Singer Banky W writes an interesting
piece on the 2015 Presidential Election which he shared on his blog. Read below...
The morning after..
It has been quite an interesting time in our Nation's History. Exhilarating for
some, disappointing for others... but interesting nonetheless. The announcement
of the 2015 Election results has dominated every news medium, traditional and
social media platform in the last few days. Alongside most Nigerians worldwide,
I was glued to my television throughout the process as INEC members slowly read
out each result from each state, and then as the Chairman Mr Jega gave the
final results and declared the winner.
Now that the dust has settled a little, it's time to share some of my random
thoughts on what has just happened, and celebrate/highlight some of the key
factors.
Here's to the President-elect, General Muhammudu Buhari. Congratulations Sir on
your victory. Yours is a lesson of perseverance. After contesting and failing
in 2003, 2007 and 2011, some would have understandably thrown in the towel on
this particular goal. But it's never failure until you give up, give in and
quit trying. There's a lesson for all of us in this. When you get knocked down,
you get back up, dust yourself off, re-strategize, and try again. That's
precisely what he did, and now he's the President-Elect. He's got a tough job
ahead of him...the economy is coming upon harsh times; oil prices have crashed
and foreign reserves have been depleted. The Unemployment rate and poverty
index in Nigeria is at an all time high. General Buhari's administration have
their work cut-out for them, and here's hoping they hit the ground running.
It's time to cut the excesses of times past... time to focus on what's truly
important to the Nigerian people, and make significant strides in the right
direction. Everything needs improvement. Security, Employment, Power,
Education... you name it. Change is what we voted for, and change they must
deliver.
Here's to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Many of us have been vocal critics
of the present administration over the past couple of years... but you've left
a legacy of conducting/overseeing/allowing two free & fair elections to
hold in Nigeria. That's more than any other President can say in our Nation's
history. You've also been gracious in defeat, and your move to quickly
congratulate the opposition has probably helped ease the atmosphere in these
tense times. That these elections have been MOSTLY violence-free, is no small
feat. Your position, that neither you nor any politician's ambition, is worth
the blood of any Nigerian, is noble, applaudable, and appreciated. If you're
going to go out, this is the way to do it.. with your head held high and your
dignity intact.
Here's to Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Muhammudu Jega. You've overseen
such an intricate, tense, political process and come out mostly spotless. In
recent times your job has probably been the most powerful and the most
stressful in Nigeria, and yet you handled your affairs as cool as the other
side of the pillow. Never once losing your temper, never once succumbing to
pressure or drama, never once letting people see you sweat. Your attitude,
manner, and competence in dealing with highly sensitive tasks and times, is one
that is exemplary to all Nigerians. This is how to become a living legend. Our
hope, however, is that INEC will improve upon this exercise and learn some very
necessary lessons. The process to collate, calculate and announce results took
entirely too long. It's 2015... we can't at this point, be that adverse to the
use of excel sheets and calculators. Too much time passed between when votes
were cast and when the results were announced that could be interpreted as an
avenue for rigging to occur. The situation and allegations in States such as
Rivers, and some areas in the North and East, should also be looked into for
the purpose of eliminating any areas of malpractice in the future.
Here's to the young people that were actively involved in the political process
this time around. It was encouraging to see more of us participate. For
instance, one of the parties used peers of mine like Adebola Williams and Chude
Jideonwo (and their media platforms) to handle their PR and campaign activities
with great success; while other parties used spokespeople who some say may have
done more harm than good. Sites like LindaIkeji's blog, Bella Naija, and
YNaija, were just as, if not more important to candidates and voters, than
traditional newspapers and media. This shows the innate tremendous power and
influence that young people and our platforms have. Don't be surprised when you
see some of these young people being appointed in strategic powerful positions
in the near future.
Here's to the Nigerian People. This 2015 Election marks the first time in our
history, that an incumbent President has been voted out of power. That in and
of itself is a mark of a true democracy, and a sign that power still belongs to
the people. My hope is that this will serve notice to the incoming
administration at the Federal, State and Local levels. Gone are the days when
our leaders can do whatever they like, and expect to remain in power with
little to no backlash. Gone are the days when no matter how bad your actions
are, or how bad a state we find ourselves in, we just say "it's
Naija" and "God dey". The time has come where we must now hold
our leaders accountable for the offices we have elected them into, and this
election was the first step in that direction. We must pay attention... we must
care. Not just about the office of the President, but the Governors, Senators,
House of Reps, and Local Government positions. This is the only way we will see
Nigeria truly change for the better. If we the people, just... care, again. Now
is the time to keep track of campaign promises that were made, and see if
they're delivered on. The reason Nigeria keeps recycling the same problems and
issues with no end insight, decade after decade, is because of failed
leadership and citizen apathy. Our leaders were corrupt and we just didn't
care. Let's hope that change, indeed, has come.
To those of us that voted, whether your candidate won or lost, thank you for playing
a very significant and important role in our Nation's Democracy and History.
Thank you for letting your voice be heard. Thank you for braving the
inconvenient, tense, and sometimes harsh, conditions to make sure you voted and
that those votes were counted. We laughed together and we fought; we stood in
line together under the burning sun, then the rain, then the sun again; we
discussed and we argued... but we voted.
Nigeria has a current population of about 182+ Million people; only 29+ million
of which voted in the recent elections. The winner of the elections had 15+
million votes. That means, only 8% of our population chose the direction of our
country for the next 4 years. That's not good enough. I was watching the
elections coverage, and it was sad to see that state by state, the eligible,
registered voter turnout was less than 50%. That's not good enough. Some people
will say that we voted along tribal lines; I say that most young people, who do
not have the tribal prejudices that older generations have, simply didn't show
up. Time and again, I'd be among groups of young people and ask who has picked
up their PVC. 9 times out of 10, I'd be the only one. We have to do better. We
seem to be content with tweeting, and instagram-ing, and arguing and pointing
fingers... but when it comes to the most basic of our civic responsibilities...
when it comes to actually playing a part in bringing about a better Nigeria
that we all seek, we're nowhere to be found. Social Media activism is simply
not enough.
Some young people tried, but were frustrated by the inefficiencies in the PVC
collection process. My heart goes out to you if you truly tried, but for some
reason couldn't get your card. Others were just "too busy" to go
through what was required. To these ones, I say this: We saw pictures of
Billionaires such as Aliko Dangote and Wale Tinubu voting. You are not busier
than Dangote. If these ones could put their affairs on hold to register and
vote, then clearly, we all need to get our priorities straight.
Some may say that elections here are rigged... well, you make it incredibly
easy for someone to rig elections by not showing up. All the
unused ballot papers can very easily be stamped for whoever they
feel like. It becomes increasingly hard to rig when we show up en-masse. I
pray, and work towards the day, when all the young people who are eligible,
actually care enough to get up, go out and register to vote... and in that day,
when we all actually do vote, we will truly be in charge of our Nation's
destiny. We'll see a Nigeria that has a chance to cast away the burdens,
problems and prejudices of times past, and finally live up to our potential.
- Banky Wellington
PS: Here's to General Buhari's daughter, Zahra... in the immortal words of
FahlzTheBadGuy... 'Ello Bae :-)
