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2019 and the Paradox of Choice

Cartoon of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria depicting ballot boxes for those voting along anger, ethnic, party and religious lines
Image: Sunnewsonline

I was one of those people that campaigned vigorously for President Buhari in the build up to the 2015 elections. I had one main reason; I was tired of the ineptitude and corruption that held sway with blatant disregard in the Jonathan administration. I like many Nigerians at the time wanted Buhari to tackle corruption.

I had no delusions of grandeur that Buhari was going to do wonders for our economy or transform Nigeria into a land flowing with milk and honey. The man in my mind had just the one mandate; fight corruption. And then possibly pave way for a younger more charismatic candidate beaming at the seams with progressive ideas; and one who would finally be able to settle down to the business of building a Nigeria of our dreams without the encumbrance and bottle necks of deep seated venality.

The argument about Buhari’s performance thus far has left Nigerians divided, (not that we were running out of reasons to be) but irrespective of what side of the divide one belongs to, another opportunity is once again before us to take a stand. As 2019 approaches, posterity beckons on us as Nigerians challenging us to conceive a better future.     

Now, let’s round up the usual suspects in terms of excuses why so many of us do not get involved:

The results will be rigged, ‘elections are never free and fair’, ‘my vote won’t count’, ‘why bother, things will never change’ and particularly for 2019; ‘there’s no one strong enough to challenge the incumbent’. Any of these sound familiar?

Let’s look at some fundamental truths: Except you’re planning to relocate yourself and your entire family to Canada sometime soon, you’re going to live in Nigeria with the reality of whatever the outcome of the 2019 election is; you might as well have a say in that outcome.

Abdicating the high ground because Nigerian politicians are all scum and basically not worth your time and effort to queue in the sun to affix your thumbprint on some piece of paper, actually helps the incumbent to win elections more easily. Elections are won by convincing those who would vote for your opponent not to vote at all. 

So, absolving yourself of complicity in the Nigerian situation by not voting is actually delusional, because one way or the other you’re helping someone; so what moral justification do you then have to complain about anything later on?

Consider the 2016 US elections between Trump and Clinton, where 58% of the electorate actually voted, leaving out an estimated 90 million who didn’t vote. Imagine the difference they could have made if they actually picked a side. The younger voters many of whom did not vote are now making the most noise. Interestingly, Sanders had a huge young voter following, many of whom did not transfer their support to Hilary, because they wanted to teach her a lesson for ‘stealing’ the Democratic Party nomination; well, they sure got her good; sadly they may also have messed things up for a long time to come. 

Inaction has consequences, a fact that some of us have had to learn the hard way. It’s no different in an election cycle. We cannot all throw our hands up in the air singing ‘Que Sera Sera’. No government is perfect, none ever will be; governance is a continuum. Take a stand, if for nothing else, so you can tell your kids or grandkids that you made a difference or at the very least, you tried.

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