This picture depicts the state of electioneering campaign in Nigeria where voters are blinded by their immediate selfish interests. You can’t blame all these women, poverty is real in this country, they are only fighting for survival. Most of them virtually have wide mouths to feed at home. Especially in this era where it has become a norm for young school leavers to return home to feed on their aged parents due to the lack of employment opportunities in Nigeria. Research has shown that 80% percent of graduate workers are underpaid. It is a pity they might not even know what they are voting for. Politicians are exploiting this loophole to rob them of their birth rights. The gospel truth is that the reason why these politicians are extremely rich is the same cause of poverty among the masses, developmental funds mean’t for the state are siphoned heavily for their private use. That’s cruel. The cheap way voters get bought nowadays in Nigeria is so hilarious. Remember the Ekiti state gubernatorial election which was won with the “rice strategy”, It entailed a massive sharing of food materials to hungry voters.
This is an abuse of the concept of democracy especially when compared to the United states election that ushered in President Barack Obama during which issue-based political debates are organised for stringent national matters to be discussed. In Nigeria today, politicians prefer to keep mute and allow their ill-gotten wealth speak for them. People are so disoriented that they can afford to let go of their PVC for just a #500 note. This is so sad. I am sure many developed countries will see this above picture and laugh at us. This should be discouraged by INEC. Why can’t people resist these cheap gimmicks of politicians showing love and concern only when the general elections are close?
Voting should be done to promote the general will/good of the society and not individual will/interest as we have it in Nigeria today. That is the essence of a state, the essence of democracy. Don’t sell your integrity for any amount. Any decision you take concerning elections today MIGHT subject the country to another four years of suffering. I am not campaigning for any political party but I think what we need in Nigeria is a change.
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