An endless election

Democracy is rather expensive. To think that over N400 billion was expended in the last elections, and the matter has not subsided! Participants and the people still grieve that the electoral body did not obey its own guidelines. The matter has become the subject of litigation. All the dirty linen that covered the elections would be washed in the public space of the court. The democratic process thrives on the rule of law, which is why more hundreds of millions would be spent on litigation fees. Democracy comes at a great cost but no other system of government seems to have come close to it. The operators may act like cog in the wheel of progress but that does not diminish the dividends of the system of government. In the early days of Nigeria’s nationhood, soldiers acted too fast when it seemed to them that the actors in the system were reaching beyond themselves. They came with their gun-barrel-style of government and truncated a system that may have corrected itself through evolution.

Nigeria has thus gone through three republics because the soldiers were impatient. The soldiers have found their way into civil governance. Even the dreaded man in dark glasses, General Sani Abacha, was in the process of dropping the khaki for more flamboyant agbada before the Grim Reaper cut short cut a process that would have seen him leading the pack that may have ultimatey included Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhhammadu Buhari. It may indeed be the allure of power that drove those moves to the seat of power more that the patriotism the military politicians paraded as the driving force. The foregong could give political scientists enough to chew, but the point is that Nigeria has perpetually made democracy nascent in its clime. It would, however, seem that we have finally entered the stable road, given that, since 1999, no one has made the infamous “fellow Nigerians” broadcast, which heralded forcible takeover by the men in jackboots.

Twenty-four years down the line of elections and peaceful change of government, the nation still seems to totter in the process. The process of choosing leaders has evolved and is still in the process. This last election has refused to end because of the perception that the electoral umpire did not obey its regulations. As the courts get set to give the final verdict on the 2023 elections, some primordial sentiments have been thrown in the mix. Some people say it’s a psychological operation where ethnic divides have reared their heads. Political strategists have come out of their strategy retreat to draw up an age-long fault line aimed, perhaps, at diverting the matter of procedure to ethnic beef. One ethnic group has gained traction as people who are ungrateful and has been slammed with the tag of predators.

Those who fomented this schism know that it will stick and, perhaps, turn attention to issues outside the election. Nigeria must understand that the politicians whose strategists went to their trick of bags to unearth ethnic sentiments to divert attention do not really care abot anything else than power. It has always hit the political target. In the days of yore, when soldiers held sway, a certain coup d’etat bore the tag of an ethnic operation. It stuck and led to a sorry pass, even to a war that had better be forgotten. The elite must not fall into this trap, drive the division and make the election go beyond a process.

For the avoidance of doubt, change of baton, even for athletes, does not come easy, which is why we must know that care must be applied at this time. Elections will come and go but the nation should remain. Elections do not hold in a vacuum. I do not know any nation that has held elections in the midst of war. If you are oblivious of the power of ethnic beef,  just google Rwanda and read how a nation almost came to extinction on account of the unfortunate road some parts of Nigeria now walk because of elections. If the roof falls on us, no one would escape it. To make matters worse, those for whom these hate speeches are made belong in the same class. When push comes to shove, they would coalesce with themselves and keep you where you belong. The Supreme Court has one of the most complicated matters ahead of it. We should allow it deal with the matter the best way it can. The matter of the interpretation of the Federal Capital Territory as it concerns elections with regard to the provision of the Constitution depends on their reading of the Constitution. We have heard lots of interpretations but the Supreme Court has the final say. We ought to await that say and not confuse it with extraneous things. This election must come to an end, and we should allow the Supreme Court to end it. The judges are human but they also know the enormity of what has been entrusted into their hands. They would not fail the nation.