[Last week in this column, I stated that the postponement of the 2015 general election is indeed a blessing in disguise, in spite of some inconvenience with rescheduling of activities and perhaps additional funding to keep the campaigns running for another six weeks by the contestants and their parties, and I gave reasons for that.]
The fourth reason is that a significant portion of Nigerian territory is under siege with many of the residents killed, maimed or internally displaced. I have personally been agonizing what will happen in the troubled parts of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno States where some local government areas (LGAs) have been seized by Boko Haram. I have wondered how those who have been displaced will vote. How will they even get their PVCs? We have not planned well for the living, I am wondering how we can plan for the dead. Will national elections that exclude these LGAs and these internally displaced persons (IDPs) be regarded as credible? I come from Arochukwu LGA in Abia State. How will I regard national elections that excluded my LGA? Can I in good conscience regard a president that emerges from such an election as my president? Would I therefore not be pleased to support any move by the military to liberate my LGA, so that I can join the rest of the country to exercise my fundamental national right? Yes, I was not happy that the military did not prevent my LGA from falling into the hands of the insurgents in the first place and I had been sad that they had not recovered my LGA till now. But would I not jump at the prospect of finally returning to my home? If the military asked for more time to guarantee me these rights, will I not oblige? Yes, there may be this question: ‘how are they sure that they will achieve it?’ Well, the military say they are better armed now and they are receiving the cooperation of a multinational force (including Cameroon, Chad and Niger). Even if I had doubts, what do I lose by giving them the benefit of the doubt? In the desperation to capture power and the programmed mass hysteria, it is easy to see my argument as pedantic but anybody who puts himself in the shoes of our fellow Nigerians from those 14 or so LGAs who are currently under satanic occupation will more readily see my point.
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Fifthly, I am really amazed that it is the APC, which is reported to have more support from the North East and Lagos, that seems not to worry if elections are not held in these North East LGAs or if the majority of voters in Lagos do not collect their PVCs before the elections are held. Ordinarily, one would have thought that they would be the first to support any move to guarantee that more of the LGAs are liberated from Boko Haram. Or is there something they know that we don’t? Or could it be a ploy to dispute the result of the presidential elections, to brand it not free, fair or credible, should they lose? One may never know. But in my simple mind, I would have thought that anything that will strengthen my support base, giving my supporters the best chance to vote, will receive my unsolicited support.
Sixthly, if our military say that they cannot guarantee security at a particular time and place and recommend another course of action which is not unconstitutional, should we not listen and pay heed? One of our criticisms against our military is poor intelligence. They could not stop the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, they could not pre-empt the attack on Baga, and so forth and so on. Now they plan to pre-empt planned attacks by the insurgents or other criminal gangs on the election dates and we say ‘no, we must have the elections. Let them come and kill our people, as long as we grab the power!’ Haba! What of the security implications of possible disenfranchisement of a large number of voters (at the last check, over 50 percent of voters had not collected their PVCs in Lagos State!)? President Jonathan has repeatedly said that his ambition to remain in power is not worth the blood of a single Nigerian. Have we heard other presidential candidates say the same? Rather we are being told not to believe what the military say, not to trust data and statistics on the economy from the National Bureau of Statistics, not to trust the Ministry of Finance figures, not to trust NNPC records, not to trust any national institution, and not even to trust any group of Nigerians or media organizations to conduct a credible debate between presidential candidates! Who are we to trust then or whom should we believe? Perhaps everybody should fabricate his own story, concoct his own economic data and statistics or believe only that issued by them or spewed in the social media. What a country and what a genre of politics! Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of the eternal truth – ‘that whatsoever a man sows, that he will also reap’.
Seventhly and lastly, this rescheduling of elections gives the kind of relief players in a football match get at half time. After slugging it out for forty-five minutes with adrenaline pumping, especially in a goal-less match, the players become tired, many irritated, tempers rising and the frequency of fouling rising, the referee blows the whistle to indicate half time and there is immediate relief. Calm is restored and the players and coaches march off the field to the dressing room to rest, debrief and re-strategise for the second half. I really thank God for this shift in date. The tempo of the campaigns was in a crescendo, tension was rising every day and it looked as if we were heading to cataclysm. Many Nigerians had relocated their families (some abroad) and many had stockpiled food. It was as if a war was imminent! This break, for me, is a welcome release, a blessing indeed, and I believe it must be for many Nigerians who wish and pray that these elections will be free, fair, credible and violence-free and that on May 29th, 2015, only those chosen by the majority of the voting constituents according to the constitution and by the will of the Almighty God will be inaugurated into the different political offices in the states and at the centre. So help us God.
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa
