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Fellow Nigerians, as the general elections approach, there is an urgent need for us to remind ourselves of the value of our franchise and the enormous responsibility that comes with it. Elections are not merely periodic rituals during which citizens queue under the sun, cast their ballots and return home. They represent one of the most consequential exercises in a democracy because, through our votes, we determine who exercises power over our collective resources, security, education, healthcare, infrastructure and, ultimately, the quality of our lives. It is therefore important that we appreciate the nexus between our votes and our lives. There is hardly any aspect of our existence that is completely insulated from the consequences of political decisions.
The price of food in the market, the condition of the roads we travel on, the quality of education available to our children, the availability of electricity, the security of our communities, the strength of our currency, the availability of employment and the accessibility of healthcare are, in one way or another, affected by decisions made by those whom we elect into public office. This is why we must never trade our votes as though they were ordinary products in the marketplace. A vote is not a commodity to be exchanged for a bag of rice, a measure of beans, a piece of clothing or a few thousand naira.
It is an instrument through which we determine the direction of our society. Unfortunately, poverty and economic hardship have made vote-buying attractive to some citizens. Politicians understand the vulnerability created by deprivation and sometimes exploit it during elections. They suddenly become generous when elections approach, distributing food, money and other inducements to people whose welfare they may have ignored for years. The tragedy is that whatever is received for selling a vote can hardly sustain anyone beyond a short period, while the consequences of the electoral choice may endure for four years or even longer. If, for instance, a voter receives N10,000 in exchange for his vote, and the person elected remains in office for four years, that amount translates to less than N7 per day over the tenure. Yet, during those four years, the voter may have to contend with unemployment, insecurity, poor roads, inadequate healthcare, failing schools and economic hardship arising from bad governance. What then has been gained? We must therefore begin to regard vote-buying not simply as electoral malpractice but as a transaction in which our future is potentially being mortgaged. The person who purchases your vote may already regard public office as an investment from which he must recover his expenditure.
Where enormous resources are deployed to buy votes and manipulate electoral processes, the temptation upon assumption of office is to recover those resources rather than devote public funds to development. This is one of the ways electoral corruption ultimately breeds governance corruption. Beyond vote-buying, another danger we must consciously resist is voting based on sentiment, emotion, religion, tribalism or ethnicity. These factors have repeatedly distorted our political judgment. Rather than interrogating the competence, character, antecedents and programmes of candidates, we sometimes retreat into ethnic and religious enclaves.
We ask where a candidate comes from before asking what he can do. We ask which faith he professes before interrogating his capacity to govern. We are sometimes more interested in whether a candidate speaks our language than whether he understands the language of development. This approach has not served us well. Bad governance does not recognise ethnicity. Inflation does not ask whether you are Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Tiv, Fulani or Efik before affecting the purchasing power of your income. An armed robber or kidnapper does not demand your ethnic identity before attacking you. A bad road does not discriminate between Christians and Muslims before causing accidents. An ill-equipped hospital does not ask about your political affiliation before failing to provide adequate treatment.
When electricity fails, darkness descends equally upon members of every ethnic and religious group within the affected community. Why then should ethnicity and religion dominate our electoral choices when the consequences of governance are largely indiscriminate? There is nothing inherently wrong in loving one’s ethnic group, religion or community. Indeed, our diversity ought to be a source of strength. The problem arises when these identities overwhelm rational judgment and become substitutes for competence and character. Democracy requires citizens who are capable of looking beyond primordial attachments when making decisions that affect the collective destiny.
As elections approach, therefore, every voter must become an examiner. Every candidate seeking our vote must be subjected to scrutiny. What has the candidate done before? What is his record of service? What is his understanding of the office he seeks? Does he possess the intellectual, emotional and moral capacity required for leadership? Is he surrounded by competent people? Does he respect institutions? What are his views on the economy, education, healthcare, security, infrastructure and social development?
Most importantly, can his promises withstand interrogation?We must stop being carried away by slogans. Political slogans are designed to excite emotions; governance requires considerably more than excitement. We must equally be wary of beautifully crafted manifestoes that have little relationship with reality. A manifesto must contain measurable commitments against which performance can subsequently be assessed. Character must equally count. Competence without integrity can be dangerous. A brilliant but dishonest leader may simply become more sophisticated in the misuse of public resources. Conversely, integrity without capacity may produce good intentions without meaningful results. What society requires is a combination of competence, character, courage, compassion and capacity. We must also examine antecedents. Elections should not erase memory.
A candidate’s past conduct remains one of the best indicators available to voters in assessing likely future behaviour. Where someone had previously occupied public office, we should interrogate his record. What did he accomplish? How did he manage public resources? Did institutions become stronger or weaker under him? Did citizens experience improvement? Was he accountable? Where a candidate has never occupied public office, his professional and personal record can still offer useful insights. Leadership does not commence on inauguration day. The values that people exhibit before attaining power often provide clues to how they may behave after acquiring it. Another issue that deserves emphasis is the danger of political fanaticism. Supporting a candidate does not require surrendering one’s reasoning faculty. Democracy does not demand worshippers; it requires citizens. Once political support degenerates into fanaticism, objective assessment becomes difficult.
