Nigeria’s political class are good at polarizing Nigerians along religious and ethnic lines during elections. In looting public funds, there is unity in diversity and cohesion of stealing interest. A few months to the general elections in 2023, manifestos that won’t be manifested, unrealistic promises and deceit becloud the Nigerian political space.
Abuja and city-based politicians are back to the grassroots to display subterfuge. The streets are filled with deceptive and pretentious love for the electorates by political actors. It is time to release some of what has been stolen, embezzled and purloined in the last few years to woo the electorates to get their support. POORlitics, implying leaders who use political positions to impoverish the citizens while enriching themselves, comes to mind.
Poverty is a weapon to decide the outcome of elections in Nigeria. Vote buying strives in an atmosphere of hunger and squalor. The insistence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) implies that vote buying is the last hope of the majority of the Nigerian political class in 2023.
In 2023, Nigerians have a chance to right the wrongs of economic and social damages witnessed by Nigerians in the last six decades. Poverty, corruption, rising unemployment and inflation, excessive borrowing, food insecurity, the collapse of the health and education sector and other challenges remain uncurbed. Those who have contributed passively and actively to the sorry state of Nigeria are creeping out with solutions. Except for a few essential workers, Nigeria’s retirement age is 60; due to a decrease in one’s ability to be productive.
Elders with several years beyond Nigeria’s retirement age of 60 are jostling to be Nigeria’s president. Surprisingly, those within 65 years and above constitute just 3 percent of Nigeria’s population, according to the United Nations Population Fund. The average age of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the three (3) leading political parties, All Progressive Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), are 63, 69 and 57 years, respectively. Nigeria needs a young, healthy, intelligent president that combines the wisdom of elders and the energy of the youth, not retirees and grandfathers.
The increase in the number of registered voters is a sign to show that Nigerians are tired of the current political order. Nigerians, particularly the youths, are willing to take back Nigeria from the clutches of failed politicians with empty promises. In 2023, vote-buying will fail. It will mark a change from the old to the new ways of doing things. Nigeria will be for Nigerians, the masses who have suffered for over six decades of underdevelopment.
Those who kept Nigerian university students at home while their children enjoyed world-class education abroad will be remembered. Leaders who went on foreign medical trips while our hospitals remained in the abysmal state will taste the fury of Nigerians at the poll. Politicians who made no effort to secure their citizens, as Nigerians lost their loved ones to Kidnappers, Bandits, Boko Haram and Unknown gunmen, will understand that power truly belongs to the people. Like the famous adage, it will be one day for the owner after 49 days for the thief.
The 2023 elections present a new hope for Nigerians. This time, votes will count as has never been witnessed in Nigeria since democracy. The youths, who constitute the vast majority of Nigerians, will vote for a new Nigeria, regardless of ethnicity and religion. Competence will be selected over mediocrity. Track records will inform the decision to validate trust. The old order will give way to a new Nigeria with the capacity to make Nigeria great again. Fairness, justice and equity will guide the decision of a vast majority of Nigeria. Nigeria will show the world it truly belongs to Nigerians.
Alikor is an economist and policy analyst at the Nextier Group
