A RESOLUTE ELECTORATE CAN WIELD POWER

MONDAY PHILIPS EKPE writes that Nigerian voters should prepare to pursue the noble cause of electing responsible leaders The drumbeats for the 2027 elections are in full blast. President Bola Tinubu started his nationwide rallies in Kaduna the other day. But the turnout of supporters and admirers reportedly didn’t meet the expectations of his party. His rivals insist that the pictures of the event in the media are largely AI-generated. Few days later, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the embattled Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), staged his own in Sokoto and, shortly after, Kebbi State. He was said to surmount the hurdles allegedly thrown on his path by government agents to pull huge crowds. Same geographical zone. Same period. But different results. The volumes of the people at political meetings aren’t always reliable parameters for determining acceptability and outcomes, we mustn’t forget. But they do create images of the number of voters who’re likely to endorse the candidates. Even in the most electorally repressive countries, thumbprints of the electorates can suddenly become important. And no control of the machineries that safeguard, authenticate and announce victories at the polls can guarantee anything, because, tides can turn in unpredictable ways, sometimes. Those presidential campaign openers in the north west by two of the leading contenders for the president of Nigeria come May 29, 2027, have somehow set the stage to revalidate the centrality of the electorates to the current election cycle. Truly, every citizen armed with the voter’s card should have his/her shoulders squared up straight right now. Whether Nigerians are sufficiently aware, as they should be, of the depth and sanctity of their civic responsibility in the scheme of things is yet to become obvious. I know of many young people who voted in the 2023 presidential poll but aren’t sure of doing so now because their candidate wasn’t declared winner. There’re many more who see these exercises as futile and time-wasting. But if the same persons don’t mind sitting for matriculation exams many times to gain admission into tertiary institutions, why can’t they apply similar resilience to this sacred obligation in order to determine who and who preside over their political affairs? Not even the dwindling faith in the elections’ credibility should be able to dissuade them. Creditable polls enabled by people-power are indeed possible. Happily, worthy examples aren’t in short supply. The famous June 12, 1993 poll that gave the late Chief Moshood Abiola his now revered triumph, albeit acknowledged posthumously, owed much of its mystique to the overwhelming resolve of the citizenry to send the soldiers back to their barracks via the ballot. And only recently, Osun State indigenes withstood the invading, all-conquering forces of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that their governor, Mr Ademola Adeleke, won his re-election despite being on the platform of a less-known Accord Party (AP). Fresh echoes from the international scene also seem to lend their push to the Nigerian electorate. The last few weeks saw voters in Brazil, Serbia, Israel and the United States rise up to the responsibility of wielding their power to positively exploit and defend their democratic rights through the ballot box. The exercises weren’t flawless but excellent and acceptable enough to either checkmate authoritarianism wearing the cloak of democracy or further strengthen the world’s most preferred system of government. The institutions that make for virile democratic practice are virtually on their knees now, compared to any other time in Nigeria’s history. Since the present three arms of government aren’t furnished to galvanise the necessary changes, the electorate should step in. Nothing is more debilitating than being a victim of self-defeat. External threats may appear intimidating but doom can be averted as long as possible if internal energies are substantially strong. The psychological state of Nigerian voters as the 2027 elections approach is concerning. In fairness to the masses, not many things exist at the moment to engender trust in the ongoing electoral processes which should throw up truly progressive leaders. However, saying that no progress has been made at all in the present democratic dispensation is to be an incurable pessimist. For the nation to have remained geographically united alone, despite its existential challenges, for instance, could be attributed, not only to providence but, also, to the vigilance and sacrifices of the men and women devoted to achieving that goal. Not to mention several other pluses that may even be envied by some other citizens elsewhere. But then, undeniable deficits abound here. Forget the statistics that sometimes show thriving macroeconomic indices. Average Nigerians have witnessed stubborn slides in the factors that make life worth living, ironically in an otherwise abundantly endowed space. Majority of them have had to embrace nostalgia as a way of escaping the pain of not having many reasons for aspiring to a fruitful future. The predicaments are legion: Ever-thinning job prospects. Embarrassing, snowballing underemployment. Fast disappearing middleclass. Limping, castrated currency. Impaired capacity to move around. Undermined personal wellness. Substandard or non-existent social amenities. Decrepit public infrastructure. Fractured, failing, failed families. Unsettling insecurity. And more. These ungodly, perennial problems ought to inspire the electorates to vote in only serious candidates. For, embedded in the very doctrine of democracy is the power of the people – especially their ability to periodically choose those to represent or govern them. In Nigeria, politicians know when and how to appeal to it. Sadly, over time, it’s been reduced to a jingle and a rally refrain used to hoodwink – if not mock – the populace who have already been serially abused by those in authority during the period meant for governance. I’ve always maintained that the Tinubu administration can’t be credited with bringing those yokes into Nigeria as they’ve taken decades to develop into monsters. Only that, like many of its predecessors, it hasn’t demonstrated the requisite willingness and readiness to confront them frontally in order to produce meaningful and lasting effects. It’s for this purpose that the president’s real test this time around should be his actual dividends, not another set of promises. Luckily, it doesn’t require a 100 percent score to earn an A grade. Getting leaders to account for their actions and inactions has been one of the bony, elusive duties of our electorates. This failure has resulted largely in enthroning a culture of mediocrity, rascality, impunity and a condescending, pedestrian patronage among the ruling class. Voters should arise quickly. This next opportunity mustn’t be squandered. Dr Ekpe is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board X: @monday_ekpe2