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Every criticism of one’s preferred candidate is interpreted as hostility, while every wrongdoing is rationalised. We must learn to support candidates without surrendering our independence of thought. A citizen should be able to commend a leader when he does well and criticise him when he performs poorly. Political loyalty must never become a licence for intellectual servitude. Social media has made this challenge even more significant. As elections approach, misinformation, propaganda, manipulated videos, fabricated quotations and deliberately divisive narratives will inevitably circulate. Citizens must therefore exercise restraint. Not everything forwarded to us deserves to be forwarded by us. Before sharing information capable of influencing political choices or inflaming ethnic and religious passions, we owe society a duty to verify its authenticity.
The political class also has responsibilities. Candidates must elevate the quality of political discourse. Elections should be contests of ideas rather than competitions in insults. Nigerians deserve to hear how candidates intend to address unemployment, insecurity, inflation, infrastructure deficits, education, healthcare, housing and other pressing national challenges. The discussion should centre on solutions.
Political parties must equally recognise their responsibility to democracy. The quality of candidates presented to the electorate determines, to a considerable extent, the quality of leadership available to society. Internal democracy must therefore be taken seriously. Candidate selection processes should not merely reward wealth, godfatherism or proximity to influential political actors.
Parties must deliberately seek competent, credible and service-oriented individuals. However, regardless of the quality of candidates presented, the ultimate responsibility belongs to the voter. The ballot remains the citizen’s principal instrument of democratic accountability. It is the moment when the ordinary citizen temporarily becomes more powerful than the officeholder seeking renewal of mandate. At that moment, the governor and the governed stand before the same ballot box. That power must not be underestimated. We often complain about our leaders, sometimes legitimately. We lament corruption, incompetence, insecurity and economic hardship. But democracy imposes reciprocal responsibility. If we repeatedly elect people for reasons unrelated to competence and character, we cannot completely detach ourselves from the consequences. Citizenship demands participation accompanied by judgment. This is why voter apathy is equally dangerous. Some Nigerians, frustrated by previous electoral experiences, may conclude that voting is pointless. Such frustration is understandable, but withdrawal ultimately strengthens those who benefit from low participation. Democracy cannot improve through abandonment. Citizens must continue to insist on credible elections, participate actively and hold institutions accountable. Young Nigerians, particularly, must understand the enormous power they possess. Their demographic strength can determine the direction of elections. But that power becomes meaningful only when converted into informed participation. Social media activism alone cannot replace electoral participation. Complaints on digital platforms cannot substitute for the ballot. We must equally reject the dangerous idea that politics is merely about capturing power. Power is not an end in itself; it is a means to public service. The purpose of political authority must be the improvement of human welfare. Any political contest that loses sight of this fundamental objective has already departed from the essence of democracy. As we approach another electoral season, therefore, Nigerians must ask themselves a simple question before casting their ballots: What kind of society do I want to live in over the next four years and beyond?That question should guide our decisions more than ethnicity, religion, friendship, financial inducement or political sentiment. We must remember that after the campaign songs have stopped, after the posters have been removed and after the rallies have ended, governance begins. The politician who danced with you during the campaign may become inaccessible after inauguration. The person who distributed rice today may determine economic policies tomorrow.
The candidate whose ethnic identity excites you today may make decisions that affect your livelihood tomorrow.The excitement of an election lasts for days; the consequences of an election endure for years.We must therefore separate entertainment from governance. Wisdom teaches that before embarking upon a journey, a person must know where the road leads. Elections constitute such a journey. Before entrusting the vehicle of state to anyone, we must be satisfied that the prospective driver possesses the competence, discipline and sense of direction necessary to take us safely to our destination. Nigeria’s challenges are too serious for experimental leadership. Our population is growing rapidly. Millions of young people require education and employment. Infrastructure demands are expanding. Security challenges remain pressing. Global economic competition is becoming more intense. Technology is transforming societies at extraordinary speed.
Climate and environmental challenges are emerging. These realities require leaders with vision, capacity, courage and integrity. Our votes must therefore reflect the seriousness of our circumstances. Ultimately, democracy is only as good as the choices made by citizens. Institutions matter, electoral laws matter, political parties matter, electoral bodies matter, but the judgment of the electorate remains fundamental. If citizens insist upon competence, politicians will increasingly seek to demonstrate competence. If citizens reward integrity, political actors will have incentives to cultivate integrity. If, however, we continue rewarding ethnic mobilisation, religious manipulation and financial inducement, politicians will continue supplying them.
Politics, like every marketplace, responds to demand. We must change what we demand. As the general elections approach, therefore, let us resolve that our votes will not be for sale. Let us resolve that ethnicity will not imprison our judgment. Let us refuse to allow religion to be weaponised against our collective interest. Let us reject political fanaticism and emotional manipulation. Let us interrogate every candidate and every promise.Above all, let us appreciate the inseparable relationship between our votes and our lives. When we cast our ballots, we are not merely choosing individuals. We are choosing policies. We are choosing the quality of our schools and hospitals. We are choosing the security of our communities. We are choosing the management of our economy. We are choosing the opportunities available to our children. We are choosing, in substantial measure, the direction of our future. The ballot paper may be small, but the consequences flowing from it can be enormous. A bag of rice will finish. The money offered for a vote will be spent.
Campaign souvenirs will fade away. Ethnic excitement will subside. Religious rhetoric will disappear after the election. But the consequences of the government we elect will remain with us every single day. Our vote is therefore not merely our right. It is our voice, our power and our investment in the future. Let us exercise it wisely, objectively and conscientiously.For in the final analysis, when we vote, we are not merely choosing who will govern us; we are choosing how we will live.
