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The general elections are around the corner and virtually every institution of state should enter frenzy gear. There is much expectation. Some politicians think it is the right time to even scores with those who dealt wickedly with them in the recessing dispensation. They prance about the land talking, but without substance.
Most times they are full of incitement; it is worse in a society like ours without vision. The absence of vision gives every Tom, Dick and Harry impetus to interpret situations and events from their narrow perspectives. These are exact reasons religious and ethnic sentiments still run very high even now after decades of damage those factors have wrought to our quest for development. The confusion seen at a period such as we are in is not helped by the political parties who often leave the substance to chase shadows.
Parties should be watchdogs of the processes, beginning from the start to the finish yet all we see them do is focus on producing candidates for elective offices. Even then the procedures make a mockery of what internal democracy should be in the setting of political parties organization and responsibilities. So in place of working to add to credible elections they aid the muddling of the entire process from the beginning. Today, an ugly part of our current democratic experiment can be seen in the development that courts now determine who candidates of political parties should be in so many instances.
What pushes all into this line of ultimate disaster is wrong belief that elections, by which they just mean the very act of voting would be fair, free and its processes credible. They, together with all of us run with the idea and expectation of possible free, fair and credible election because we don’t know history or take the lessons of history very seriously. Thomas Sowell taught a very important lesson on history which I think is very instructive at this point. He said: “One of the most important reasons for studying history is that every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again.”
If collectively we took lessons of history very seriously, some of the mess we get ourselves into that put us perpetually in the cycle of national stupidity, as Professor Wole Soyinka rightly observed, won’t be. History will tell us credibility of polls does not start and end with voting. It starts from even our vision of our electoral process. Are we agreed that elections are not war or fight to take control of public patrimony for private well-being? If the vision was clear and accepted the cut-throat contest we see won›t be. Destruction of internal democracy in all the political parties won›t be.
I can bet that not many of those who style themselves as democrats know who the chairman of United States Democratic Party is and this is so because in that country it is no big deal being the chairman or official of a political party. They are mere administrative tools and facilitators of processes. If we were seriou, electoral officials in Nigeria won’t be appointed by a President who himself is of partisan politics. If Nigerians didn’t rail, our President would have made his appointee a federal electoral commissioner.
Now we sow beans and want to reap rice at harvest; it doesn’t work that way. The 2019 elections was characterized by new but very frosty development in the election process called inconclusive election. It was like a novelty we watched as the outcomes decided crucial poll results especially in Osun, Kano and Sokoto. These were outcomes that affected the presidential poll in the most significant way. If the opposition that led in Osun and Kano enough to be declared winners had been announced winners the probability was very high President Mohammadu Buhari would not have been re-elected for second term and our country would have been spared the huge agony his administration has turned out to be.
Now the coming polls slated to commence in February is being rigged already by same forces. We will soon realize we don’t have credible voters register. We will see. Citizens registered but as it is the electoral body that didn’t come out well with decent process for collection. Many won’t have their voters cards because of the frustration in the collection process. This is rigging. Now the electoral body says election would hold everywhere including zones controlled by terrorists. It is the same old tricks. How many sane Nigerians will go to those areas to sit out elections control? Nevertheless as in the past, huge figures will turn out from those areas as election results.
Crisis hit areas usually turn in high figures than more peaceful zones. Abracadabra, I hear some say now. I have told those who care to listen that Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket is no happenstance. The idea is pushing some unorthodox methods which will heighten in the coming days. We will see. Buhari is very predictable never mind his taciturnity. He knows his game. He is also aware of an attitude of “I don’t care” among Nigerians which has grown worse now.
Finally, one would think that on the approach of general election one of the places to be most secured would be electoral offices but it is not so, to the point we hear daily of attacks on them, especially in South East region. The question is why? We should see the script as preparation in the event calculations fail to square up. Some of us who know history are worried when a President who should allow his practical actions show us elections would fair and credible go around the world pledging polls will be free.
Lessons of history tells us that when leaders go ahead to make so much out of a small matter they already have a motive from which they want to divert away the attention of the citizenry. Every indication on this matter point to this. Our country is in dire stress today more than ever. It is the wish of many that we all become sensible and selfless at least at this time of of national existence.
