The elections are here and Nigerians will be casting their votes. We spoke to some women who had their opinion and advice to share. Associate Editor, Kemi Ajumobi writes.
Debola Deji-Kurunmi
Executive Director, Ideation Hub Africa
Mother Nigeria is birthing! She is at the hour of bringing forth and a new season of great change. The longing of the Nigerian people is to see the potential of our great nation unlocked, and to experience a collective prosperity as citizens.
Our agitations as a nation have been great, amidst persistent economic and security challenges ranging from fuel and cash shortages to rising terror attacks, high inflation, and a plunging local currency.
Right now, with the forthcoming elections, we have a miracle in our hands. We are about to embark on Africa’s largest democratic exercise in selecting our new president with over 93 million registered voters. What a day in our history!!
We must vote for and stand with leaders who will envision a powerful future, and co-create profound possibilities across our political systems, institutions, sectors and economy. We must desire a new President who can step in immediately to ideate and implement strong and strategic solutions to pressing issues on the fore for our nation, including Nigeria’s fledging debt profile, oil theft, erratic and dysfunctional institutions, the mass exodus of our finest, as well as a controversial petrol subsidy that deprives our country and people.
It means we cannot make emotional decisions. We cannot afford to vote for any political leader based on primordial sentiments, tribal divides, religious bonds, personality-driven politics or patronage culture. No! Our candidate choices must be made in sobriety, with conscience and a love for the country.
As we stand at this tipping point, remember that your vote is your voice. Do your best to vote your conscience and convictions, because it is a legacy we are building for today and the generations to come.
Permit me to offer my heartfelt charge that you do not keep your eyes on the Presidential seat alone, but remember that we require visionary leaders on all seats across the entire political infrastructure of our nation, because it takes an army to win a war.
On February 25, elections will be held in all 109 senatorial districts and 360 constituencies in Nigeria’s bicameral federal legislature as well as the presidential election. Two weeks later, 28 of the country’s 36 states will hold the governorship and state parliament elections in March 2023.
In your own right as a leader, you’re permitted to broadcast your belief and announce your affiliation. Use your influence well, but do not coarse anyone against their will, or candidate-shame others by victimising them for choosing a candidate you don’t fancy.
Let’s retain our humanity and humanness, as we educate those whose poverty has been weaponised, and provide succor where we can for those whose voices have been muffled.
Refuse to be used as a mercenary for menace, eschew all forms of violence, desist from aggravations, let us not provoke one another to anger and do not spread fake news. Please be vigilant, security-conscious and carefully observe your environment during the voting exercise at your polling units.
I encourage you to pray to God about the elections, the candidates, the citizens and the future of Nigeria. We must straddle the twin anchors of intercession and intervention; knowing that we are people blessed by God’s favour!
Beyond the elections, step fully into the office of the citizen of the federal republic of Nigeria, and pursue a lifelong commitment to advocacy against social ills, nation building, community development, corporate social investment and positive philanthropy. You’re LIGHT, be LIGHT!
My unwavering conviction is that Nigeria is stepping into the beginning of her best years, where she will be rebuilt into an elegant edifice of stunning stature as Africa’s powerhouse!
Mories Atoki
CEO – ABCHealth
As Nigeria prepares to hold its seventh consecutive general election since it returned to democracy in 1999, we can all look out for key areas that shapes the quality and credibility of the polls.
For the very first time in history, the pre-election tensions heightens daily, with serious tactics deployed to curb influencing of votes, including raging insecurity, preparedness of the electoral body and conduct of presidential candidates.
More recently is the growing discomfort caused by the difficulties of the currency redesign and its unavailability.
The 2023 elections is already shaping to break records and be accorded the most challenging to bear in Nigeria despite being coincidental with 24 years of uninterrupted democracy, the longest in the country’s history with pundits predicting a run-off and heightened probability for violence, which is already rearing as evidenced in the pockets of civil unrest affecting primarily the country’s southern region.
Out of the myriad of political parties competing at the polls, only four have dominated in the public space, and out of the many presidential candidates, only three have generated and divided public opinion on either lines of ideology in the secondary or lines of ethnicity in the primaries.
All across Nigeria, the streets have bubbled over with the ‘Articulate’ supporters of the People’s Democratic Party; ‘Jagaban’ supporters of the All Progressives Congress and the ‘Obedient’ supporters of the Labour Party. A fourth candidate, Rabiu Kwakanso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, has not generated as much discussion as the previous three.
The ‘Obedient’ enjoy a strong following especially amongst the youth and those willing to try something new while ‘Articulate’ and Jagaban supporters, both representing the old guard, enjoy their followership comprising of those who simply do not trust any other Nigerian to lead because they are used to the failures of the current system, yet still hopeful for better outcomes.
Regardless of the increasing level of hardships and ulterior speculations however, elections are key levers through which people elect the candidates and parties of choice, in this case with a beam of hope to realizing their dreams and a better Nigeria.
Dignity and respect are not sentiments to be traded for loyalty to another individual, a party or a system.
Come February 25 and March 11, Nigerians will vote. Come May 29, a new leadership will assume the administration of this country. These truths are sacrosanct and not an avenue to descend into bloody exchanges, violent riots or willful anarchy.
It should be the desire of every man and woman to live in a Nigeria that will revive the thriving nations of the world, as expected.
It should be the desire of everyone to bestow a thriving Nigeria to our children and those coming after us.
It is therefore our civic responsibility to do all it takes to fulfil these desires.
Long live Nigeria!
