In a very religious country like ours, either side of the divide, I guess it would be very, very wrong to use certain words and phrases publicly. But I suppose it’s good to give it a shot sometimes, especially if you are one of those involved in the promotion of a life of tolerance in a world that is now replete with conflicts, stretching from Israel-Palestine to Ukraine-Russia, to Jordan, Iraq, the West vs. Isis, down to Nigeria-Boko Haram! Besides, as we all very well know of ourselves, we pretend to not do a lot of things publicly, like a man and a woman holding hands in public (phew!). It’s not too clear, though, whether this attitude is driven by the suggestion to want to be seen to be lacking in, or an inability to express, affection openly. Or, perhaps, something that might be traceable to an implanted view in our heads, by traditionalists, that it is wrong to be so seen behaving openly, as it shows weakness – on the part of chauvinists, of course!
I can tell you that that took a lot getting out of the way! To return to the real meat of this gathering, I should say that it is rather difficult to tell from the position where I am seated (never mind if you often have this expressed as ‘standing on’, because most times, the people who say or write it that way are likely to be sitting in their comfy chairs, sipping cognac or whatever; and are just too happy to use dated expressions to deceive you and me). And riding on the fact that I have mentioned cognac, it’s perhaps fitting to say that the matter for which all of the last 300 words or so had gone forth, and for which I was tempted to be cautious to mention, is the matter of “hangover”. As this is appearing on a Sunday, in a very openly religious country (that’s why in the ongoing electioneering campaigns we are leaving the substance to chase shadows), mentioning ‘hangover’ openly could be deemed inappropriate.
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But, it just so happens that today is February 15th, a day after a globally eventful day. I’m sure you know what I am talking about. February 15th is coming after yesterday, February 14th. So, now it’s making sense, right? I’ll like to think that a lot of people are still having a sleep-in. Never mind that today is Sunday and so, still many more people are likely to be already up and in church. As yesterday was Valentine’s Day (the V-Day), there must have been all sorts of consumptions, and the resultant effect of one of these consumptions is certainly a ‘hangover’. Go ahead, you are free. Look around, do the nosey parker in your neighbourhoods to see who might truly be suffering from a hangover as a result of what they did last night. When you have found one or two, take your adventurism further by walking up to them and saying to them: “I know what you did last night!” I would add a caveat, though, that if, indeed, you decide to go that route, make sure you are sufficiently prepared, as you can be sure not everybody will find it funny.
Well, the thing is that, hangover or not, there are many people who heaved a sigh of relief when their prayers were answered with the postponement of the presidential election earlier scheduled for yesterday. Nigeria has a population on the average, they say, of 167 million people. Of that number about 68.8 million are registered to vote, but if you are accounting for “I don’t care, because whether I vote or not, they’ll still do whatever they like when they get into government”; “I’m not bothered”; “I don’t want any of the candidates, so I am staying at home” and “Why did they put this election on our first Valentine’s Day anniversary?”, maybe just between 50 million and 57 million of them would have gone out to vote. This would have left a large chunk of the population, especially if you factor the fact that this is a population that has at least 50 percent (83.5 million) of the total population as young people.
When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the dates for the elections, it is now clear to me that not many people actually took note of the fact that the presidential election would fall on a special celebration day. At least if they took immediate notice, they would have gone to town protesting; after all, they say there are more younger people amongst our population (and they are the ones who care more about such things as V-Day) than old folks (who only look at V-Day with nostalgia, of times when they were young and did things). But I bet as the day drew nearer and the campaigns got heated, it must have suddenly dawned on millions of Nigerians, who did not want to give the day up to the Nigerian state for election, because they wanted to use it personally.
You wouldn’t blame them. You see, V-Day is particularly a personal day. And once people realized that the first leg of the general elections was going to harm their personal enjoyment, they must have began the ‘kabbashing’ (I borrowed that from an expert). And the ‘kabbashing’ must have been accompanied by stretching of hands, upon which that emergency meeting was held after the Council of State meeting the previous day. Trust them, outstretching of hands, across this vast land for the sake of V-Day, never mind all the talk about security, about lack of preparedness by INEC (PVC or TVC), elections couldn’t hold the outcome of which would have started creating tension, especially where movement was to be restricted! Why should election hold on a day when revellers in the Valentine euphoria needed to take that day off to really get into a state, a mood, a rekindling? After all, who knows what lies ahead? Would there be any more enjoyment after this?
PHILLIP ISAKPA
