The riggers of PDP have continued to amaze me with their brazen display of barbarism and emptiness. It did not come as a surprise when I noticed that the Arik air flight to Enugu which I boarded on the 20th of April was not even half full. I had bought my return ticket the previous day anticipating mad rush because of the presidential polls coming up that Saturday. People decided to stay back simply because they were disenchanted. Nigerians who left their businesses to go and vote the previous weekend were disappointed and disenfranchised and as such decided to stay back and watch INEC play their game in the presidential polls.
We know they were determined to rig this election and they are rigging it but why insult our intelligence? In countries where there is sanity, barring any last minute incident that could sway the undecided electorate, election results follow the pattern and prediction of earlier conducted opinion polls. Having enthusiastically followed the build up to these elections I can accurately say that media opinion polls before last weekend were true reflections of the mindset of Nigerians, but as the results of the previous weekend’s gubernatorial elections trickled in, it became obvious that Mr. Iwu and his co travelers were on a mission.
In Ondo, the resident electoral commissioner was embarrassed as journalists informed him that INEC headquarters Abuja had announced results while he was yet to finish counting ballots in the state. Of course, NEC Abuja announced Agagu as the winner and returned him “elected”. Even in a state where a reporter from AIT was allegedly seized by thugs loyal to the governor for over 3 hours the resident commissioner still did not see anything wrong in that but went ahead to declare the PDP candidate the winner. In Imo state INEC cancelled the gubernatorial elections and announced that of the house of assembly where PDP won by a fraudslide just because senator Ararume displaced the chosen Ugwu.
In Lagos state where there was relative peace due to heavy security, the AC candidate garnered about 800,000 votes to win whereas in Anambra where voting did not take place in most polling centres the INEC went on to allocate over 1 million votes to Mr. president’s boy. Can you now compare the population of Lagos state to that of Anambra where the electorate is even less enlightened? What mockery! There is no way I can be convinced that up to 200,000 people voted in Anambra state because I was on the ground that very day. Word has it that the president told his PDP boys to go home and campaign well so that it will not be a surprise when INEC announce them as winners in the polls. What about Edo state, where earlier conducted opinion polls showed that Oshimole was leading clearly with a very wide margin. Yet the people were robbed of their choice by leaders who know how to “fix” everything except our roads.
It was very amusing reading all the congratulatory messages pouring out to Mr. Uba on his “selection”, the messages were all the same format from different imaginary groups like concerned Anambra Christians, concerned Anambra students and even from Onitsha spare parts dealers who threw pure water sachets at Mr. Uba and his team after a campaign rally at Onitsha. I will keep paying tributes to Prof. Chinua Achebe ,Okey Ndibe, Reuben Abati, Dele sobowole, Omoyele Sowore and a host of others whom through the pen have awakened my strongest part. It will certainly gladden my heart to hear from the likes of Ekwueme, Ojukwu, The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nwafor Orizu and others leaders in Anambra including the Clergy. But just like tuface sang “everybody wan go heaven but nobody wan kpai(die)”. We will all jeopardize our children’s future if we decide to fold hands and watch a few men who feel that having gone through the army is enough reason for them to continue looting our collective patrimony.
The time is ripe for progressives, men of will and substance to rise up to the challenge and say “enough is enough”. We have to take the bull by the horns, resolve to create a better Nigeria for all. I have sat down in beer parlors and heard the woes of our people, been in motor parks and seen their frustrations, visited hospitals and felt the hopelessness of the afflicted. For those of us who have the “opulence” of good health and three square meals(yes opulence that’s what it is in our Nigeria today), it is time to sit up and contend for the defenseless and strive to be relevant in the Governance from the ward to the federal level of our immediate constituencies. We have to stand up to be counted, we have to be strong and not give up. The despair of our people must and should be a concern to us all the time. Evil can only triumph over good when men of goodwill fold their hands. Let us know that service to humanity will glorify God and that should be our top priority. We shall someday have a country where the leadership will be truly elected servants of the people. That is what democracy is primarily all about. As for me I have decided with this my piece that the struggle has just begun.
