ELECTIONS 2015…THE WIND OF CHANGE

When the winds of change blow, some people build walls-while others build windmills…Remember we cannot change the direction of the wind, but we can always adjust our sails.

In September 2014, I was sitting at a bar listening to the conversation from the next table. A couple of guys were engaged in a heated discussion about the failures of Jonathan’s administration and how PDP had ruined the country and went back on almost every promise they made, plundering public coffers and doing as they pleased because they believed they would be the ruling party forever.

Everywhere, in the middle-belt and North, the argument was mostly the same; Jonathan and his PDP caucus had to go. The time for change was here and APC was riding that horse to unprecedented glory. First they amalgamated two minorities (ANPP and CPC) to create a formidable opposition that could merge control of the regions they reigned to present a stronger front in this election. 

It was pretty much good from that point because Jonathan was doing more for them by his actions and decision than what they could have ever done while campaigning. The economic downturn of the economy that is leaving us with a cash crunch the likes of which we have not witnessed in a long time, the joke that is our agriculture and solid minerals section and the failure of his administration to properly manage the funds that resulted from fuel increment via SURE-P amongst others. The final event seemed to be the catastrophe of the kidnap of the chibok girls by Boko Haram. It took the president a couple of weeks to even believe that the girls had been kidnapped raising questions about the intelligence sources and communication methods of Aso Villa. He promised the girls would be found and reunited with their families but when people saw that he wasn’t doing too much to rescue the girls or tear down Boko Haram with the devastation Nigerians expected, there was a general disappointment in the north and across the country because people will always empathize where women and children and concerned. The Northerners had made a silent vow to vote him out because they were the target of countless attacks by the terrorist group. They were forced to live in fear and flee their homes for refugee camps lost to the terrorists. Even a late visit by Mr. President during his campaign or bags of rice, yam and chicken was not going to convince them that Mr. President had their interest at heart. The images on TV of soldiers fleeing from war, removing their uniforms and running from the battlefield if they wanted to live left no room for confidence in the Nigerian army. The whole affair of bringing down Boko Haram has been in shambles for a while and Mr. President has not handled it well at all.

The elections have been conducted and with the exception of Imo and Taraba States where elections were inconclusive, it has pretty much gone the way we expected.

THE GOOD

I am certain that everyone resident in Nigeria is relieved that the elections were for the most part peaceful. There was coordination and organization with regards voters, officials and security personnel that had been missing in previous elections. This is the first time that I have witnessed everyone get caught up in the election fever. It was exhilarating and exciting to witness polling units filled with determined Nigerians who wanted a change that they could be a part of. People stayed at polling units till the results were collated and announced because they didn’t want any wayo-wayo to change the power of their vote.

My young friends who previously had zero interest in politics were opening excel spreadsheets on their laptops to do their own calculations as Jega and the INEC state collation officials slowly announced the election results. We could feel it; a sheer miracle that most people had not dared hoped for because of the precedence of previous elections. The abokis who sold suya outside my street had their small pocket radios tuned up with calculators in their laps as they scrunched up their faces in concentration to follow the incredible event that was happening. A sitting president has been voted out of office and majority of Nigerians accepted the results. 

It was exemplary leadership from the president when he called Buhari to congratulate him on the victory. By this act of acceptance he has set precedence foe elections to come in Nigeria that will make it hard for any power hungry politician who thinks he can have more by abusing or hoarding power for himself. From this moment on, elected officials for the most part will be on their toes when they go into office with the knowledge that Nigerians are no longer passive in their interest with political and economic events but well informed electorates who will hold them accountable if they fail to fulfill the promises they made when they got into office. 

For the first time we have a female political aspirant contesting the governorship elections on the platform of the ruling party with a strong chance of winning. The North has won my respect because it was mostly their votes that gave us change and now Taraba State has shown that they are willing to move past sexism and maybe elect a person who can take them that step further into national recognition.

THE BAD

As with all previous elections in Nigeria, we had cases of rigging and corruption. There was a plethora of eye-witness reports and photos of political parties trying to bribe electorates with money and recharge cards at polling units. In some parts of the Niger Delta and Northern Nigeria elections didn’t fully hold in areas where the election materials had been stolen or blatant attempts made to sabotage the process of election. Hopefully electoral reforms and security will be one area that Buhari gives attention to if we are to move to a stage in elections where Nigerians don’t feel the need to travel en-masse to their home states to avoid getting caught up in post-election violence. 

People should be able to stay in their states of residence and vote. Electorates should not go to the polling units and get bullied by thugs into voting for a candidate that is not to their choosing and electoral officials and security personnel should not be able to influence election results.

It was ugly to see the pictures coming out of Akwa-Ibom state where people were running helter-skelter from a polling unit because thugs had run down the voting process and were beating those who hadn’t run fast enough.

 Rivers State is another matter entirely and it is quite surprising that election results were not cancelled in that state because there were polling units in some local government where entire results were cancelled and even international observers who usually don’t stray too far from the townships saw enough to state that the elections were rigged and should be cancelled.

At the end of it all, it has been an incredible election. Power shifted from PDP to APC in a landslide victory that people will remember for years to come.

When a fever starts, it sometimes grips a part of the body and spreads till it consumes you from the inside like a raging fire and you feel it everywhere.

This is how change feels presently…hopefully this wind of change will tide good growth for our economy and a visible transformation that we can all feel and see.