- Have any questions?
- [email protected]
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND VOTER INTEGRITY
There is still more to do in Ijoko despite the ongoing flyover project by Ogun
23 July 2018
#EkitiDecided: Lessons for 2019 Elections
25 July 2018
by Atiku Nafisa
I had gone to support my friend Inioluwa Ajayi now Abiodun at her TED Talk at the University Ibadan. She spoke about ‘Building Bridges’, building a line of mentorship between the older generation and the younger generation. she introduced me to her mentor, Mr. Emeka Ossai, a Mandela Washington Fellow and we embarked on a very interesting conversation. I was involved in activities on civic education and governance at that period with some young people in Ibadan and it provided a fertile ground for the both of us to have a fruitful discussion. In the middle he asked me, ‘Can democracy truly thrive without economic empowerment?’
The answer to that question is a big and resounding ‘NO’. Perhaps that’s why it seems a bit difficult for a country like ours to achieve a sustainable and flourishing system of democracy where the will of the people prevails.
Democracy thrives in a system where the electorate is free to make their voting decisions without intimidation, coercion or inducement of any kind, this is hard for most Nigerians especially given the fact that the country currently has the highest number of extreme poor in the world. Hungry people are not interested in long term promises no matter how credible they might seem; they want immediate satisfaction of their needs and that sometimes comes through the act of vote buying.
Vote Buying was brought to national lime light thanks to the Ekiti State elections. The targets are usually low income earners and the ambivalent voter. The latter is undecided, not necessarily interested and is not loyal to an ideology, party or candidate and so they are easily swayed by persuasion and any sort of enticement.
No amount of effective sensitization and civic education can address this problem, we are not going to stop people from selling their votes if poverty persist. When it comes to the low income earners or those that leave below within the poverty line; we face a monumental challenge, how do we lift 87 million people out of poverty to improve their voting decisions?
However to achieve this, we must indeed have an administration that is solely committed by all means to achieve sustainable prosperity for it’s people. Kenya, Argentina, Mexico and other countries have suffered from this threat to their democracy.
Some people cite China as a country which neither practices democracy but is able to achieve monumental prosperity for its people. Every country has a system of government that works for them, and until substantial evidence can be adduced to show that democracy doesn’t work for us, it is the ideal system of government that best suit Nigeria.
Economic empowerment has a lot to do with voter integrity in a system like ours. It is left for us to vote in a government that places the prosperity of it’s people at the forefront of their agenda for the country.
18 Comments
That is really interesting, You are an overly skilled blogger.
I’ve joined your feed and stay up for looking for more of your magnificent post.
Additionally, I have shared your site in my social networks
Attractive component to content. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to assert that I acquire in fact enjoyed account
your blog posts. Any way I will be subscribing on your feeds and even I
achievement you access constantly rapidly.
I was curious if you ever considered changing the structure of your blog?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people
could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?
May I simply say what a relief to find somebody that truly
knows what they are discussing on the net. You actually realize
how to bring a problem to light and make it important.
More people ought to look at this and understand this side of your story.
I was surprised that you aren’t more popular because you
certainly have the gift.
Great post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte
more on this subject? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little
bit further. Cheers!
I have fun with, result in I discovered exactly what I used
to be taking a look for. You’ve ended my four day lengthy hunt!
God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted
to say wonderful blog!
Hello! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I
came to give it a look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking
and will be tweeting this to my followers!
Fantastic blog and outstanding design and style.
It’s very trouble-free to find out any topic on net as compared to books, as I found this paragraph at this
site.
It’s awesome in favor of me to have a site, which is good designed for my experience.
thanks admin
I’m curious to find out what blog system you’re utilizing?
I’m experiencing some minor security issues with my latest website
and I’d like to find something more safeguarded.
Do you have any solutions?
Hello outstanding blog! Does running a blog like this require a great deal of work?
I have absolutely no knowledge of programming but I was hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
Anyway, if you have any suggestions or techniques for
new blog owners please share. I know this is off subject but
I simply needed to ask. Cheers!
This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger.
I have joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your wonderful post.
Also, I’ve shared your web site in my social networks!
Currently it looks like Movable Type is the best blogging platform available
right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what
you are using on your blog?
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let
you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it
in two different web browsers and both show the same
outcome.
Hi everyone, it’s my first visit at this web site, and post
is really fruitful for me, keep up posting such posts.
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Best wishes!
Where are your contact details though?
You’re so cool! I do not suppose I’ve read through something like that before. So nice to discover another person with some original thoughts on this issue. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This site is something that’s needed on the internet, someone with some originality!