2023 Elections: Your Vote, Your Voice

Come 2023, Nigerians go to the polls to determine not just those who would be at the helms of their collective affairs but also set in motion, the wheels of another four years of the future. This captures the significance of the electoral exercise in the people’s lives.

Four years in the life of a nation is a rather long one that is more than enough to spell boom or doom for a country. Hence, it is the duty of all Nigerians who are eligible to vote to be accredited and obtain their voter’s card – the visa to the land of electoral oracle where the next four years should be written with their hands individually and collectively.

The issue, however, is that Nigerians – let down by successive administrations – are becoming increasingly apathetic, with many not even bothered about collecting their voter’s cards. At the same time, those who have one have no intention of voting. Sadly, many of those who vote keep their conscience at home and exchange the future for a penny. Worst of all, many of the youths with the loudest cry for change are at the centre of all these absurdities. 

What many do not realise is that as far as they are eligible, they have been given part of the power to shape the country’s future. When has leaving a complex problem unsolved ever made it disappear? In this case, failure to exercise one’s franchise would only bring in candidates Nigerians would spend the next four years complaining about to the country’s detriment. 

Nigerians need to wake up from their slumber; the teeming youth population, representing the present and future of the country, must wake up now before it is too late. All those eligible to vote must be ready to use their votes to take the country to the promised land. They must ensure that they get their permanent voter’s card, consciously and conscientiously decide candidates to vote for, and make sure their votes count. 

Voters must consider their votes as their voices with which they are going to make a clear statement that they have had enough of self-seeking politics. It is equally pertinent to note here that those who voted in a bad government and those who decided not to vote at all would all bear the consequences. So make your voice heard, loud and clear!