So elections are coming up this month in Nigeria and a whole lot of activity is happening around town. I am not really politically inclined, but I have paid attention to this particular election. I actually went out to register to vote and I plan on actually going out to vote during the election process. However, there is something that baffles me about this election.
Nigeria is a country that is very diverse. We have been split into 6 geopolitical zones and we have no less than 10 various tribes. Our religious base is also split between Christianity, Islam and Traditionalists. We always claim that we are united in our diversity. So I then begin to wonder how diverse we really are when out of the 4 major candidates running for presidency, 3 are northerners and 1 is from the middle east. 3 are Muslims and 1 is a Christian. Is it that we cannot find any credible candidates from any other region of this greatly diverse nation? Must we continue to be ruled by the gentlemen from the North?
Now, don't get me wrong, it is not even as if these candidates are that credible anyway. I mean we have Buhari, who is an ex-military ruler, that wants to come back into power. Even when he was head of state, all the great things people claim he did were actually effected by his vice. We have another one, Ribadu, who seemed like a good enough candidate until we heard him in a debate. He was overtly aggressive and like the others, could not really articulate what he planned to do to improve the nation if he was elected president. The last person, Shekarau, was articulate and seemed to have a plan. My only issue is that he is an Islamic fundamentalist. Nothing against Muslims, I just don't want to live in an Islamic state. In all fairness, he might not try to turn us into an Islamic nation, but I am not willing to take those chances.
Now the candidate from the middle east, Jonathan, is a conundrum on his own. I mean, here is a guy that has a Ph.D and seems to be afraid of a debate. He went to great lengths to try and avoid debating even to the extent of insulting the intelligence of the youths. I mean, he had the nerve to organise an interview with D'Banj, who they felt was a voice for the youth. Nothing against D'Banj, but if I wanted a musician to represent my voice as a youth, he would not be my choice. I would have gone for maybe an Eldee who is very intelligent and articulate, or Banky W who played an active role in getting youths to register for the elections. Definitely not the Koko Master. I mean, even throughout the interview, he was just nodding his head in deference to Jonathan. Then he went ahead to get NTA to organise a debate that was sponsored by The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON). Since he had refused to attend other debates that were organised by various organisations, the other presidential candidates refused to attend this one. Some people even joke and say that Jonathan was in a debate by himself and he still lost.
This all just goes to show the sad state our nation is in. As I go to the polls throughout this month, I am still not sure where I will be casting my vote. I have not found anyone that is capable of running this country successfully. I have not seen anyone that has my vote of confidence that they can help to make our nation a better place. I can only hope that whoever gets in power will not destroy our nation any more than we already are and that in the next 4 years, we will be able to raise more credible leaders that can take our nation to its great destiny.
No comments:
Post a Comment