By Isah Aliyu Chiroma
We are perfectly aware of the hard times we are facing, and the D-day has come. It is time to know the significant attach to these factors and how to change them. A nation well-suited for any form of sorrow, the final resting place of a past our civilization has never known while also being the home of the most fulfilling existence, comes politics. Politics is perfectly legitimate; in fact, it serves as a platform for the selection of our leaders. This type of election only occurs once every four years. As a result of our lack of memory and diminished learning, we suffered from tragedies and memories from the nightmare we are trying to awake.
Through a series of journeys of self-discovery, we are plagued by an illness in the depths of time. Because we have received treatment with several medications, but the therapy is ineffective, I referred to it as an illness. The passage of time and all it includes have established this as the reign of pain. We started out as vacationers but took a different route.
Instead of a crusader, we need an election with a cause for good change. The former was the illness that plagued us for many years. We require the latter. How can we obtain the desired change? This is a significant query that requires a solution, along with evidence of how the changes might affect society. What does Nigeria mean to you is a crucial issue for citizen travelers to consider in order to determine their destination? Malam Abubakar Gimba emphasized an important issue, he said “But the great Nigerian nation which shall be the pride of all is largely predicated on the unblurred vision of what Nigerian means to each of its citizens.” This leads me to today’s key query: What does Nigeria represent to you?
We should not in any way assert our patriotism in our attempt to provide an answer to this Great Question. I refer to it as a query because the answer to it will determine how we behave as citizens. While we may be patriotic, our urge for change must be balanced against our duty to our country.
What must be done, I believe, is that those problems, particularly the leadership we want can be achieved. Our anger must be brought out into the ballot boxes, dealt with and resolved. I know that with the track record of election, the race is a heated one. But what is more heated is for us to come out in masses and decide our future and the generation to come, through electing leaders we think are ready for the job. We have listen enough from each candidate, and had read from their manifestos and blueprints, this is now the right time to play a major role as citizens and fulfil one of our responsibility, to cast our votes. It is left for us to choose wisely, clearly and decide a better country.
As at 5th February 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reported that 87,209,007 PVCs have been collected in the country. This covers 93.3% of the registered voters. But looking at the infographic of voters’ turnout during presidential elections from previous years, the percentage of the turnout keeps decreasing. 2003 was the year it appears to have a high turnout, which is 69%, and the least was 2019, which is 35%. Then, 2023 should be a different year to show a significant different if we really mean to do so.
It may also be that the recent situation the country is facing, can bring a shift, and the slim chance to move out in masses to vote. But what we need to know is, if we fail to take charge of our future, some people who might not be part of it will decide for us. We are more concern with the situation we found ourselves, but to effect any change, there is a course which we have to take to find our salvation. If we can voice our anger with our votes, it will lead us the path laid down for the change we are craving for. But if we fold our arms and less concern of where we want to go, what we want to do, and how to go about it, others will do it for us.
To have the change we want, we must push ourselves forward like the train, this will be the only way to take charge of our future and decide for ourselves. As the late prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa said, “we can make our country great again if we really mean to do so.”
