by Usman Alabi
The Ekiti election has come and gone, but it calls to question citizens’ preparedness for the 2019 general election.
There were allegations of people being paid to vote for the two major candidates, Fayemi and Professor Olusola. This act negates the spirit of democracy and violates the sanctity of democratic decisions made by the people on the election day.
We mortgage not only our future when we sell our vote to the highest bidder but also that of our children. When you sell your vote, you have sold your right to question that government if it eventually wins, you do not even have any moral standing to probe any decisions such government takes over you.
Ekiti state election definitely depicts the shadow of things to come. It shows the quality of citizenship, the fact that we seem not to have the basics needed to bring the best to leadership. It justifies the age-long wisdom that “The people deserve the kind of leaders they get”
The very fact that people were too easily swayed by ephemeral and immediate benefits show the level at which we have degenerated as a people and if we don’t fight this scourge, it might be difficult to get the Nigeria of our dream.
As much as our leaders should be held responsible for taking advantage of citizen’s social-economic situation, it still does not remove the fact that your vote is your own and you determine how it should be used.
There is always a role for us to play. Democracy takes two to tango, it is a contract between the government and the governed. The quality of leadership is dependent on the quality of your choice as citizens. What happened in Ekiti is indicative of the level of poverty in the state and the wiliness of the candidates to take advantage of that poverty, yet it was a choice that the people decided to take.
This is what Ekiti say about us as a people, we might not be entirely ready for the change that we want, we are not completely prepared for the quality leadership that we have long sought for. We would only be deemed ready when we give everything away but the sanctity of our votes remain intact; When our electoral choices are not bought and sold on the market of momentary gain, when our collective conscience as people are incorruptible, and finally when we are ready to pay the sacrifice of today to see a better Nigeria.
2019 would be nothing but a charade if we do not learn the lessons of Ekiti