Marathon, Not A Sprint -By Sesugh Akume

I recall how on a day like this few weeks ago, just 2 days to the election I had a heart-to-heart discussion individually with the the 2 men and woman coordinating our campaign effort in the 3 local government areas in Sankera (Benue). Ours had been a strange and rather disruptive campaign, and here yet was another strange one: we weren’t going to pay our party polling agents as is usually done. First, it wasn’t realistic because we didn’t have that kind of money. Second and most importantly, it wasn’t sustainable nor very ethical in the strictest sense of it, in my view. Truly, there are legitimate costs involved in playing the role. But the whole idea of the effort was that this wasn’t about an individual, but about us, a movement, and the collective good. I was therefore, and remain of the opinion that if it’s a collective effort, and we agreed that we’re on a journey, then the sacrifice should be shared, to everyone as they can bear. I reminded them that it wasn’t all about today’s House of Rep contest but about a much bigger goal that all of us had a calling to work towards at this time. They perfectly understood it.

With each of the 3 top leaders, and 1 or 2 others the discussion was simple and straightforward. They understood and agreed. They actually appreciated the candour in communicating this hard truth, and strength of conviction. Theirs was to discuss with the 35 others across the council wards of the constituency, each in their respective LGAs, who would in turn pass across the message to the others across the 539 polling units. It’s not a big deal, I said, those who can may sacrifice, those who can’t at this time should feel free to decline, but it’s not a problem at all.

To my utmost surprise, many accepted to play the role for free! Unbelievable but true. They did. Others who weren’t earlier enlisted decided to step up to fill the role for those who weren’t ready at this time. The other parties usually pay 5,000 naira per poll agent/worker. They usually have up to 4 persons for each polling unit. There are 539 of such units in my constituency. Aside from the the polling units, there are other agents who are possibly paid more. Do the maths. This gives an idea of the amount that they dole out for just one election. This is aside from the stupendous amount they share the night before the election towards vote buying. In this particular election, they had to dole out the cash twice as elections didn’t hold on the day earmarked but the next week. How can one hope to compete with such moneybags on their own turf; just how? That’s why we need to come up with entirely new approaches to this game. We can’t beat them at their own game and with their rules.

We may not have been returned as the winner, but we’re going to build on this. We’re all about Renewal, and we’re not in a hurry. In the next 2, 3 election cycles we’d have succeeded in entrenching this new culture of service and sacrifice, of working collectively towards the common good. It’s not about who is running or what office, it’s about the bigger, higher goal of replacing the merchants of the political industry with the right calibre of purpose-driven, public-spirited individuals with the right mindset, character, competence, capacity, and capability. At that time, there’d be a number of people forming a critical mass who’d look down with contempt and derision at the pittance politicians share to the electorate, thereby trampling on their human dignity, and manipulating their condition of impoverishment. I may not be able to guarantee this elsewhere, but we can try for Sankera (Benue). Gradually it’d spread. 

Not everyone is the same. There are honest, sacrificing people looking for other people of like mind to work with. The task now is to find out each other, build and grow a network, and make it formidable. It’s going to be a struggle. But it’d be worth it. We will keep at it. How ever long it takes.