Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Nigerians will go to the polls next Saturday in what unarguably has been the most hotly contested election in the country’s history. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); the umpire charged with ensuring its smooth conduct says it is ready; the security agencies saddled with the onerous task of providing security say it will be peaceful. But indicators on the ground presage disturbing realities that the road ahead will be very challenging. The polity has been mindlessly heated up as politicians stake their claims to power. In this quest for control over Nigeria’s destiny, neither incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan nor his main challenger, General Muhammad Buhari has demonstrated not even the least understanding of the issues and how to move the country forward. Indeed, their campaign messages are merely empty clichés; making Nigeria look like a big nation entrusted to small men. This is a shame. Nigeria deserves better.
Anxiety has gripped the nation and many Nigerians have moved their families to their villages of origin out of a palpable sense of fear that violence is inevitable. Before the polls’ postponement, there had been hues and cries over the poor distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). Also, advocates of election shift had cited the prevailing insecurity in the North East states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe and succeeded in pressuring the electoral umpire to fix new dates. Interestingly, INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, admitted that with the new dates, INEC stands a better chance of fine-tuning some of its processes. So, with D-Day staring Nigerians squarely in the face, just how ready is INEC?
To begin with, there are still unresolved issues with the PVCs, with an alarming number of eligible voters in the country, not yet in possession of their cards. Besides, there is every indication to be wary about post-election violence. Sadly, the Nigeria Police Force, burdened with the constitutional mandate of providing security, appears to be struggling to buckle its belt. The fact that the police have received only 263 of the approved 2564 vehicles to enhance their operations should worry Nigerians because transportation and communications are two key components in policing. In addition, the prevailing insecurity and uncertainty has obviously dampened the enthusiasm of voters. The recent spate of politically motivated violence, and the seeming inability of security agents to checkmate and apprehend the perpetrators, has fuelled concerns that the elections would not be devoid of violence.
With unmitigated socio-economic injustice, with the few rich living ostentatiously in the midst of the grinding poverty of the majority, and with the people’s confidence in the Nigerian project waning, the nation is a ticking time bomb. Nigerians head to the polls with political institutions and a political process bereft of the essential ingredients of genuine democratic values. Neither the PDP nor the APC can be said to be engines of the democratic process and platforms for servant-leaders recruitment. Instead, with no ideologies or ideas, they have morphed into avenues for imposition of candidates to the detriment of internal party democracy, becoming mere special purpose vehicles for power grabbing and wealth appropriation.
The PDP has ruled Nigeria for 16 years without any formidable challenge. All this changed with the APC opposition coalition that seems to have the right slogan at the right time. The issues in this election have crystalized and with every passing day, Nigerians are becoming conversant with the reasons why the time for change has come. Change is now a buzzword and indeed, change may be coming to Nigeria. The huge crowds at APC rallies represent Nigerians stamping their feet on the ground to send a clear message to the PDP that the time for change has come. Buhari is undoubtedly the man of the moment and his campaign rallies across the country constitute a study of the desire of Nigerians for change. The APC candidate has been delivering a message of change and he is getting the kind of attention that he never got in his three previous runs for the presidency.
In desperation for a hold on the nation’s treasury which political power confers, some politicians are deploying violence and other unorthodox tactics that are a disservice to the nation. The faces they or their hirelings show and the words they speak are nation-wreaking, and not nation-building. The eruption of violence at political rallies, with its trail of mayhem that has marred the campaigns, is a bitter reminder that elections are still a do-or-die affair in Nigeria. These acts of violence were not spontaneous mob action, they were orchestrated. This is very regrettable given the assurance of a violence-free election promised by politicians during publicized peace pacts amongst the parties.
But violence in whatever circumstance is reprehensible. It is undemocratic, primitive, and antithetical to the credibility of elections. What is made obvious by electoral violence is the irreverent transvaluation of elections from a sacred political duty or an act of social contract to a havoc-wreaking orgy of senseless gangsterism. People, who indulge in violence when dignified and enlightened confrontation should suffice, have no ideas of how to move the country forward. If elections, sacred as they are amongst civilized communities, have become an arena for carnage, then, by all means, it is a disincentive to good people who may want to exercise their franchise according to the dictates of their conscience.
It is a sad and lamentable episode in Nigeria’s political history that politicians have continued to resort to primitive, bully tactics to win votes. It is incredible to imagine the kind of leader that will emerge from elections marred by violence. At this stage of Nigeria’s political development, elections require nobility and decency. If politicians and their spin doctors must resort to any face-off it should be edifying. It is a pity that elections in Nigeria have never been conducted without innocent blood soaking the soil and from the sound of war gong in every nook and cranny of this nation presently, this election is most unlikely to be different. The world is watching.
