MATTERS ARISING FOR THE 2015 ELECTIONS

In most third world countries like Nigeria, elections are met first with different feelings. First there is the apprehension for the violence and bloodshed that will most likely follow, and then there is apathy of the electorates towards election because of a lack of credible candidates and transparent process. Finally there is a thick tension in the air as the dates for the election get closer and people are filled with anxiety and trepidation because they really don’t know what to expect before and after the results are announced.

Does anyone still remember the 2011 elections? Because I remember the violence that rocked the north when the results were announced and Buhari lost the elections. I called my friend Tochukwu who lived in Kano once news of the riots reached me…

Tochukwu! Are you ok? I heard what happened, are you safe?

Yes I am dear, thank you.

Are you not getting out of town? You guys can come stay with your big brother here till things settle down na

No ooh! We are not going anywhere…these Hausa people are targeting Christians;  especially Igbos so we have to stay here to defend our shops. After all what is life without money?

Be safe bro…I am praying for you.

Suffice to say I didn’t stop worrying till after the military swooped in to calm the riots and Tochukwu called to tell me that his shop was safe.

Lets look at the facts here…

 A candidate lost and a faction of over-zealous supporters who were displeased with the result took to the streets looting and burning shops, killing uniformed security personnel and attacking corpers because they believed these were the people involved in the conspiracy to ensure that Buhari didn’t win the elections.

Said faction of supporters were mostly comprised of uneducated, unemployed youth with violent tendencies who were a ticking time bomb waiting for the slightest of excuses to cause mayhem and shed blood.

There are people who do not understand what elections are about. Masses of Nigerians who think that results in an election can only go one way and if that doesn’t happen then someone somewhere has tampered with the results.

Illiteracy, violence, apathy, no sensitization of the electoral process in rural areas where people there are more backward then those who live in more urban areas especially in the north.

Between 2011 and 2015 has the government done anything to ensure that these setbacks will not occur in the next elections? Has INEC educated those in the affected areas on the election process and preached the gospel of non-violent conduct to them. What is being done to ensure that the red-flag states where Boko Haram attacks are concentrated will have a gun free election?

So far it looks like we are going to have similar situations from the previous elections. Massive turnouts in the urban areas where foreign organizations and observers will be present and security operatives everywhere and poor turnout in certain parts of the north with very little security provided in border towns and very rural villages where camera and observers dare not go to for fear of being kidnapped or killed.

So the questions on the mind of almost every Nigerian are these…When will things change? At what point do we hold elections where candidates and electorates are satisfied with the results without opponents feeling the need to go to tribunals to contest election results because of fraud on the part of INEC officials and political thugs? Is there a point in the present or future when we can say third world countries like Nigeria have reached full political maturity where people respect the electoral process with both candidates and officials observing laid down rules and regulations?

We always pray for peace, free and fair elections, good candidates and a transparent democratic process yet with every election that comes we are left hanging to wonder if things will ever work out in Nigeria.

It is not all bleak though because for the first time in a very long time we have two candidates backed with the right parties. It appears that we have an election on our hands where PDP is not the automatic winner. Jonathan seems unsure of the certainty of the results and unlike the last elections where he barely paid Buhari any heed he has taken to throwing jibes and insults at Buhari. On the other hand Buhari  has found himself on the platform of a party with the right clout to fight head to head with PDP. It is going to be interesting to see how further down both men are willing to degenerate to as the dates draw closer.