As that Styl Plus song ringed in 2008, “four years don waka.” It’s been four gruesome years since Nigeria elected President Muhammadu Buhari and his ‘change’ mantra into office, but the only changes we’ve seen are those which have taken Nigeria from bad to worse.
Over these four years, we’ve also seen the #NotTooYoungToRun bill get signed into Law and the emergence of the third force;
most of which seem like swindle members of the ruling class,
bamboozling Nigerians with parsel-tongue of deception and pretence
before bowing out close to the elections. Nigeria is the home of drama,
but we have seen nothing yet.
At this time, the idea of a good election
seems as unreasonable as the choices in the polls, who have a reasonable
shot at actually winning. Asides the unusual rigours we go through to
get our Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC), a
lot of Nigerians under-35 are about as interested in voting during this
election as they are in eating faeces. Many like this scribe feel their
votes will count for too little to affect anything.
Asides that, the choices are simply
too alike to muster any reason for positivity. Asides that, there must
be questions raging the heart of every Nigerian within this age-grade.
Allow Pulse to offer you some insights. We hope you find some useful information to anyone who has the following questions;
1. Why should I vote in this election?
Voting in elections is a civic duty for any
Nigerian over the age of 18 and with necessary documentation required to
vote. Asides that, nobody is as frustrated as a Nigerian under the age
of 35, who never got to see the ‘glory days’ but only grew up into the Nigeria bemoaning the glory days amid attempts at scavenging for the spoils of the same Nigeria.
Equally, nobody clamours for change more than
an average Nigerian under the age of 35, despite his usual cynicism and
social media posts to live the ‘Nigerian dream’ of travelling to far
western colonies and post on social media, an undying love for the
motherland.
Thus, change is a process, not usually a
sudden happenstance, where power is seized. While there might be no
attractive candidates for you with a chance to win – which we will
address a little later, voting is an expression of that change you
crave. Voting, despite subtle assurance that your candidate might not
win is expressing your power that will end up counting.
Imagine if a million youths like you
vote for one underdog. He might be impressed to run again, by which time
his reps would have soared. Of course, all this is wishful thinking,
but voting means you are more than talk and wild wishes of change. But
before making a decision, you should know the candidates.
2. What do I know about these candidates?
It’s not enough to just throw a vote away just
because you don’t want another candidate to win. Throwing your vote
behind someone should be more about your belief that they can change
things in this country.
Thus, you have to really dig deep to
understand the personality traits, record of excellence or failure,
antecedents, excellence at governance and development as against the
other candidates, leadership qualities, functionalities, vision and so
forth.
The idea is to help you choose a good candidate.
3. Will I regret voting for this candidate in the next four years?
To a lesser extent, it is important that after
familiarizing yourself with your candidates, but before you vote, you
should ask yourself how you might feel in four years and if you would be
satisfied with your feeling.
Voting is now more than just an act of
nepotism or bias, it is determining the fate of a country for the next
four years. Of course, except you’re clairvoyant, nobody knows the
future. However, the truth is you must understand why you’re voting and
what you expect.
Nothing is certain, you might end up getting
disappointed as human beings are about as reliable as a white bulb on a
generator past its voltage, but you must take solace in the fact that
you mad the best decision available.
4. What do Senators and Representatives do?
A lot of Nigerians do not understand the power
or role of the legislators as powerful, policy-making and lawmaking
juggernauts that determine what becomes operative and what dies a slow
death in the night fight of legislative house pettiness.
Senators and Members of the lower house are
law and policy makers that represent the interests of you and other
members of your constituency at the National Assembly.
5. My presidential candidate has no shot at winning so who should I vote for now?
This should be about your conviction because
the truth is; in most elections, we all know who has a chance of winning
and who cannot. While it is important to have a candidate that can
actually win, the best men sometimes have no shot at winning.
If one of them, without a chance at winning is
your candidate, it’s all about understanding that it’s not just voting
anymore, it’s determining the fate of a country for four years and if
you will be able to say you could have done better or worse in four
years.
6. Do I have to automatically vote every young candidate?
The narrative now is that the old heads have
all eaten the forbidden fruit and are beyond redemption. While that is
true to an extent, the actual truth is not all young candidates have
experience. Neither do they understand the true meaning of leading a
state, let alone a country.
To most young people, leading or contesting or
winning is fulfilling a dream. Most of them have no good plans to
actually govern. Anybody with a brain can pick their ‘attractive’ plans
apart with simple questions – leading is more than just being different,
young or talking smart. For me, the answer is a fat NO.
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