JUST BEFORE THE ELECTIONS. Femi Ojo

In some days now Nigerian voters will be trooping out in their millions to vote for their preferred candidates in the coming elections. For those politicians who are contesting in the coming elections the hour of opportunity is only a couple of days away to borrow Dr.  Amuta’s lexis.  2015 elections psephologically speaking will be one election in Nigeria’s history that will never be forgotten in a hurry. It is one election that we have seen the most clueless and unideological campaign across major dominating political parties. The fraught rhetoric of the ruling political party and the warmongering swagger of wound-up opposition party are what these coming elections symbolize. The day and hour of political verdict is near for politicians!

Just before the elections, Nigerians should ponder on the significance of the political transition about to be taken place. Our people should know that this is yet another opportunity to take back  tomorrow which has been stolen and a time to disgrace those politicians who have put majority of our people in perpetual aspirational frustrations. This is a call before the midnight to Nigerians and politicians alike to know that the hour of verdict through the power of votes is already near. In the coming days, the world’s attention will be turned to us; the international community will observe how Nigerians will vote and who will be the choice for the leader of Africa’s most populous country. It is therefore pertinent for Nigerian voters to make history happen, to remove the robe of pretense and deceit from our polity by voting for those candidates that can actually deliver the greatest happiness for the greatest number of our people.

Before the elections on Saturday, our people should know that the history that is about to be made is germane not only to those who will vote on the election day but the unborn generations will equally be affected by such choice (s) that we are about to make. As we witness the last lap of Presidential and National Assembly elections this week and the attendant senseless campaign that have characterized our polity, our people need to logically subject these different political characters to the logic of commonsense and reality. We need to as Nigerians, think beyond the lies and immediate gains that these politicians across major political parties throw at us in exchange of votes, wait patiently for the day of political verdict and cast our votes to our preferred candidates. As we also prepare to do this, we should equally bear in our minds that whatever the outcome of our action is especially politics at the centre, is our entire lot for the next four years.

For those contestants in the coming elections, it is pertinent to know that if truly Nigeria is at their heart, there are two possible outcomes in the coming elections…you are either a looser or a winner and whatever the outcome is, the country’s greatness should be the priority.  I do hope that the two major Presidential candidates and their ardent supporters are prepared for surprises, dashed hopes as they simultaneously hope for the best possible political outcome. This is the way, majority of Nigerians who are going to vote have lived their lives and same way our politicians should be prepared in the coming elections!

Obviously, the Presidential election has unfortunately left us with a choice between the two worst dominating candidates. Nigerians in the coming days are going to choose between an unimpressive President and a man whose past was not as saintly as he is currently branded. It is a choice so difficult to make and it is a choice that we will all live with for the next four years!  The outcome of the Presidential election this coming Saturday to a very large  extent, will determine possible outcomes in the gubernatorial elections of some states. It will be the first test of popularity in some particular states where new alliances have been built. The outcome will encourage the noisy campaign of some politicians while also it may send clear signal to some that mere noise does not translate to political victory. Indeed there may be many surprises in the coming elections.

However, there is one thing that I know for certain, whatever is the outcome of the Presidential election…I do hope that the pre-election events have established something terribly good, our polity will not remain the same again. If the coming Presidential election genuinely  reflects the will of the people, then I hope the next administration will sit up and be better than the present abysmal governance. One also expects that the opposition in the next administration will be articulate and consciously advocate for the good of our polity while the masses of our people will have the utmost political power  in the next administration. So, whatever the outcome of this presidential election is, I do strongly believe that our polity will have a new turn  and the power of the masses of Nigerian people will determine political actions in our country in the nearest future.