2023 Election: The Search For A Saintly Candidates And The Sound Of Masquerades -By Samuel Olomu

Exciting times are here again! The chanters are breaking the ground loose for pump and fanfare, the drumbeats depicts the atmosphere, our people are again seated leg – crossed to watch the unending drama as the masquerades dances to the drumbeats of the 2023 election. These masquerades seems to have forgotten the scars they have imprinted on the backs of children who ran after them in the last masquerade festival, the humiliation and unsavory fates they have made them endure.

As we all know 2022 is the last opportunity for Nigerians to decide who directs the ship of the country to the direction it should go for the next four years. Decision making in matters of public interest is as delicate as our interest can never be the same and are weighted on the scale of attraction to an individual. Some people are for Paul while some are for Apollo as evidenced in the Holy Bible. Not considering our fall, the misruling and deprivations, some Nigerians will still give themselves to be deceived by self – centered politicians who are only into political hustle of pocket interest. This is the time when serious actions should be coupled with thoughtfulness of good decision making so as to decide the future of Nigeria.

Recently, we have seen different political masquerades, publicize and display their ambitions for the 2023 presidential ticket. They have begun to give numerous promises to gain favor from the children they have beaten in the last masquerade festival. Behind the mask they will promise heaven and earth but in reality they will prove to be different from the masquerade. Behind the mask, they show great dancing skills so as to entice you but in reality they feel too tired to dance. Right behind the mask, instead of receiving gifts from you, they give you gifts which will only serve you for some days and thereby watch you suffer the rest of the four years before another masquerade festival.

In my opinion, what should be the concern of most Nigerians is the search for the best candidates who will serve the mandate of the masses by giving all their support to such candidate in the upcoming election. We should refuse to continue in our affliction, the nightmare we call dream. Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote and as a result if we’re really passionate about being ruled by a saintly candidate we must also go out there to exercise our right to vote as specified in our constitution. I refuse to oblivate the word of Jean Paul Saltre; ‘man is free to choose but are not free not to choose since a refusal to choose is already a choice made’. If we sit leg-crossed with our hands folded around our chest and watch our government being hijacked by the myopic, old and rogue politicians who will make no good of our democracy then the future of the country will not be a secured one.
Though everyone has the right to contest for a political post in an election but the balance here is competency and character. Can you take Nigerians to the promise land? What are your goals for the Nigerian youths? This is a very crucial time when we have to be meticulous in our validations. We should no longer give our trust to people who no longer buy them. Now we have the likes of Yayah Bello, Khadijah Okunnu- Lamidi, the first woman to declare interest in the 2023 presidential race, Asiwaju Bola- Ahmed Tinubu, Pius Anylm, Dele Momodu and the incumbent Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo but my question is do this people really have the mind of changing Nigeria’s narrative? Do they have the youths in mind? Or do they ever think the youth also have a space to occupy in the government?

I must commend the president, President Muhammadu Buhari who has taken no side in any political aspiration. He declared publicly that he is not a ‘kingmaker’ and that anyone who wants to contest during the election should work hard for it. But nevertheless, I believe with time he will soon declare his preferred candidate as election draw nearer.

The mistake which Nigerians should detest from making in the 2023 election is the mistake of choosing the right masquerade who will have the dancing floor of changing the narrative of our dear country not those who after getting the support needed return to the back of their big gates, well furnished houses with ugly Alsatian security dogs and full security men of the nation. Let’s take back our government and restore it from the dwindling economic starvation and insecurity that has encaged us since independence. Though Nigeria is a democratic state but our politicians should not scuttle the democratic process. Most of our party politics is still determined by pocket interest and personal needs and our democracy still lack the weight of free choice and true opinion polling.
As we prepare for the 2023 general election, god – fatherism, favoritism and the act of election lobbying should stop with immediate effect so as to heighten the spirit of true democracy with a free – fair transparent election.

Regretfully, the newly Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021 passed by the National Assembly on November 18, 2021 which removes the compulsory use of direct primaries in choosing a candidate within a party and also approve the use of both direct and indirect consensus for party primaries. Though the indirect primaries has its own advantage of which is to reduce the high cost of running primaries and also the time factors in conducting the elections among other things but it cannot take the place of the direct consensus. The direct consensus is more democratic since the people decide who runs the general election for their party. On the other hand, the delegate chosen under the indirect primaries may be loyal to a particular candidate thereby putting the opinion of the vast majority of party members at stake as the best citizen may not emerge.

Conclusively, our actions and inactions during this time should be given a proper check before we venture into taking any decision. Any mistake we make now will cost us another four years of hardship, another four years of sorrow, extra four years of backwardness and yet another four good years of insecurity. Choose wisely.