The 2019 presidential election, to be sure has already been won and lost – if not from the moment of the close of the voting, then certainly by the time results were collated at each polling unit.
But let us leave aside for the moment the question of who is winning (who has won) and who is losing (who has lost);
Taking a critical look at the turn out for the elections, where you you on the average less than 50% turn out with respect to total number of registered voters, or even total number of PVCs collected; it begs the question with respect to the question of apathy and the crisis of political participation.
And though there maybe many reasons for this apathy – including that people chose to register in the so-called states of origin rather than in their states of residence, and so always have to deal with the challenge of the logistics of traveling; but it also includes the potential complication of this aforementioned logistics challenge due to the last minute postponement.
Other factors include the fact that the main parties and candidates not do not offer any significant policy in the interest of ordinary people, but they also do not significantly differ from one another with respect to what little they are offering.
This leads to a situation where people do not feel there is any choice on offer. This is compounded by the state of mind, inherent to the oppressed and exploited, that does not see the possibility of any viable alternative to the establishment and its parties and candidates.
And there are those who just don’t bother, because they just don’t care – because they are well to do and or well off, and because they have access to opportunities including outside the country, they are not so much impacted by, or rather, they are shielded from the brunt of the impact of the challenges of failed nationhood and failed nation building. So although they might get registered, and might even collect their PVC – as a status symbol, but they will not bother to come out and vote.
So as I was saying, the one thing that is sure about this election and its outcome is that once again a minority of Nigerians will be determining the fate of our country and its trajectory over the next four years.
Along with this is the other certainty stemming from the foregoing, and proving the truism of the fact that:
“INEC doest not count Prayer Points, That there are no Polling Units on Social Media, just as there are no Polling Units inside our respective Bedrooms either”!
So what lessons can be learnt or are being reinforced?
That we have to be prepared and ready to sacrifice and organise and mobilise for our own social emancipation.
That we cannot avoid the difficult but fundamentally necessary task of Building a Mass Political Movement and consciously raising awareness among our people.
That we start now, to build such a movement, today, not tomorrow, not twelve months to the next election.
That if we offer our people a real choice, with a program of action for national salvation and redemption, that speaks to the aspirations of our people, that we can break the apathy, and get our people enthusiastic about their participation.
That if we can get our people interested enough in their own involvement with and participation in their governance, that we would be able to not only pose a viable and formidable alternative to the establishment, but that we would be able to defeat it as well.
So rather dissipate energy on the expected squabbles among the main ruling class factions that this election outcome is bound to generate, let us invest that energy in the process of organising and mobilising to build the movement for our own social emancipation and for the national liberation of our country and continent.
And the task begins now. Let us Build the Coalition For 2023 Now – To Take Back Nigeria – Inch By Inch, And Rebuild Our Country – Brick By Brick.
NB: One of the most confounding phenomenon about this elections is that although 82% of registered voters are 50 years and under, nevertheless majority of them have chosen to give their active support to men in their 70s, choosing to be either Atikulated or NextLeveled!
It seems to me that although our population is a youthful population, nevertheless it is a population that is trapped in the past and afraid to look ahead, afraid to dream, and afraid to make progress.
