August 21, (THEWILL) — My experience at the just-concluded INEC civic registration exercise is nauseating. The mindset of some people are mind boggling and such one can be described as unexpected by Nigerian citizens. It is no exaggeration to say that the INEC services allow me to have direct interaction with people of different social classes.
My encounter with people of different backgrounds has given me insight into the thoughts of an average Nigerian as it relates to election matters. It will amaze you to hear that a large proportion of Nigerians have never voted in their life since they were born.
This category of individuals was not teenagers who had just attained the voting age but people of advanced age. I began to wonder what makes them refrain from voting at every election year without exercising their franchise for once as citizens of this country.
If I am not mistaken, I will not be wrong to say that people within the age range of 45 to 50 years have witnessed 8 different elections in Nigeria, not to talk of 60 years and above. You mean in all these elections, these people never see any reason to obtain a voter’s card in order to cast their vote on election day?
One of these people I interacted with, one gave a flimsy excuse for abstaining from voting. He said votes in Nigeria don’t count, as those he had voted for in the past were not declared victorious in spite of glaring evidence that they won. To him, he sees no reason to vote anymore, and this was the basis on which he had stayed clear of voting at every election year. He hinted further that it is nonsensical to vote when it was generally known to everyone that the election would be rigged.
I will not be wrong to say that many of my readers have the same assumption and thought too. It is because of this irrational thinking of this class of Nigerians that precipitated my writing this article.
Do you know that staying at home without voting means you are not doing any harm to any undeforming Leader? By staying at home, it implies you are a useless Citizen and are likened to bad Leaders in power. It is totally a disservice to this Nation, as a citizen of this county to refrain from voting. If you refrain from voting, on what ground will you hold your Leaders accountable for what they had promised?
Your decision not to vote is even a benefit to the ruling class, as if the bulk of Nigerians who were displeased with the government of the day, who formed the majority, take this same approach of yours, this will give the minority who were pleased with the ruling class their way on Election Day. Did you know victory at an election is not won by those who make the loudest noise but by those who go out to vote?
We should also know that if the majority who are displeased with the ruling class come out to vote, there is no way the election figures would be inflated and manipulated. Even if they do, it will not make a significant impact, as the majority have overwhelmingly cast their votes. To support my argument, in the past we have observed in many states of the federation where the incumbent Leaders and the ruling class were defeated at the election. This clearly implies there is power for the dissenting voice to come en masse to vote.
On the assumption that votes have not been counting, this is a wrong analogy. Votes have been counting and they will still continue to count. I have been voting since 1999, and my votes have contributed to the victory of three different former Presidents of Nigeria. It should be noted that an election is not a must-win game. It is either your vote aligns with the majority or the minority. If your vote forms the bulk of the majority votes, it is on that ground your preferred candidate will win. Even if your preferred choice does not emerge victorious, your votes still count, as your preferred party’s candidate would still be boastful to tell the public what he garnered on election day. If he didn’t win today, he might win tomorrow. Take the case of former President Muhammad Buhari as an example. He contested several times and lost but won in later years.
Stephen Ojate is a Journalist and public affairs commentator writes from Abuja.
