Should we vote in 2019?

By Gideon Oghenetega…

The political class would appear to have made up its mind about the 2019 elections. Nigeria ‘compulsorily’ has to choose between a Buhari or Atiku presidency. Today, over 10 years later, we watch with absolute bewilderment as the same presidential candidates from 2007 trade barbs with each other, to convince us that one is better than the other. Such has been the tactic of the ruling class since the fourth republic began – “Nigeria remains their political football” to be kicked back and forth between them.

Thankfully, we are in the season of giving and receiving, and like Santa, I present a rather atrocious gift to the ruling class. It is a gift forged from the oven of common sense and the acceptance of the cold reality of Nigeria’s politics. It is a simple proposition and it says: If we do not get (new) credible candidates for the 2019 elections, then we should not vote at all.

Immediately, I can hear the naysayers bellow with their ceaseless ramblings and thoughtless chants. Majority see this idea as far-fetched and outright ridiculous, bothering on foolhardiness. The more intense critics brand me an “enemy of democracy”. We Nigerians are a wonderful lot. We are hardworking, intelligent and tenacious people; yet, we can be intemperate in matters of religion, ethnicity and politics.

However, at the risk of being termed “undemocratic” allow me to clarify my position. The decision to “not vote” old leaders is hardly about the 2019 elections at all but our collective future as a people. It is about breaking the engine of the vicious cycle that perpetually keeps Nigerian frozen in poor leadership. It is about making self-evident conclusions on the quality of service we have been receiving, seeing that we are about to renew our subscription to miserable leadership for potentially the next 8 years. It is about closely examining whether voting actually validates the current political system as it is.

Read also: Dear Femi, Tell Buhari That Abba Kyari Is Devastatingly Corrupt

The right to “not vote” is a right in itself, especially when the electoral outcome will not benefit us as a people. I have a right to “not vote” when the political process keeps spinning out leaders that in my opinion are not adequately fit for the intended position. This is not the same as not participating in the electoral process at all, because in choosing to “not vote”, we are by implication telling the political system that we are tired of its underhanded schemes.

The target of our “no vote” is not necessarily the candidates being presented every election, under the guise of different parties. The target is the greedy, nefarious and voracious political class – they who have Nigeria by the throats. They decide who gets appointed into positions and provide the candidates for Nigerians to choose from. Tell me I pray you, what are the ideological differences in the leading parties that we have in Nigeria? It seems to me that they are different heads of the same hydra. So the same hydra just shuffles the same pack of leaders across parties, should we then in good conscience vote? I leave it to you to decide.

What I advocate for is a passive-active response from the middle class. I certainly have nothing to contribute if I ask my fellow citizens to stay in their homes and simply do nothing. After all, what difference will it make, voter apathy is already on the rise. On the contrary, I ask that they stand up to the political system and demand better candidates. This stance has to start now, when the leading parties are yet to “present to us” who the party flag bearer will be. It may involve debates, sit outs, non-violent protests and all the tactics of civil disobedience, but I assure you, if we do not start resolving this issue now, we will be faced with similar selections for the 2023 elections. We need to start now, before the spin-doctors start their propaganda, selling these old candidates as messiahs sent to take us to the promise land.

Until the middle class demands to the political class that they are unwilling to support the current political system, Nigeria’s trajectory will not change much. I suspect that the middle class remains lethargic because they are protecting their small wealth (and interest). To such parochial ideologies, history has only one response – Any people who are unwilling to sacrifice for the cause of democracy do not deserve it at all. It is our collective civil duty to resist any system that does not promote public good and preserve the interest of all. I daresay that the choice is now upon us – to vote bad leadership or resist the system. I have made my choice. What say you?

 

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