive change for all, and they know of the things needed to achieve just that. In an ideal world, everything leading up to next month will involve peaceful debates about policies, investments, developement of strategies for dealing with current issues e.t.c. And not just across the two leading political parties and their candidates, but between the citizens of the nation.
The most important thing, which people seem to forget (ACROSS BOTH CAMPS) is that this is supposedly a democracy and people have the right to vote for whoever they feel best represents a positive Nigeria, without causing a fight. The debates we ought to be having right now should not at all be about muslim/christian, ogogoro or gulder. The debates we should be having should be about real issues that we are actually suffering from, like what candidate has the best policy to curb insurgency, or provide more jobs across the Country. We should be debating about a way to fix what is broken, not further break everything by inciting childish political and religious sentiment between people.
An honest person, more so an honest leader is not intimidated by opposition, he has clear-cut goals and is mature enough to accept defeat, without making a mess of things. In other words, Nigerians should not, at this point feel the need to remind us all, after every minute, through the use of poorly constructed and anaemic sentences, why their candidate is the best and everyone else's is rubbish. In fact, this should bring us all closer and not further separate us. Working together to share ideas will be much more productive than suggesting you or your party to be the best thing to happen to Nigeria since P-Square.
Going to shift focus to twitter activists to make a point, I take it that if you are reading this article then you have most likely have gained a significant level of education, primary at least. Can you not use the experience you have gained as a Nigerian citizen, to initiate and discuss real issues without bringing trivial issues such as tribe or religion into the matter. Can you talk about measurable commitments your candidate has made, can you reference some of the past achievements of your candidate? If yes, then focus on that, and don't fall into bigotry and the plain hypocrisy of calling others out, you yourself drenched in faults. Can you rather focus on the real issues at hand. Issues which you most certainly know about.
It is definitely a very significant improvement, the number of people engaged in this year's elections, the number of people fed up with life as is, the number of people ready to see positive change happen. It is rather unfortunate that many people, though rightfully angry, are channeling their anger in the wrong direction. I intentionally detach myself from politics of any kind because I do not like the complications and friction it creates, and I cannot tell you "this is who I want and who I believe" can change Nigerian for good, because at the heart of it all, only God knows. The only thing I know is who I THINK can change the Country for good, and this is based on merit and fact alone, not ethnicity and certainly not religion.
After all the debates, the accusations, the protests, it is abundantly clear that Nigerians want change. There will be no need to stress that fact any longer. Every Nigerian, I suppose, is a free man, and he has the right to do as he pleases, keeping in mind that we all get what we deserve. Therefore, unless you have a positive, informative and objective suggestion to contribute in the hope of creating a better country (And you want to talk), the best thing you can do for Nigeria, really, is to close your mouth, let the forums rest, get a voter's card and choose your candidate.
As we are now, God knows who is going to lead the country from this year, but we humans have to wait and see. In the end, all I can say is that I am tired of suffering, as you all are, and I only pray, that God blesses Nigeria with a President that is most certainly up to the task of fixing Nigeria for good.
Happy new year by the way, and here is to hoping 2015 will finally be the year Nigeria fulfils that long awaited promise of goodness. Amen.
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