Saturday 21 March 2015

2015 Elections Is Here: Do Not Die In Their Wars


A lot has been said concerning the upcoming elections, Nigerians have had a lot to say both on social media and on one on one conversations. It has created schisms in relationships and friendships but in all, it has created fears, fears that a lot of people are reluctant to voice out, fears that we live with in our hearts while we wait for the d-day.

Today, I'm showcasing a guest writer who has something to share and i believe you'll identify with it and that it speaks to you just as it did to me. Enjoy!!!


Many people cling to the inner work of building tolerance and acceptance when the real inner work they need for growth is in the realm of courage and the proper exercise of power. It often takes more inner work to quit a negative situation than it does to tolerate it. So don’t assume that inner development is solely about love and peace and harmony. Inner development also includes the courage to stand up for yourself and claim the life you deserve.

Do not die in their war.

My fellow young men and women, I implore you please DO NOT DIE IN THEIR WAR. Resist all invitations to violence. The political establishments by whatever name they are called...They are one and the same. 

Please, do not die in their war.
In this period of political upheaval as being witnessed in the land, I have resolved to watch this coming election with some sense of detachment for a reason and act in the next season. Looking at the exuberations of the parties and individuals involved, there is nothing to be excited about except for the deep lessons it offers to be learnt and the innovative ideas to posit. I may not be voting due to my possession of the temporary voters card and the 'umpire's' insistence of using card readers, of this i have no qualms and only trust that the process be made transparent, efficient and smooth to enable as many to participate. My thoughts being so simple bothered on a couple of factors but they have since evolved. If I would eventually vote i.e if my PVC arrives before then, till it does I'd cross my fingers and keep taking notes in my head. 
The mood of the country is depressed and the citizens lack motivation. Our political leaders remain uninspiring with faded charisma to hold office and lead the people. They inspire no confidence in anybody and the one privileged to be head in their domains are surrounded by really comical folks, who have little understanding of how to appear sober, temperate and or charismatic. Nobody appears to be taking responsibility for the drifting nature of the ship of the state, which is glaringly on course to hit a reef any time from now even as it is buffeted by pirate ships and dangerous waves. 
The organizing body - INEC, that same one, that has not well-managed to register all eligible citizens and issue out the required tools of voting - PVC, has already disenfranchised millions of eligible voters and shown a sad inability to conduct the most basic of tasks assigned to it. It is the same institution peopled by the same Nigerians, corrupt and selfish, same as you and I, that will be guarded by the same police and other armed forces and paramilitary, that will be under the same IGP and defence chiefs, that will answer to the same president that will now conduct an election, that will announce a result, pronouncing defeat for the incumbent president of this atrocious country in some days time.

The opposition has sparked but has failed to kindle the fire of the Nigerian spirit (popular revolt) that chased out IBB, but was ultimately aborted. Their quest for the presidency is based on an illusory “change” being sold to the Nigerian people, whom they have assumed will endure regardless of whichever one of them “wins the election”. The illusion of change is being marshalled using the instrumentality of the social media and the Internet. Facile theses are piled on top of each other and silly attempts are made to distinguish between the sets of thieves who have held our country hostage for these years. Men who until recently were sworn enemies, have become compatriots overnight and strange bedfellows have emerged. 

The problem will not be solved by a mere change of personnel, it is the system itself that requires reformation, and the nation itself that has to be redefined with the rights of its citizens clearly delineated and held sacrosant. In 1992, MKO tapped into a national desire for change. He energized a movement that became larger than him. He became the symbol of a young generation of Nigerians, I may not have voted in that election ever witnessed in the history of this potentially great nation, but i witnessed there was no war in any of its territories and there was not any part of its territory ceded to a terrorist.

The army of the keyboard warriors of which most have no voter’s cards with which to vote are based in the diaspora. The ones who have, the majority will walk away once the incumbent's goons execute his agenda. With the conducive atmosphere of the yonder and ensconced in the uncomfortable comfort of exile and yearning for the best for their motherland behind and preaching ideals of western capitalist and socialist ideologies. Our collective national penchant for talking about revolution whilst outsourcing the sacrifices required has led us into a polity devoid of choice...the present helpless state we find ourselves.

How come nobody is asking the pertinent questions and shouting directions? What happened to seal the lips of those who used to enquire? Who is watching the watchmen? What kind of foundation are we laying for the coming generations? What has made it possible for ordinarily intelligent men and women to become imbecilic in their intellectual capacities? 

How did we end up in this sorry place, where state failure has become a real possibility in our own lifetime? Yet, our consciences are an open wound, that only the truth, reality and its acceptance can heal. Assuming by some miracle, the opposition wins, I doubt anything would change. The same corrupt governors and their godfathers would remain under the same corrupt system with the same corrupt legislators, judiciary, police and same castrated army.

The Nigerian youth has been a resounding disappointment and its failure to rise above existential living, replacing intellectual curiosity with myopic outbursts of conviction. The very best amongst us have never aspired for political leadership, we are too good to be local government councilors, we are too big to run for the Houses of assemblies. 

Only 'thieves' go to the house of reps and the biggest crooks retire to our senate, it's not for those with anything to do. We have as a class failed ourselves, our children - born and unborn and generations yet to conceive. We have abandoned governance to the worst of us and we have watched them move from being councilors to assemblymen, we've seen men without desire for service appointed to high offices because we are all too less-concerned to serve and fight for the only nation we call fatherland. As they did between 1982-1999, they're coming for you again. Whichever of them wins...do not be caught in their battle.

I implore Nigerians, please, do not die in their war. Resist all invitations to violence, if you have your voter’s card, please vote, but vote knowing that it probably would matter anyway even if it doesn't count, but it is not too late to prepare to use all the other elections across the country, as barometers for the performance of the incumbents and those coming in for the first time.

Some betrayed the ideals of nationhood that were sown on that blessed day. From the minute of conception, they knew who was and who wasn’t the messiah. Yet they often stood on June 12 and have traded and prospered whilst shitting on it - our consciences and the ideals of the nation's founding fathers. They are the same people who presume to call us to their battles again.

I beseech you; do not die in their wars. Today they are in PDP; if APC should assume office tomorrow, they will move to APC; and if PDP and GEJ should win, they will remember their PDP genes and their number in the party register. They are one and the same. Please i beg of you, do not die in their war.

The P is the A and the A is the P. Hear me out and you will get my meaning. Don't quote me further biko.

I was brought up to have regard and respect for my elders. I also believe that the older generation must give us the younger generation respect as well. They should recognize we have a say and act in the scheme of things even though they have experience over us but with the strength and boldness of our younger generation we can change the world.

Common cause has occasioned strange alliances and the darkening clouds demand this alarm.

We need to be careful as we apply wisdom.

Blessings and peace.
Obinna Anumaka



Obinna Anumaka is a Social Commentator and an IT Entrepreneur

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