Anino Emuwa (PhD)
Founder/Managing Director, Avandis Consulting
A NEW ERA OF LEADERSHIP FOR NIGERIA
What Nigerians are certain about going to the polls on Saturday is that the democratic process will result in a new president with the incumbent having reached the constitutional limit. But even more than that, the imminent elections will be a defining moment in Nigeria’s democratic history.
The third republic which took off in 1999 is the longest stretch of democracy the country has witnessed since gaining independence sixty-three years ago. However, this period has still strong ties to the country’s past military rule with over two-thirds of this time led by former military heads of state, now turned politicians, who attained power initially as a result of coups d’état.
It is little wonder that many Nigerians feel it is all an old boys’ club and the outcomes will probably lead to the same crop of disappointing leadership. But one thing is set to change, irrespective of who is elected President in a few days’ time. It is not likely that our country will ever be ruled again by the former army generals with the cohort now above the age of 80. This paves the way for a new set of governance choices starting from now, and the signs of change are rearing its head.
Nigeria had functioned as a two-party state since 1999. Disillusioned voters, hungry for change but often left with the feeling of not having real choice opted out from casting their ballots leading to increasingly low voter turnout compounding with procedural inefficiencies and fear of violence. Yet, this time we have a credible third choice standing side by side the two from the major parties -amongst the dizzying line-up of 18 presidential candidates.
With the country facing severe economic hardships, it is hard for ordinary Nigerians to consider exercising their civic duty as a process that will improve their lives. But what needs to be done must be done whether or not voters believe they will see the change they want this time because the choices at the poll signals to the political system the yearn for change.
We still have some way to go towards an inclusive electoral and political system. For those of us in the diaspora, we don’t have the option to vote abroad with lawmakers having voted against a proposed bill to allow diaspora voting despite the $20 billion worth of remittances Nigerians resident abroad sent back home in 2021.
Nigeria is still to have a female president or vice president, and all the leading presidential candidates and their running mates are all male. We have never had a female state governor and only of 5% legislators are female, one of the lowest rates in the world, yet it is known that gender balanced leadership is beneficial to the economy and society.
However, we must truly feel we can influence a different path to progress. We have shown the world the signs that our democracy is less fragile than it sometimes seems, but now we need to nurture it into maturity by coming out en masse to vote. And that is the legacy we will leave for future generation.
What is uncertain is who will become the next president but already we can see change.
Hon. Professor Remi Duyile
Founder, Legacy Premier Foundation
I held a political appointment in Nigeria a few years ago as the Senior Special Assistant for International Relations and Diaspora Affairs in Ondo State under the leadership of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, which provided me with a good understanding of the country’s political institutions. As we approach another year in the political chapter of Nigerian history, we must not only look forward with expectations but also reflect on our previous transactions to help us identify and rightly select our future.
We’ve all heard the adage, “People who fail to learn from history are prone to repeating it”. With elections approaching, it is critical that we look back and critically examine not only the people, but also the patterns that have led us here. The Nigerian future we want will only be born if we learn from the past and make the necessary adjustments as we prepare for what lies ahead. Change does not happen overnight, just as Rome was not created in a day. Nonetheless, we must begin laying the groundwork now for the Nigerians of tomorrow.
You may wonder what these foundations are. One is a sense of worth and worthiness in life. For any nation to fully develop, it must place a high value on the lives of its residents. As we prepare for the next elections, we must question which of these candidates prioritises the worth of life and a sense of being. This is a priority because unless the worth of life and a sense of self are prioritised above all else, even the best-looking prospects will ultimately become like those before them.
Secondly, there is the growth of human capital and socioeconomic empowerment. It is common knowledge that every industrialised country prioritises these two factors. No nation is more powerful than its economic potential. Our leaders must be intentional about this, and being a producing nation is one way to successfully enforce this. Nigeria is a great country, yet we are unable to enjoy the fruits of our labour. All human capacities that can help to improve our economy include the capacity to create, invent, strategise, and engage. To think for ourselves, to maximise the potential of our teeming young people, to generate opportunities and employment, all of these are vital for progress and must be prioritised if we are to see any change in our nation.
Finally, there are motivation and service. A close friend of mine would say that many of the world’s legendary tyrants were previously excellent strategists and philosophers of their era. I know many of us gravitate toward intelligence, strategy, and a variety of other characteristics that industrialised nations appear to have popularised as indicators of leadership over the years, but I respectfully disagree. A true leader is defined by his attitude toward service and his motivations when in power.
To our teeming nation’s youth, the strength and the future. I implore us to move above our prejudices and act with real patriotism—to seek the general benefit of the nation. Our intelligence, leadership, battling spirit, and inventiveness are well-known worldwide. It’s time to take it home. God bless Nigeria, our native land.
Iroghama Ogbeifun
MD/CEO at Starzs Investments Company Limited
I believe that every nation has a turning point when that nation must choose what path it will follow, a choice to either stay with the old and familiar or forge a new path that is without sure guarantees but laced with hope and possibilities.
No country develops without the desire to grow. Irrespective of past pains or slow victories, growth is key and as a nation, continuous growth is not negotiable. Growth in all spheres, in economy, healthcare, education, agriculture, technology, skills, manpower, infrastructure, inclusion and so much more.
The 2023 elections represent a critical ‘T’ junction at which Nigeria must choose. This election places the choice squarely in the hands of the people, not a select few or privileged group, but the masses, the middle class, the elite, you and me.
The future of our country, the future for our children, lies in our ability to step out of our comfort zone and vote wisely, not along divisive lines such as tribe, religion, ethnicity but along lines that will unite such as competence, empathy, integrity, vision, commitment, a positive track record.
In the famous words of Joseph De Maistre, “In democracy, every nation gets the government it deserves”. So, let’s vote what we deserve as a people. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
