OPINION
Andrew Adedayo Adetoye
27th February 2019
If today we are having a lacklustre/failing electoral process/system, we are all responsible for where we are --- politicians, the media, religious organizations, all professionals, etc.
The"fire-brigade" attitude ingrained in us as a people when it comes to addressing issues of public concern is bane of our development.
For instance, after results of #Elections2019 are declared, that's the end of real conversation and engagement on elections until 2023. That won't help us in anyway.
The role of the media in any Nation is sacred. I salute the courage of journalists whose work has helped to model better societies. This constitutionally empowered fourth estate is known to set agenda for societies.
In Nigeria , we need our media to set the agenda for the future of our elections, and keep that agenda consistently on the table of our national discourse to allow Nigerians engage the issues with their reps, with their Government, push for better electoral laws, improved electoral system, and enhanced electoral performance by all actors in our electoral processes.
Honestly, we DO NOT need foreign think tanks to tell us how to conduct our elections. So we should not gravitate towards their advisory. We are and should be our own think tank. We can and should improve on our elections management in the future.
The journey to economic self-reliance for us as a Nation, as a people, must begin with political self-reliance. We must be able to decide who governs us and are accountable to us, in a peaceful, free, fair and credible elections.
Violence :
Those who actively perpetrate violence in our elections, who snatch/destroy election materials, are young people. They do not see any future for themselves. Immediate gratification is all they know.
These young people akin to everything negative are simply a reflection of the long years of neglect of children/youths by successive Government, and politicians only interest is draw from the pool of these delinquent youths to use as political thugs.
Today, we see millions of out-of-school kids roaming the streets of our communities across Nigeria. If an emergency is not declared to solve this problem, then by implication, we are expanding the pool of those that will be threat to our democracy.
If today we do not plan and care for these millions of out-of-school kids, tomorrow they'll be left with no choice but to find hate and revenge against their motherland that never loves them. They're the future perpetrators of violence in elections.
Our strategy should NOT be to empower security agencies to either kill or send to jail these children we have neglected and refused to plan/cater for. If all we do is plan to send them to graves or prison, then we have failed as a Nation.
Votes & Results 2019:
I remember the preelection slogan, "The vote that won't count is the vote that is not cast. Go cast your vote! " Many heeded that call, and there were first time voters.
But some citizens' votes won't count for no fault of theirs. Why would all votes in a polling unit be voided/rejected due to the "sins" of a few. What/Who is responsible for over-voting, etc.?
Can't the system protect votes cast in good faith in polling units having an issue?
I think as part of the work to be done going forward is to allow the process evolve to protect votes cast in good faith regardless of issues noted at any polling unit.
An effective security architecture around our elections should be able to lend credibility to the electoral process, and prevent situations that could lead to incidents unhealthy for our democracy.
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